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

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

nurse who served in the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

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

Early life

Rae was born at Raes' Junction, near

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; ) is the second-most populous city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from ("fort of Edin"), the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of S ...

, 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 catchment of around 330 ...

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 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 third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...

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

Suez Suez (, , , ) is a Port#Seaport, seaport city with a population of about 800,000 in north-eastern Egypt, located on the north coast of the Gulf of Suez on the Red Sea, near the southern terminus of the Suez Canal. It is the capital and largest c ...

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

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

Port Said Port Said ( , , ) is a port city that lies in the northeast Egypt extending about along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, straddling the west bank of the northern mouth of the Suez Canal. The city is the capital city, capital of the Port S ...

. In October 1915 Rae was on board the SS ''Marquette'' when it was torpedoed by a German submarine and sunk. The torpedo struck the ''Marquette'' on its starboard side at 9.15am. The ship was sunk within fifteen minutes, resulting in the deaths of Rae and others aboard.

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. 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 in Greece and in the

Nurses' Memorial Chapel The Nurses' Memorial Chapel at Christchurch Hospital, New Zealand, is registered as a Category I heritage building. The chapel is significant as New Zealand's first hospital chapel, and as the country's only World War I memorial solely dedicate ...

at Christchurch Hospital. She is also remembered in the

Five Sisters window York Minster, York Minster's Five Sisters window contains the largest expanse of 13th century grisaille glass in the world. It was built c.1250–1260 and is located in the north wall of the north transept of York Minster. The window features in ...

York Minster York Minster, formally the Cathedral and Metropolitical Church of Saint Peter in York, is an Anglicanism, Anglican cathedral in the city of York, North Yorkshire, England. The minster is the seat of the archbishop of York, the second-highest of ...

in York, England.

References

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