Bravery of a ministering angel
Sister Alicia Mary Kelly had nursed countless Diggers wounded at Gallipoli and in France by the time she found herself on duty in Belgium, not far from the World War I front lines.
It was 1917 and Kelly was working at No. 3 Australian Casualty Clearing Station near Ypres.
She was on duty during an air raid when orders sent the rest of the medical staff running for shelter as bombs fell.
But Kelly refused to go, instead staying to comfort patients and covering their heads with enamel wash basins or urine pots to protect them against shrapnel, letting them feel secure.
Suzanne Welborn's biography of Kelly in the Australian Dictionary of Biography says that a padre found her sitting in a hospital tent holding a patient's hand.
Asked why she had not left with the others, Kelly simply replied: "I couldn't leave my patients."
Her actions that day led to her becoming one of only seven Australian nurses to win the Military Medal for "conspicuous gallantry", which was presented to her at Buckingham Palace.
She was also awarded the Royal Red Cross.
Kelly also served in Britain before returning to Australia in May 1918 as sister-in-charge for the voyage, and was presented with a silver cup by grateful patients on arrival at Fremantle.
Kelly had been born in Ireland and completed her nursing training in Melbourne before enlisting in the Australian Army Nursing Service in March 1915.
She was sent to the 1st Australian General Hospital in Egypt, where she cared for soldiers wounded at Gallipoli, before being sent on to the Western Front in April 1916.
Soon after her discharge in 1918 Kelly married Arthur Rupert Chipper, who had served in the 10th Light Horse.
His records show he had been at the 1st Australian General Hospital in July 1915, raising the possibility that he had met or even been nursed by Kelly during his stay.
After their marriage, the couple farmed at Bullaring, near Corrigin.
Kelly continued nursing in the district, and in World War II, at Guildford, before she died of pneumonia in 1942.
The couple did not have children, and Kelly's war medals and red nursing cape were donated to the Army Museum in Fremantle by the Returned Sisters sub-branch of the Returned and Services League.
The presence of the items at the museum was not known to descendant families of the couple until research conducted recently for centenary of Anzac projects brought them to light.
The discovery was made through work by the WA Museum and the Corrigin Historical Society, which were preparing a display as part of the museum's Remembering Them project, which will help regional areas tell their World War I stories.
Last week, descendants and members of the society visited the Army Museum to see the medals and cape.
Among them was Margaret Bell, of Gooseberry Hill.
After Kelly's death, Arthur Chipper married Margaret Bell's grandmother, Marjorie Mooney, a neighbour at Bullaring who had been widowed.
Mrs Bell said she was delighted by the discovery of the items and that there was a sense of pride in Kelly's bravery and dedication.
Kim Chipper, of Mt Claremont, said Arthur Chipper was a son of his grandfather's brother.
Mr Chipper said the cape and medals had added a new element to the family history.
Corrigin Historical Society member Valma Downing said the society's display, to open on November 10 at the Corrigin Pioneer Museum, would feature Kelly's story along with those of World War I soldiers from the district.
It will run until February 2.
