During World War One, 24 nurses from across the Bathurst district volunteered to serve overseas to help troops who were injured in battle.

And soon, the name of each nurse who served will appear on a new plaque that will be erected on the Bathurst War Memorial Carillon next week.

While every one of the 24 nurses were already experienced in their field, Mr Fletcher said conditions and patient injuries during the war were vastly different to that at home.

“Nothing had prepared them for the endless and constant flow of casualties with wounds they could hardly imagine, sickness and the constant strain of never being able to provide the type of service they had hoped they could when they enlisted,” he said.

“They were treating wounds they had never encountered before.

“Contagious diseases were rife in the trenches, as was the gas poisoning and gangrene.

“Their working and hygiene conditions were shocking, and they worked long hours, suffered poor food and substandard living conditions.”

Nurses in the Great War were required to have a minimum of three years of medical and surgical training, be single or widowed, aged between 21 to 45 years and be physically fit.

Of the 24 Bathurst region nurses who volunteered during the Great War, all returned home.

“This will be the first public recognition of the nurses,” Mr Fletcher said of the soon-to-be-erected plaque.

“They all served wearing the Red Cross, even though they were Army nurses. That’s why I put it [the Red Cross] on the plaque.”

The plaque will be unveiled at 10am on Friday, March 9 at the Bathurst War Memorial Carillon and the public are invited to come along.

“These women gave up four or five or six years of their life to serve in the Great War and I hope the Bathurst community can give up 15 minutes of their life to come along,” Mr Fletcher said of the upcoming service.

Like the men, our nurses craved adventure and many felt a patriotism for Australia, King and Empire, others sought independence, or to advance their career.

Many wanted to care for their brothers, family and friends as others had done it before in the Boer War.

Most were naturally caring women who saw it as their duty as healers to care for our boys who were doing their bit.

Financial gain was not an incentive.

Military nurses’ pay was generally less than what they were earning as civilian nurses. Even though they were given office rank in 1916 they were often paid less than a corporal.