Jean Neill Erwin (25 January 1890 – 24 July 1969) was a

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

civilian and military nurse, masseuse, and army nursing administrator. She was born in

Fendalton Fendalton is a suburb of Christchurch, in the South Island of New Zealand. History Fendalton was originally known as Fendall Town, named after the original settler of the land, Walpole Chesshyre Fendall (1830–1913). Fendall emigrated from Y ...

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River / ...

, New Zealand on 25 January 1890. She was appointed a

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(MBE) in the 1945 King's Birthday Honours just after her retirement from the military. She was an elder at Knox Church in Christchurch. In July 1915, Erwin enlisted in the

New Zealand Army Nursing Service The New Zealand Army Nursing Service (NZANS) formally came into being in early 1915, when the Army Council in London accepted an offer of nurses to help in the war effort during the First World War from the New Zealand Government. The heavy losses ...

and was posted overseas. In October that year, she was aboard the SS ''Marquette'' when it was torpedoed by a German submarine and sunk. Ten New Zealand nurses lost their lives, but Erwin and other survivors continued to serve in hospitals and hospital ships for the remainder of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. After the war had ended, she continued as a nurse in England before returning to New Zealand in 1920.

References

1890 births 1969 deaths New Zealand nurses New Zealand military personnel New Zealand Members of the Order of the British Empire Female nurses in World War I Sinking of the SS Marquette New Zealand women nurses {{NewZealand-med-bio-stub