Mary Helen Rae (29 September 1880 – 23 October 1915) 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 ...

nurse who served in the

First World War 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 ...

and died when the SS ''Marquette'' was torpedoed and sunk in 1915.

Early life

Rae was born at Raes' Junction, near

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; mi, Ōtepoti) is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from , the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Th ...

, on 29 September 1880 and trained at

Dunedin Hospital Dunedin Hospital is the main public hospital in Dunedin, New Zealand. It serves as the major base hospital for the Otago and Southland regions with a potential catchment radius of roughly 300 kilometres, and a population of around 300,000. Operat ...

First World War

In April 1915, Rae 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 left

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

on board the SS ''Maheno'' in July that year. The ship sailed to

Suez Suez ( ar, السويس '; ) is a seaport city (population of about 750,000 ) in north-eastern Egypt, located on the north coast of the Gulf of Suez (a branch of the Red Sea), near the southern terminus of the Suez Canal, having the same boun ...

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

, and the contingent of nurses worked in a stationary hospital at

Port Said Port Said ( ar, بورسعيد, Būrsaʿīd, ; grc, Πηλούσιον, Pēlousion) is a city that lies in northeast Egypt extending about along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, north of the Suez Canal. With an approximate population of 6 ...

. In October 1915 Rae was on board the SS ''Marquette'' when it was torpedoed by a German submarine and sunk.

Recognition

Two years after her death, the Otago Nurses' Association created the New Zealand Nurses' Memorial Fund in memorial to Rae and fellow Otago ''Marquette'' victim,

Lorna Rattray Lorna Aylmer Rattray (10 January 1875 – 23 October 1915) was a New Zealand nurse who served in the First World War and died when the SS ''Marquette'' was torpedoed and sunk in 1915. Early life Rattray was born in Dunedin. After qualifying, R ...

. Donations from the medical community in Dunedin started the fund, which aimed to be a practical fund of "people helping people". Most grants are given to retired nurses who are struggling financially. Rae is named on the

Mikra British Cemetery The Mikra British Cemetery is a World War I-era British military cemetery in Kalamaria, a suburb of the city of Thessaloniki in Greece. It was opened in April 1917, and used until 1920. Following the Armistice the cemetery was greatly enlarged by ...

in Greece and in the Nurses' Memorial Chapel at Christchurch Hospital. She is also remembered in the Five Sisters window at

York Minster The Cathedral and Metropolitical Church of Saint Peter in York, commonly known as York Minster, is the cathedral of York, North Yorkshire, England, and is one of the largest of its kind in Northern Europe. The minster is the seat of the Archbis ...

in York, England.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rae, Mary 1880 births 1915 deaths New Zealand nurses New Zealand military nurses Female nurses in World War I 20th-century New Zealand women Nurses killed in World War I Sinking of the SS Marquette Health professionals from Dunedin New Zealand women nurses