VPRS 19295 Diary of Nurse Susie Cone

This series comprises the diary of Susie Cone. Susie Cone trained as a nurse at the Melbourne Hospital (VA 1048) from February 1914 to January 1918. In 1918, Cone was one of 45 members of the Australian Army Nursing Service, who embarked on the troopship Wyreema. The nurses did not reach their destination of Salonica because peace was declared in November of the same year. On returning to Fremantle, due to the Spanish Flu epidemic the Matron of the Wyreema called for twenty nurses to volunteer to nurse returned Australian soldiers at Woodman Point Quarantine Station, Western Australia. Susie Cone was one of the nurses who volunteered. These diaries were written during her time at the quarantine station, and comprise two small volumes detailing both her personal life and treatment of the influenza patients. These are the only extant diaries of Susie Cone. This diary was donated to the archives of the Royal Melbourne Hospital by the family of Susie Cone. Prior to transfer to Public Record Office Victoria, the records in this series were maintained as part of the Royal Melbourne Hospital Archives.