13/11/2025
She went to war twice.
Volunteered both times.
And never once asked for recognition.
→ On 13 November 1919, Elizabeth Mosey was appointed Matron of the hospital in Rabaul.
→ That date marked a shift, from front-line nurse to post-war leader, responsible for care across one of Australia’s most remote territories.
→ It was also the start of a second chapter that would take her through the Pacific and into Japanese-occupied Hong Kong during WWII.
She didn’t do it for the medals.
She did it because wounded men were coming off the lines at Messines and Ypres with injuries that needed urgent care.
She did it because civilians in Hong Kong were trapped, starving, and scared, with no one else to help.
She served in Gallipoli, France, Egypt, and Rabaul.
When the First World War ended, she could have returned home for good.
Instead, she signed up again.
She kept showing up.
And when war came again, she answered.
By all accounts, Elizabeth Mosey was calm, relentless, and deeply committed.
A nurse when it was hard.
A leader when few women were.
And a wartime matron who held the line, no matter what it cost her.
We remember her today, on the anniversary of her appointment as Matron.
Because leadership under pressure is never theoretical.
She lived it.
Lest we forget.
Rod Hutchings
Australian Peacekeeper and Peacemaker Veterans’ Association Ltd
