Alice Ross-King
| Alice Ross-King | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Birth name | Alys Ross King |
| Born |
5 August 1887 Ballarat, Victoria |
| Died | 17 August 1968 (aged 81) Cronulla, New South Wales |
| Buried at | Fawkner cemetery, Melbourne |
| Allegiance | Australia |
| Service/branch | Australian Army |
| Years of service | 1914–1919 1941–1947 |
| Rank | Major |
| Unit |
Australian Army Nursing Service Australian Army Medical Women's Service |
| Battles/wars |
First World War Second World War |
| Awards |
Associate Royal Red Cross Military Medal Mentioned in Despatches Florence Nightingale Medal |
| Spouse(s) | Sydney Theodore Appleford (m. 1919–58; his death) |
Major Alice Ross Appleford (née Ross-King) ARRC, MM (5 August 1887 – 19 August 1968) was an Australian civilian and military nurse who took part in both World Wars. She has been described as Australia's most decorated woman. During the First World War she served in hospitals in Egypt and France and was one of only seven Australian nurses decorated with the Military Medal for gallantry. In the Second World War she held a senior post within the Australian Army Medical Women's Service. In 1949 she was awarded the Florence Nightingale Medal, the highest award made by the International Committee of the Red Cross.
Ross-King was born in Ballarat, Victoria. Her parents, Archibald Ross King and Henrietta King (née Ward), named her Alys Ross King. The family moved to Perth but her father and two brothers drowned in an accident and Henrietta King moved, with Alys, to Melbourne.
Nursing training was undertaken at The Alfred Hospital in Melbourne and by 1914 Ross-King was a qualified theatre sister.
Shortly after the outbreak of the war Ross-King enlisted in the Australian Army Nursing Service (AANS) and it was at this time that she changed her surname from Ross King to the hyphenated Ross-King to distinguish her from another AANS nurse called Alice King as well as simplify the spelling of her forename to the more common spelling of Alice.
In November 1914 Sister Ross-King was posted overseas to serve with 1st Australian General Hospital (1st AGH) in Eqypt. 1st AGH was based at Heliopolis near Cairo and after service there, Ross-King was posted to an outstation at Suez established as a clearing station for casualties from the Gallipoli Campaign. Towards the end of 1915 Ross-King returned to Australia as a nurse to wounded troops returning home.
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