Maitland nurse Louisa Stobo was the sister-in-charge there and had to keep her group of seven nurses calm and focussed even when chaos erupted around them.

Her courage did not waiver when the attack happened – and it wasn’t the first time the field hospital had been unintentionally targeted, historic documents show.

Researcher Christine Bramble has spent years piecing together the movements of Louisa and more than 80 other nurses from the Hunter Valley who served in World War One.

Her work, a website, Great War nurses from the Hunter, and a book Sisters of the Valley: First World War Nurses from Newcastle and the Hunter Region offers our best insight into the experiences these women had as they worked tirelessly to care for wounded and ill soldiers in some very challenging conditions. 

Seventeen nurses with a link to Maitland went to the war, including Louisa. 

“When Louisa went to the Western Front she had the job of supervising the nursing staff  at the casualty clearing station, and maintaining calm and order and ensuring the continuing care of the sick and wounded in all circumstances,” Ms Bramble said.

Working in a casualty clearing station wasn’t for the faint-hearted. 

Louisa’s ability to remain calm and deal with the circumstances around her would have been one of the reasons she was chosen for the position, Ms Bramble said.

Ms Bramble said nurses often worked very long hours when they were dealing with a rush of casualties coming in from the front line. Operations would be happening around the clock and the nurses would often be run off their feet. 

“You were getting men straight from the front line and seeing them at their very worst,” Ms Bramble said.

“That had a great psychological effect on many women and medical officers as well.”

The July 22 bombing left four men dead, 15 wounded and some of the marquees they used to house the patients damaged. 

Ms Bramble said four nurses who risked their lives to help the patients were awarded the Military Medal for their bravery. Louisa was also recognised.

“Louisa was awarded the Royal Red Cross (RRC) for the way she kept her team together,” Ms Bramble said.

“It was not unheard of for nurses to be sent away from those casualty clearing stations with shell shock. They were noisy places and even though they might be kilometres away from the actual front line you could still hear the shelling all the time.

“Louisa was one of two nurses from the Hunter to receive the RRC (first class), the other was Ida Greaves, a matron from Newcastle.

“The stations weren’t fired upon deliberately, it was because they were uncomfortably close to the front line and other military infrastructure, including railway lines or in this case observation infrastructure.

“Railway lines could be legitimate military targets. The stations were positioned near a railway line so they could process the soldiers as they came in – it was a bit like a big triage centre. 

“Some were operated on at the station and stayed there until well enough to travel and others were put on trains and taken to a base hospital further away from the fighting.

“They came under fire on a number of occasions and it often happened at night and it was very frightening for everybody.”

Louisa signed up to go to the war in 1914 and served in Egypt before moving to the Western Front in 1916. 

Ms Bramble said the interesting twist about Louisa was that she was married – and married women were not eligible to serve in the war. 

Her maiden name was Scobie and her brother was Major Robert Scobie who served at Gallipoli and was killed in August 1915. 

“The Australia nurses found Egypt really, really hot and some found it difficult to spend more than one summer there. They were dealing with the awful wounds that were a result of industrialised warfare –machine gun fire could basically cut a man to pieces. Shelling on the Western Front could blow limbs off,” she said.

“When the Australian Imperial Force pulled out of Gallipoli in late 1915 and went to Europe most of the Australian hospitals went with them.”

Ms Bramble said the off-duty experiences the nurses had depended on where they served. Those who served at base hospitals in places like France or London had access to shops, cafes and entertainment.