Alys Ross (Ross-King) Appleford MM RRC (1887 - 1968)

Born 5 Aug 1887 in Ballarat, Victoria (Australia)

Ancestors

Wife of Sydney Theodore Appleford — married Aug 1919 in Victoria, Australia

Died 17 Aug 1968 at age 81 in Cronulla, New South Wales, Australia

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Biography

Alice (Ross-King) Appleford MM RRC is Notable.

Alice Ross-King MM AARC was born Alice Ross Ward on 5th August 1887 in Ballarat, Victoria (Australia). Her parents were Henrietta Ward and, it is presumed (he is not named on the birth registration, which was made in the mother's maiden name), Archibald Ross King. ^[1] She was christened Alys Ross King but started using Alice when she started nursing. Not long after they moved to Perth her father and two brothers drowned in an accident in the Swan River. ^{[citation needed][2]} Henrietta and Alice moved back to Ballarat, where Henrietta married James King in 1889.

Alice was a Nurse

Alice (Ross-King) Appleford MM RRC is an Anzac who served in World War One.

Alice (Ross-King) Appleford MM RRC is a Military Veteran.
Served in the Australian Imperial Force 1914-1919
1st Australian General Hospital; 10th Stationary Hospital; 2nd Casualty Clearing Station

Alice enlisted in the Australian Army Nursing Service (AANS) shortly after the (First World) War started. She changed her surname from Ross King to the hyphenated Ross-King to alleviate confusion with another AANS nurse named Alice King.

Sister Ross-King was posted overseas on November 1914 to serve with 1st Australian General Hospital (1st AGH), based at Heliopolis near Cairo, Egypt. She was soon after posted to an outstation at Suez established as a clearing station for casualties from the Gallipoli Campaign. At the end of 1915 she accompanied wounded troops returning home to Australia.

Having once more embarked for the Middle East, Alice was part of the 1st AGH when it moved to France in April 1916. 1st AGH was at Rouen and Alice nursed there including the Somme Campaign. In June 1917 she was posted to 10th Stationary Hospital at St Omer but after only a few weeks was posted again, this time to 2nd Casualty Clearing Station (2nd CCS) near Trois Arbres. On the 22nd of July the hospital was bombed. Four men were killed in the bombing and 15 others injured. Despite the fact the canvas tents had collapsed on her and the wounded she continued to care for the patients in the ward.

Alice Ross-King was awarded the Military Medal (MM), because of her actions during and after the raid, she was one of only seven AANS nurses to receive the MM during the war. Of the other six Military Medal awards, three were awarded to her colleagues at 2nd CCS for conduct during the same raid they were Sisters Dorothy Cawood and Clare Deacon, and Staff Nurse Mary Derrer. In May 1918 Ross-King was made an Associate of the Royal Red Cross and had also been mentioned in despatches. 1st AGH moved to England in January 1919 and embarked to return to Australia. On the way back to Australia she met fellow Victorian, Doctor Sydney Appleford.

Following a relatively brief courtship and engagement Alice and Sydney Appleford married in Aug 1919 in Victoria. ^[3] They had four children:

1. Isobel (1921-)
2. Alice Marion (1923-); married surname Sanders
3. John Marcus (1925-90)
4. Richard Sydney (1927-88)

Alice was discharged from the AANS in September 1919 and became involved in the training of Voluntary Aid Detachment (VAD) personnel in Victoria.

Alice (Ross-King) Appleford MM RRC is a Military Veteran.
Served in the Commonwealth Military Force 1939-1945
Voluntary Aid Detachment; Australian Army Medical Women's Service

When the Second World War started Alice enlisted into the VAD. In 1942, the Australian Army Medical Women's Service (AAMWS) was formed Alice Appleford was commissioned with the rank of Major and appointed senior assistant controller for Victoria responsible for all AAMWS in the state of Victoria.

Alice was awarded the highly distinguished Royal Red Cross (RRC) on 1st January 1945 for her exemplary service throughout the war. ^[4]

During her service Alice Ross-King was nominated for the Florence Nightingale Medal and was one of two Australian nurses to receive the medal in 1949.

Having been widowed for nine years and aged 81 years and twelve days, Alice passed away on 17th August 1968 in Cronulla, New South Wales. ^[5]

Legacy

An annual award is presented to a serving member of the Royal Australian Army Nursing Corps by the Ex-AAWMS Association to perpetuate Alice's memory. ^[6]

Medals, Honours, Awards

• 1917, Military Medal (MM)
• 1918, Royal Red Cross (2nd Class) (ARRC) ^[7]
• 1919, 1914–1915 Star
• 1919, British War Medal
• 1919, Victory Medal
• Mentioned in Despatches
• 1945, Royal Red Cross (RRC)
• 1949, Florence Nightingale Medal received from the International Committee of the Red Cross ^[8]

Research notes

There is no evidence that Christina Henrietta Ward was married to an Archibald Ross, nor Archibald Ross King. She married James King in 1889 in Ballarat. [Registry of Births, Deaths & Marriages, Victoria 4445/1889].

Author of biography for Sydney Theodore Appleford also had difficulty finding any primary record for Archibald Ross. http://gnet.geelongcollege.vic.edu.au:8080/wiki/APPLEFORD-Sydney-Theodore-1891-1959.ashx

Sources

1. ↑ Victoria Birth Index #16681/1887
2. ↑ record of this event has yet to be located - no confirmation can be found on the WA BDM
3. ↑ Victoria Marriage Index #7709/1919
4. ↑ Australian Honours: Royal Red Cross; accessed 30 Apr 2022
5. ↑ New South Wales Death Index #30818/1968; registered at Sutherland with parents listed as Archibald Ross King and Henrietta
6. ↑ Australian War Memorial: Major Alice Ross-King; accessed 30 Apr 2022
7. ↑ The London Gazette Publication date:31 May 1918 Supplement:30716 Page:6475 Awarded The Royal Red Cross Sister Alice Ross King
8. ↑ [https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/189460849# The Age (Melbourne, Vic. : 1854 - 1954) p. 2; Wednesday 28th September, 1949 The Florence Nightingale Medal was presented yesterday to Major Alice Ross Appleford

• Mudgee Guardian and North-Western Representative (NSW : 1890 - 1954) p.5; Thursday 4th October, 1917 Article Late Private J. C. Cox. HOW HE DIED. LETTERS FROM COLONEL AND NURSE.letters from Lieut.-Colonel Maguire and Sister Ross-King: — "9th Australian Field Ambulance,

• Weekly Times (Melbourne, Vic. : 1869 - 1954) p.10; Saturday 6th October, 1917 Article NURSES DISPLAY BRAVERY WORKING UNDER FIRE

• Weekly Times (Melbourne, Vic. : 1869 - 1954)p.32; Saturday 3rd May, 1941 Article Anzac Eve Reunion

• The Age (Melbourne, Vic. : 1854 - 1954) Wednesday 12th September, 1945 Article MAJOR ALICE APPLEFORD.Royal Red Cross, Military Medal,

• Trove Newspapers - Articles tagged Alice Ross King

• National Archives Australia: 6237441 National Archives of Australia - APPLEFORD ALICE ROSS : Service Number - V500148 : Date of birth - 05 Aug 1891 : Place of birth - BALLARAT VIC : Place of enlistment - V A D HEADQUARTERS VIC : Next of Kin - APPLEFORD S

• Discovering Anzacs.nas.gov.au - Alice Ross-King

• Anzac Day.org.au - The WW1 Nurses

• Women Australia - Appleford, Alys (Alice) Ross (1891 - 1968)

• Australian War Memorial -Transcript of diaries of Alice Ross-King, 1915-1919

See also

• Finnie, Lorna M. 'Ross-King, Alice (1887–1968)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, published first in hardcopy 1988, accessed online 8 Jun 2019. This article has been amended since its original publication. This article was first published in hardcopy in Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 11, (MUP), 1988.

• Wikipedia: Alice Ross-King.