Family to walk in Anzac Day parade to honour decorated WWI nurse Major Alice Ross-King

TWO cousins will create family history in Saturday’s Anzac Day parade when they become the first to walk in their grandparents’ honour in 100 years.

Maggie Johnson and Mark Appleford wearing their grandparents WWI medals at Shrine. Picture: Jay Town

TWO cousins will create family history in Saturday’s Anzac Day parade when they become the first family members to walk in their grandparents’ honour in 100 years.

Maggie Johnson, of Melbourne, and Mark Appleford, of Geelong, said the decision to join the Anzac Day parade this year had stemmed from renewed interest in their grandparents’ war achievements over the past few years.

“It’s a significant year and interest has grown — not just for us, but the centenary has captured the attention of all Australians,” Mr Appleford said.

Ballarat-born Major Alice Ross-King is Australia’s most highly decorated woman to serve in either World War I or World War II.

Her story is recapturing the public imagination as part of the AnzacLive project — and she also featured in ABC’s Anzac Girls and is featured as part of the Women of Empire costume exhibition at Geelong’s National Wool Museum until May 22.

An army nurse with the 1st Australian General Hospital in Egypt, she went on to win a Military Medal for her bravery in saving patients during a bombing raid in 1917 — becoming one of only seven nurses of the Australian Army Nursing Service to be awarded this medal during WWI.

In 1918 she was also honoured with the Associate Royal Red Cross medal, and was awarded the Florence Nightingale medal in 1949.

Maj Ross-King met her husband, Dr Sydney Appleford, on her return voyage to Australia in 1919 and the couple settled in the rural town of Lang Lang, in Victoria’s South Gippsland, where together they ran a private hospital.

After moving to NSW in the mid-1960s following her husband’s death, Maj Ross-King lived with her daughter, Alice ‘Marion’ Sanders, and her two grandchildren.

Ms Johnson fondly recalls time spent living with her grandmother as a teenager.

“If you asked, she would chat about the war … she talked about the incident she won her Military Medal for, walking across the duckboard and falling in the hole, helping the soldier only to have his (lower leg) limb fall off into her arms,” Ms Johnson said.

Alice Ross-King’s husband Dr Sydney Appleford served in both world wars.

While his grandfather had passed away before he was born, Mr Appleford recalls talking with his dad John about Dr Sydney Appleford’s war stories.

“I think Sydney was hardened by his experiences and didn’t part with a lot,” he said.

Despite Maj Ross-King leaving behind a nursing legacy, with an annual Royal Australian Army Nursing Corps award still presented in her honour, just one family member became a nurse — her daughter, Marion, who also trained at The Alfred hospital in Melbourne.

Follow and interact with Alice Ross-King in real-time as her World War I diary is brought to life on Facebook as part of AnzacLive. Find her at facebook.com/anzaclivealice and other real characters at anzaclive.com.au

Join our live blog from 8am AEST on Saturday, April 25, on newspaper websites nationally.

Originally published as Family to walk in Anzac Day parade to honour decorated WWI nurse Major Alice Ross-King