Grace Wilson

Grace Margaret Wilson
Grace Wilson on Lemnos island during the Gallipoli Campaign
Born	(1879-06-25)25 June 1879 South Brisbane, Queensland
Died	12 January 1957(1957-01-12) (aged 77) Repatriation General Hospital, Heidelberg, Victoria
Service/branch	Australian Army
Years of service	1914–1941
Commands held	Australian Army Nursing Service (1925–1940)
Battles/wars	World War I World War II
Awards	Commander of the Order of the British Empire Royal Red Cross Mentioned in Despatches (4) Florence Nightingale Medal

Grace Margaret Wilson CBE, RRC (25 June 1879 – 12 January 1957) was a high-ranked nurse in the Australian Army during World War I and the first years of World War II. Wilson was born in Brisbane, and completed her initial training as a nurse in 1908. After the outbreak of World War I she joined the Australian Army Nursing Service (AANS) and subsequently transferred to the First Australian Imperial Force. From 1915 until 1919 she was the principal matron of the 3rd Australian General Hospital. She served as the temporary matron-in-chief in the AIF Headquarters, London from late 1917 until early 1918. Wilson returned to Australia in 1920 and left the AIF to work in civilian hospitals. She was appointed the matron-in-chief of the AANS in 1925, and in September 1940 joined the Second Australian Imperial Force. She served in the Middle East until August 1941, when she returned to Australia due to ill health. She left the Army the next month, but from September 1943 worked in the Department of Manpower Directorate (Victoria)'s nursing control section.

Grace Wilson was born in South Brisbane on 25 June 1879. She attended Brisbane Girls Grammar School, and began her training to become a nurse at Brisbane Hospital in 1905. She completed this qualification in 1908. During her period at Brisbane Hospital, Wilson became the first winner of the prestigious Gold Medal for nursing excellence. She subsequently travelled to London for training in midwifery at the Queen Charlotte's Lying-in Hospital. Wilson subsequently worked at the National Hospital for the Paralysed and Epileptic in London. She arrived back in Australia during July 1914, and became the matron of Brisbane Hospital.