Theme 05
Themes Illness, Injury and Death

Ettie's War

Born in Tasmania, Ettie Annie Rout moved to Christchurch during the 1890s with her parents. Soon after the War broke out, she formed the New Zealand Volunteer Sisterhood, a group of young women trained to assist medical staff overseas with the care of sick and wounded soldiers.

Alexander Turnbull Library PAColl-4832

Ettie went to Egypt and France and, through her work, discovered the extent of preventable venereal (sexually-transmitted) disease amongst the troops. She saw this as a medical rather than a moral problem and encouraged safe sex through education and prophylactic kits.

UnidentifiedNurse3

The New Zealand Volunteer Sisterhood

The first 10 Volunteer Sisters, all from Canterbury, departed for Egypt in July 1915. Sisters like this unidentified woman with an English soldier, assisted overseas hospital staff with the care of soldiers as well as laundry and other housekeeping duties.

Ettie hoped that the experience they gained could lead to probationary nursing positions. The New Zealand public praised the good work of Ettie and her organisation. One soldier called her “a second Florence Nightingale”.

 

Courtesy of Barry O'Sullivan. All Rights Reserved

Ashburton Guardian 19 March 1919

The Wickedest Woman in England

New Zealand public opinion on Ettie Rout shifted towards the end of 1917 after she sent letters to New Zealand newspapers describing the widespread problems with venereal disease amongst New Zealand troops and urging the distribution of prophylactic kits to soldiers.

Groups such as the Women’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) condemned Ettie and the sin they believed she was promoting.

 

Letter from the Women’s Christian Temperance Union to the Ashburton Guardian 19 March 1918 condemning Ettie and the distribution of prophylactic kits to soldiers

WW104 180801

The development of vulcanised rubber in the mid 1800s and its use for condoms meant they could be mass produced. Condoms like these would have been distributed to soldiers during the War.

Canterbury Museum 112/96

Ettie’s News

On 24 October 1917, The New Zealand Times published a long letter from Ettie detailing the shocking truth about venereal disease amongst New Zealand soldiers. Their rates of infection were higher than other overseas troops. Ettie estimated that at least 5,000 to 6,000 New Zealand soldiers were infected every year.

The New Zealand Government’s attempts at controlling soldier behaviour through moral persuasion, military orders and appeals to patriotism had failed. Impractical moral standards, she argued, needed to be replaced by medical measures such as prophylactic kits containing condoms.

Entanglements The Bystanders page 8

Keeping Chaste

The conventional but ineffective way of dealing with sexually-transmitted disease was to encourage soldiers to abstain from sex.

Cartoons and magazines warned men of the trouble they could get in and reminded them of the women who waited for them at home.

Canterbury Museum 1987.44.1

Illness, Injury and Death
Wounded in the War
German Losses

This online exhibition is representative of Canterbury and World War One: Lives Lost Lives Changed, a temporary exhibition which ran from 30 November 2017 to 11 November 2018 at Canterbury Museum.

Unless otherwise stated, all content on this website is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial licence.

On the Eve of War
01
01

On the Eve of War

At the turn of the twentieth century, Canterbury was one of the most prosperous provinces in New Zealand

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Going to War
02
02

Going to War

Britain’s declaration of war caused great excitement in Canterbury. Thousands enlisted in the New Zealand Expeditionary Force

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The War Away
03
03

The War Away

New Zealand soldiers and nurses endured the joys and sorrows of life at war and all had stories worth telling

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The War at Home
04
04

The War at Home

In many respects the war at home was the women’s war

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Illness, Injury and Death
05
05

Illness, Injury and Death

Up to 18.4 million people were killed and 23.7 million injured in World War One

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Lives Changed
06
06

Lives Changed

Everyone’s life was changed in some way by the War. Most New Zealanders knew someone who had died

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Reflections
07
07

Reflections

World War One prematurely ended the lives of millions and forever changed the world

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Roll of Honour
08
08

Roll of Honour

Remember those who made the ultimate sacrifice by adding a poppy to the Roll of Honour

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This online exhibition is representative of Canterbury and World War One: Lives Lost Lives Changed, a temporary exhibition which ran from 30 November 2017 to 11 November 2018 at Canterbury Museum.

Unless otherwise stated, all content on this website is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial licence.