Objects of Substance- Sports Honour Board

1908 Sr Grace Wilson (1898) Also on the honour board is the name of one of Girls Grammar’s most illustrious past students: Grace Wilson [1898]. Her name is celebrated under the 1914 – 1918 list. In 1915, Grace Wilson departed on the SS Mooltan for Lemnos, an island situated in the Aegean Sea off Greece, where she was appointed Principal Matron of 3 rd Australian General Hospital. She went on to nurse at Abbasia (Cairo), London, and in France on the Somme. Her service would not end with the First World War. During World War II, Grace was posted to the Middle East. She was awarded the Royal Red Cross Medal First Class, Commander (Military) of the Order of the British Empire and the Florence Nightingale Medal. Another alumnae is May Hardcastle (1929). She is commemorated under the 1939-1945 Army division. May joined the VAD (Voluntary Aide Detachment) in 1941 and became a sergeant in the Australian Medical Service from 1942 to 1946, which included a stint in Motatai. May was an elite tennis player, BGGS Sports Brooch recipient, and a national champion by 1940, but her sporting career, along with her dream to see Wimbledon, the Olympic Games, and America was interrupted by the war.

1942 May Hardcastle VAD