‘Nurse or not? The Voluntary Aid Detachment and Australian Army Medical Women’s Service during the Second World War

War Studies Seminar Series

Some 8500 women served in the Australian Army with the Voluntary Aid Detachment (VAD) and then the Australian Army Medical Women’s Service (AAMWS) during the Second World War. Their story has often been omitted from histories of Australia in the war, largely because of difficulties in differentiating the servicewomen working in an auxiliary service to support nursing staff from the Australian Army Nursing Service.

While clear distinctions existed, such as their training, technical acumen, uniform, and the power of military hierarchy, many women serving in the VAD/AAMWS came to assume – and were often expected to assume – the role of nurse trainees in military hospitals.

To regain agency and identity, the VAD/AAMWS had to contend to create a separation from the trained nurses, both as an army service and individually as servicewomen, and challenge the gendered narrative that their work was ‘domestic’ and akin to the duties of the housewife. Nevertheless, their work still garnered little attention, and the issue of whether they were nurses or not continues to complicate their story.

This paper is an extract from Dr Smeaton’s first book, Nursing Aids at War (Cambridge University Press, 2026), which traces the training, opportunities and experiences of VAD/AAMWS servicewomen during the Second World War, and the effect their work had on these women, the military medical system, and the nursing profession in Australia more broadly.

This is a hybrid event, and Zoom details will be shared upon registration.

Speaker

Dr Jason Smeaton is a social historian of Australian servicewomen. His PhD thesis, Nurse or Not? (Australian Catholic University, 2023) examined the gendered experience of women who served in the Australian Army as nursing orderlies during the Second World War. Dr Smeaton’s first monograph, Nursing Aids at War, was published by Cambridge University Press in 2026. Dr Smeaton currently works as Historian and Publications Manager with the Australian Army History Unit and is a Visiting Fellow at UNSW Canberra. He continues to research and publish on Australian women’s history with particular focus on feminist issues and women’s history of the Australian Army.

Additional information:
Registration is required for this event. If you require accessibility accommodations or a visitor Personal Emergency Evacuation Plan please email bell.marketing@anu.edu.au. Accessible parking spaces are available around campus should you require them.

View more of our upcoming events here, or sign up for our monthly mailing list to stay connected.  Facebook | LinkedIn | Bluesky | Instagram | YouTube 

TEQSA Provider ID: PRV12002 (Australian University) | CRICOS Provider Code: 00120C