From Swords to Ploughshares: Townsville men and women who served their community in war and peace

Women and children celebrating the end of World War I, in the Armistice parade, Flinders Street, Townsville, 1918. Photo: City Libraries Townsville Local History Collection

This week the 'From Swords to Ploughshares' team have been busy installing the displays for the exhibition at James Cook University Library and City Libraries Flinders Street. This exhibition commemorates the contributions of Townsville’s returned service men and women to the creation of peace and a flourishing community in Townsville. It seeks to explore the stories of those who volunteered to serve during the war as they resumed their civilian lives after Armistice. It recognises the roles they played in developing their town, region, and country, and their contribution to a lasting peace.

Pictured with the displays at City Libraries Flinders Street are Dr Claire Brennan, Rachel Garlando, Dr Lyndon Megarrity. Photo supplied by Rachel Garlando

Part of the displays for the From Swords to Ploughshares project. Photo supplied by Rachel Garlando

Many hours of research have gone into developing the displays for this project. Along with the archival and library research that underpins the textual component of the displays, members of the project team also conducted extensive searches for images, documents and artefacts to support the biographical stories for the exhibition. As well as utilising national repositories that have content available online, such as the Australian War Memorial and the National Archives of Australia, the research team took full advantage of the many local museums and libraries here in Townsville, whose collections proved invaluable. Here, Trisha Fielding shares her research on two sisters (both Townsville nurses) who enlisted for the war effort in December 1914.

Frances Macintosh and Clare Macintosh
Born: Charters Towers, 1880 and Hughenden, 1885
Died: 1962 and 1949
Served as members of the 3rd Battalion, Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force (AN&MEF)

Frances Macintosh was among the earliest group of nurses to train at Townsville Hospital. She served as matron there in 1906/07, before taking up a position as resident manager at Dr Joseph Ahearne’s Private Hospital in Walker Street, between 1907 and 1914. The younger of the two sisters, Clare Macintosh, completed her training at Townsville Hospital in 1902 and in 1907/08 served as matron of that institution. From 1908 to 1910 she worked as a private nurse for Dr Ahearne in his private hospital (probably at the same time as her sister Frances worked there). Clare later worked as matron for three years at Croydon Hospital.

Townsville Hospital, c. 1906. Photo: State Library of Queensland

In December 1914 both Frances and Clare enlisted as nurses in the 3rd Battalion, Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force (AN&MEF). They left Townsville on 31 December aboard the SS Wyandra bound for Cairns. There they embarked for Rabaul (New Guinea) on the SS Morinda on 3 January 1915. Not long after the outbreak of World War I, the AN&MEF had quickly seized communication stations in German New Guinea. Frances and Clare’s unit arrived in Rabaul in early 1915, and by this time, the Australians were an occupation force only, as the Germans had surrendered in September 1914.

Rabaul Military Hospital, WWI. Photo: Australian War Memorial

Very little is known about their time in Rabaul, as their military records are very brief. However, the Macintosh sisters served in Rabaul until August 1915, after which time they were sent to Sydney, where they were mobilised for home service at the Garrison Hospital. Frances remained at the Garrison Hospital until May 1916, after which time she appears to have returned to Townsville. That same year, Clare joined the staff of Toowoomba Hospital as acting matron. Two years later, in 1918, she was appointed matron.

A page from the service record of Frances Mary Macintosh. National Archives of Australia

In 1921 Frances Macintosh married Charles Asbury, who was Steward of the North Queensland Club in Denham Street. After her marriage, she appears to have retired from nursing.

Clare Macintosh worked as Matron of Toowoomba Hospital from 1918 until 1931. During her time as matron, the hospital was known as one of the most modern, well-equipped hospitals in Queensland.

Sources:
National Archives of Australia: service records of Frances Mary McIntosh and Isabel Clare McIntosh
Australian War Memorial: Nominal Roll AN&MEF New Guinea
Townsville Daily Bulletin, 14 September 1949, p. 2
Jaumees, Kay History of the Townsville General Hospital 1861-2001, Townsville General Hospital, Townsville, 2001, p. 27.

Acknowledgements: This project has been funded by the Department of Veterans’ Affairs through the Armistice Centenary Grants Program in the federal electorate of Herbert. It has also received support from JCU Library Special Collections, Townsville City Council City Libraries, and the Museum of Tropical Queensland. Additional support from the Army Museum North Queensland, Townsville RSL Library, Townsville Museum and Historical Society, 1RAR Museum, and the Maritime Museum of Townsville, is also gratefully acknowledged.

For more on the project team, check out From Swords to Ploughshares - Introducing the Research Team

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