Ida Willis

Ida Willis
Born(1881-12-29)29 December 1881
Wellington, New Zealand
Died(1968-03-07)7 March 1968
Raumati Beach, New Zealand
AllegianceNew Zealand
Service / branchNew Zealand Military Forces
Years of service1914–1946
RankMatron-in-Chief
CommandsNew Zealand Army Nursing Service (1933–46)
Battles / warsFirst World War
Second World War
AwardsOfficer of the Order of the British Empire
Associate Royal Red Cross
Mentioned in Despatches (2)

Lizzie Ida Grace Willis OBE ARRC ED (29 December 1881 – 7 March 1968) was a notable New Zealand civilian and military nurse, hospital inspector, matron, army nursing administrator.

Willis was born in Wellington, New Zealand, in 1881.[1] She was a nurse at Wellington Hospital. In August 1914, she was one of six nurses who went with the expeditionary force that took over German Samoa. In July 1915, she was a sister on the hospital ship, Maheno. In 1916 she was working in the New Zealand Army Nursing Service (NZANS) in France.[2]

In the 1918 New Year Honours, Willis was appointed an Associate of the Royal Red Cross.[3] In 1935, she was awarded the King George V Silver Jubilee Medal.[4] She was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (Military Division) in the 1944 New Year Honours, in recognition of her service as matron-in-chief of the New Zealand Army Nursing Service.[5]

  1. ^ Rodgers, Jan. "Lizzie Ida Grace Willis". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 23 April 2017.
  2. ^ Tolerton, Jane (2017). Make her praises heard afar : New Zealand women overseas in World War One. Wellington, New Zealand: Booklovers Books. pp. 29, 96, 201. ISBN 978-0-473-39965-8. OCLC 1011529111.
  3. ^ "No. 30450". The London Gazette (Supplement). 1 January 1918. p. 57.
  4. ^ "Official jubilee medals". Evening Post. Vol. CXIX, no. 105. 6 May 1935. p. 4. Retrieved 21 June 2018.
  5. ^ "No. 36309". The London Gazette (Supplement). 1 January 1944. p. 12.