Olive May Kelso King (30 June 1885 – 1 November 1958) was an

adventurer An adventure is an exciting experience or undertaking that is typically bold, sometimes risky. Adventures may be activities with danger such as traveling, exploring, skydiving, mountain climbing, scuba diving, river rafting, or other extreme sp ...

and

mountain climber Mountaineering or alpinism, is a set of outdoor activities that involves ascending tall mountains. Mountaineering-related activities include traditional outdoor climbing, skiing, and traversing via ferratas. Indoor climbing, sport climbing, an ...

. During

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 ...

she drove ambulances for the

Scottish Women's Hospitals The Scottish Women's Hospitals for Foreign Services (SWH) was founded in 1914. It was led by Dr. Elsie Inglis and provided nurses, doctors, ambulance drivers, cooks and orderlies. By the end of World War I, 14 medical units had been outfitted and ...

and later the

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin and the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hungar ...

n Army. In the final stages of the war she raised money and set up mobile canteens to help feed the Serbian people. In all, she was awarded four medals by the Serbian government for her work during the war. After World War I, King held a senior volunteer position with

Girl Guides Australia Girl Guides Australia (GGA) is the national Guiding organisation in Australia. Its mission is to empower girls and young women to grow into confident, self-respecting members of the community. Membership is open to all girls and young women fro ...

. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, she worked as an examiner at the Havilland Aircraft factory.

Early life

Born in Sydney, Australia, Olive King was the daughter of Sir George Kelso King and his wife Irene Isabella. She was educated at home and at Sydney Church of England Girls Grammar School.. She also attended Kambala Girls' School, and after her mother died when she was 15, her father sent her to study in Germany and Switzerland, where she became fluent in French and German. She led an adventurous life that included climbing Mexico's second-highest peak Mount Popocatepetl and descending into its crater with several male companions.

World War I

In the summer of 1914, while King was visiting her sister Sunny in England, war broke out in Europe. Olive served briefly as an ambulance driver in

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

, working for the Allied Field Ambulance Corps (AFAC), a volunteer organization. Using funds from her father, she supplied her own vehicle, a used lorry which she had converted into a 16-seater ambulance and christened 'Ella the Elephant' because of its size and weight. In 1915 King joined the

''(Girton and Newnham Unit)'' and was sent to the Sainte-Savine field hospital, near Troyes, France. Conditions at the field hospital were tough. Wounded men were housed in canvas tents connected by long lines of duckboards in muddy fields adjacent to the ''Château de Chanteloup''. In November 1915, the unit was sent to the Macedonian front, landing at

Salonika Thessaloniki (; el, Θεσσαλονίκη, , also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece, with over one million inhabitants in its metropolitan area, and the capital of the geographic region of ...

, Greece and moving up to

Gevgelija Gevgelija ( mk, Гевгелија; ) is a town with a population of 15,685 located in the very southeast of the North Macedonia along the banks of the Vardar River, situated at the country's main border with Greece (Bogorodica-Evzoni), the point ...

on the Greco-Serbian border. Six weeks later the Bulgarian forces were advancing rapidly and the hospital had to be evacuated in 24 hours. Thirty women, helped by 40 Royal Engineers, were able to dismantle the hospital before it was overrun. By midnight the whole staff had got away except the three female chauffeurs. It was King's decision to head for the nearest railway station. They managed to get themselves and their ambulances on the last train before the station was bombed. Thirteen French ambulance drivers, who tried to make their way to Salonika via a rough track by Doiran, were ambushed by the Bulgarians, their cars taken, and all killed or taken prisoner. By the end of July 1916, King had left the Scottish Women's Hospital and joined the Serbian army as a driver attached to the Headquarters of the Medical Service at Salonika. By this time the Serbs had lost most of their transport and 'Ella' was one of only three cars attached to the Medical Headquarters. On 18 August 1917, the day of the

Great Thessaloniki Fire of 1917 250px, The fire as seen from the quay in 1917. 250px, The fire as seen from the Thermaic Gulf. The Great Thessaloniki Fire of 1917 ( el, Μεγάλη Πυρκαγιά της Θεσσαλονίκης, 1917) destroyed two thirds of the city of T ...

, King transported people and records to safety, driving for twenty four hours at a stretch. In the fall of 1917, King's father raised money from Australian donors for her to set up mobile canteens to feed the people of Serbia. Her work in Belgrade and other Serbian cities continued until 1920. For her work during the war, King received a total of four medals from the Serbian government, including the Order of St. Sava, the highest award for humanitarian service.

Post-war activities and death

Due to her father's failing health, King returned to Sydney in 1920. She took a position as a volunteer and speaker for the

, serving as State Secretary and Assistant State Commissioner. She was the first Australian recipient of the Silver Fish Award in 1931, Girl Guiding's highest adult honour. During World War II, she volunteered to drive for the Australian Army but was told that she was too old. Still wanting to contribute in some way, she studied aircraft inspection and worked as a quality examiner at de Havilland Aircraft Pty Ltd from 1942 to 1944. King moved to Melbourne in 1956 and died there in November 1958.

In popular culture

* In her 2022 novel, ''Salonika Burning'', the Australian writer Gail Jones fictionalises Olive King (as 'Olive'), and her experiences in Macedonia, along with British painters Grace Pailthorpe and Stanley Spencer, and Australian writer

Miles Franklin Stella Maria Sarah Miles Franklin (14 October 187919 September 1954), known as Miles Franklin, was an Australian writer and feminist who is best known for her novel ''My Brilliant Career'', published by Blackwoods of Edinburgh in 1901. While ...

References

Sources

* ''Australian Dictionary of Biography'' * King, Hazel (1987). ''One Woman at War: Letters of Olive King, 1915-1920.'' Melbourne University Press * Gilchrist, Hugh (1997). ''Australians and Greeks, Volume 2.'' Halstead Press