ANZAC Girls: Australian and New Zealand Nurses, World War I

14,892 · October 2, 2016

For those who have not heard, Australian TV has been producing some excellent period piece mini-series lately.

My wife and I are halfway through ANZAC Girls, a product of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

"ANZAC Girls is a six part Australian drama which follows the lives of a group of nurses from Australian and New Zealand as they serve during the war (World War I). The stories are taken from real letters, diaries, photographs, and documents. Over the course of the series, the nurses serve in a variety of locations, such as Egypt, the Greek island of Lemnos, and France, and treat men as they arrive from campaigns such as Gallipoli, the Dardanelles, and the Somme. It was not only an exciting show following a cast of brilliant characters, with brilliant writing and performances from all the cast, but also an excellent retelling of the lives of people during the War."

Source: https://inkdropsreviews.wordpress.com/2015/07/10/review-anzac-girls/

The background material on the DVD said the network wanted to find a series that would commemorate the 100th anniversary of World War 1, but "did not want to get stuck in the trenches."

ANZAC-Girls very powerfully shows the role of women on the very edge of the fighting. While not dispatched to the front line, they were close enough to endure many of the hardships.

The carnage of the Great War is shown in explicit detail as the nurses patch up the fighting men of their country only to watch them sent into the fray over and over. In the Gallipoli campaign, disease eventually became more deadly than the enemy.

If all of this were not bad enough, the nurses had to struggle to establish their credibility both with the medical profession as well as the military. Often enough they were told they were not needed, that male medical orderlies were sufficient to fill their role.

There is adventure, patriotism, sadness, devotion and cracking under the stress and strain. And it is all portrayed in a very realistic manner.

If you are looking for a series that will give a feel for the experience of World War 1, this is well worth your view. Unfortunately, I don't believe we have a similar American based series on any aspect of the war in the works. For now, we will have to rely on our Allies to tell the story.

Photos:

https://neilcommonplacebook.wordpress.com/2014/08/11/anzac-girls-last-night-on-abc/

http://revistasenal.com/contenidos/more4-adquirio-los-derechos-de-emision-de-anzac-girls.html