Beside the hospital in Ōtatahi Christchurch in New Zealand is a small chapel with a unique story.
Opened in 1927 the building was the first hospital chapel in the country, and the only one to be dedicated to women who perished in war and in the 1918 influenza epidemic. It is also thought to be the only purpose-built hospital chapel in the world commemorating the nurses who died in World War One – The Great War.
The sinking of the ship, The Marquette, in 1915 was a shocking tragedy for Aotearoa New Zealand. The unmarked ship, part of No 1 New Zealand Stationary Hospital, was carrying staff to Salonica on the 19th October when it was torpedoed. A series of unfortunate events unfolded as the ship went down and the subsequent loss of life included ten nurses as well as Medical Corps men. The loss was scandalous; the deaths were largely due to accident and lack of preparation in the launching of the lifeboats. Three local nurses were lost in the sinking and so the chapel was built to commemorate them and all nurses who perish in the course of their work.
The Nurses’ Memorial Chapel has been threatened with demolition, not once but twice, and was damaged in the earthquakes of 2010 and 2011 but was restored and reopened in 2018. This was thanks to a hard-fought campaign to keep it as a memorial and place of remembrance. It features beautiful stained-glass windows that include native flowers and plants, and a central runner (shown in the header image)that was designed by Nicola Jackson as part of the ‘Tales Untold: unearthing Christchurch Histories” project in 1994. There is also a small museum with exhibits and photographs in the chapel and carvings in oak referencing nursing and native flora.
More reading:
Embroidery project commemorating New Zealanders wounded in battles of the First World War who were sent to hospital in Walton, England for nursing. https://riverhousebarn.co.uk/get-involved/mount-felix-tapestry
New Zealand History about the loss of personnel in the sinking of The Marquette. https://nzhistory.govt.nz/page/new-zealand-nurses-lost-in-marquette-sinking
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