Rose Moore Hinchey (21 June 1910 – 4 August 1981) was a New Zealand civilian and military nurse.

Early life and education

Hinchey was born in

Bluff Bluff or The Bluff may refer to: Places Australia * Bluff, Queensland, Australia, a town * The Bluff, Queensland (Ipswich), a rural locality in the city of Ipswich * The Bluff, Queensland (Toowoomba Region), a rural locality * Bluff River (New So ...

, New Zealand, on 21 June 1910. She was the eldest of four children of William Hinchey and Henrietta Goetze (née Thompson). Her parents ran the Eagle Hotel and her father was also the mayor of Bluff. Hinchey attended Bluff School and

Southland Girls' High School Southland Girls' High School is a state girls' Year 7–13 secondary school in Georgetown, Invercargill, New Zealand. The school was established in 1879. It is a single-sex state school for years 7 to 13 with a roll of students as of From the ...

. She then trained as a nurse at Kew Hospital in

Invercargill Invercargill ( , mi, Waihōpai is the southernmost and westernmost city in New Zealand, and one of the southernmost cities in the world. It is the commercial centre of the Southland region. The city lies in the heart of the wide expanse of t ...

followed by midwifery training at Alexandra Hospital in

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 ...

Career

On completing her training, Hinchey nursed at a hospital in Bowen Street in Wellington. In 1936, she travelled to England and worked at an obstetric hospital alongside fellow Southland expatriate Charles Read. She was commissioned into the nursing branch of the British Army,

Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps (QARANC; known as ''the QAs'') is the nursing branch of the British Army Medical Services. History Although an "official" nursing service was not established until 1881, the corps traces its heritage t ...

in 1937 and initially nursed at the Cambridge Aldershot Military Hospital for two years. In January 1939, she was posted to a military hospital in

Bombay Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

(present-day Mumbai), India. 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 opposin ...

she served in a number of war zones, and after the war she served in India, the Middle East, Africa, Korea and Malaysia. She attained the rank of Major in 1949, which she held until her retirement in 1965. She settled in Wellington, New Zealand, and died there on 4 August 1981.

Awards and honours

Hinchey's medals are displayed in the entrance hall of Southland Girls' High School, and include the

Royal Red Cross The Royal Red Cross (RRC) is a military decoration awarded in the United Kingdom and Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth for exceptional services in military nursing. Foundation The award was established on 27 April 1883 by Victoria of the Un ...

and the United Nations Service Medal for Korea.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hinchey, Rose 1910 births 1981 deaths People from Bluff, New Zealand People educated at Southland Girls' High School Military nurses World War II nurses 20th-century New Zealand people Members of the Royal Red Cross Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps officers