Rachel Sargeant's Blog - Posts Tagged "gascon"
Muriel Wakeford - the inspiration for my new novel
Leontine Sara Wakeford, also known as Muriel Leontine Wakeford, was born the eldest of four children on 14th June 1887 in the Bathurst region of New South Wales. Her father, Henry George Wakeford, ran a bicycle shop and a florist shop.
Muriel played the piano. Aged thirteen, she took a principal part in her school drama evening. As if foreshadowing what was to come, her performance was entitled “When the Empire Calls.” (Illawarra Mercury, 18 September 1900)
She trained as a nurse and became matron at Cooma District Hospital. At the outbreak of war, she volunteered to serve in the Australian Army Nursing Service. In early April 1915 she was sent aboard the hospital ship Gascon. Less than forty eight hours later the bombardment of the Dardanelles commenced. The wounded started to come on board at 9am. They were the first of thousands of injured, dying and diseased men that Muriel and her colleagues cared for over the next few months.
During this time she wrote frequent letters to her parents who sent them to local newspapers. She became something of a local celebrity through their publication. Her column “A Letter from Nurse Wakeford” became an occasional feature in the Illawarra Mercury. Many of her letters have been indexed on http://trove.nla.gov.au/ the digitalised database of Australian newspapers.
Serving with Muriel on the Gascon was third mate Raymond Sargeant. They married on 28 June 1916 in Poplar, East London. As was the norm for the time, Muriel gave up her career when she married.
The couple made their home in Mombasa, Kenya where Raymond was Port Captain. They had one son, Henry William, born 16th January 1918. Harry, as he was known, had two sons. One is Nigel, my husband, and keeper of Muriel’s 1915 diary. When I first started researching Muriel two years ago I didn’t find much about her. Now, with the increased interest in WW1, there is much more out there but not all of it is accurate. I’ve seen “quotes” from her diary that I know do not appear in her original journal. The internet is a marvellous thing but don’t take it for the absolute truth.
(With grateful thanks to the late Neil Wakeford, Muriel’s nephew, for information about her family history.)
Muriel played the piano. Aged thirteen, she took a principal part in her school drama evening. As if foreshadowing what was to come, her performance was entitled “When the Empire Calls.” (Illawarra Mercury, 18 September 1900)
She trained as a nurse and became matron at Cooma District Hospital. At the outbreak of war, she volunteered to serve in the Australian Army Nursing Service. In early April 1915 she was sent aboard the hospital ship Gascon. Less than forty eight hours later the bombardment of the Dardanelles commenced. The wounded started to come on board at 9am. They were the first of thousands of injured, dying and diseased men that Muriel and her colleagues cared for over the next few months.
During this time she wrote frequent letters to her parents who sent them to local newspapers. She became something of a local celebrity through their publication. Her column “A Letter from Nurse Wakeford” became an occasional feature in the Illawarra Mercury. Many of her letters have been indexed on http://trove.nla.gov.au/ the digitalised database of Australian newspapers.
Serving with Muriel on the Gascon was third mate Raymond Sargeant. They married on 28 June 1916 in Poplar, East London. As was the norm for the time, Muriel gave up her career when she married.
The couple made their home in Mombasa, Kenya where Raymond was Port Captain. They had one son, Henry William, born 16th January 1918. Harry, as he was known, had two sons. One is Nigel, my husband, and keeper of Muriel’s 1915 diary. When I first started researching Muriel two years ago I didn’t find much about her. Now, with the increased interest in WW1, there is much more out there but not all of it is accurate. I’ve seen “quotes” from her diary that I know do not appear in her original journal. The internet is a marvellous thing but don’t take it for the absolute truth.
(With grateful thanks to the late Neil Wakeford, Muriel’s nephew, for information about her family history.)
Bombardment of the Dardanelles
Although naval forces had been engaged in the area for some time, 25th April 1915 marked the start of the land battle for the Dardanelles. During the subsequent eight and a half months of the campaign, the Allies lost at least 140,000 men, of whom more than 44,000 died and the rest became sick or wounded. The Turks probably lost double these numbers.
To mark this centenary, here are the words of Sister Muriel Wakeford, a nurse on board the hospital ship Gascon. Muriel was my husband’s grandmother. My new novel is based on her 1915 diary.
“Sun 25 Apr 1915
Bombardment of the Dardanelles commenced 5 am. Moved off at 1am. Reached Gaba Tepe at 5. Shells were bursting everywhere. At 9 the first lot of wounded came on board. At midday the place was a fiery inferno. The London was lying almost touching us. Shells from the enemy frequently burst quite close to us. The first landing party cut to pieces by the Turks who fired shrapnel before the lighters even touched the beach.
At 6.30 left for Lemnos with 600 on board. In the meantime the wounded had to be placed on the various transports pending arrival of another hospital ship. The boys are wonderfully plucky and everyone on our ship worked like fury – to help them.”
To mark this centenary, here are the words of Sister Muriel Wakeford, a nurse on board the hospital ship Gascon. Muriel was my husband’s grandmother. My new novel is based on her 1915 diary.
“Sun 25 Apr 1915
Bombardment of the Dardanelles commenced 5 am. Moved off at 1am. Reached Gaba Tepe at 5. Shells were bursting everywhere. At 9 the first lot of wounded came on board. At midday the place was a fiery inferno. The London was lying almost touching us. Shells from the enemy frequently burst quite close to us. The first landing party cut to pieces by the Turks who fired shrapnel before the lighters even touched the beach.
At 6.30 left for Lemnos with 600 on board. In the meantime the wounded had to be placed on the various transports pending arrival of another hospital ship. The boys are wonderfully plucky and everyone on our ship worked like fury – to help them.”
