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Hospital Blues
Video
This brief clip shows soldiers feeding hens and gathering eggs in an unidentified New Zealand hospital in 1918 in the United Kingdom. Their lemon squeezer hats identify them as New Zealanders and their uniforms further identify them as hospital patients. Known as the “hospital blues” (also as convalescent blues, or hospital undress) the single-breasted suit and trousers uniform was made out of flannel material of an Oxford-Blue colour, with a white shirt and red tie.
The hospital blues served a number of functions and were important within the hospital environment. In the first instance, they were a replacement for dirty and often infested uniforms and therefore helped to improve hygiene and cleanliness. They were also a way to distinguish the patients from doctors, nurses and visitors and enabled the administration to maintain discipline and rank. The hospital blues also worked as a form of social control, as publicans were not allowed to sell liquor to men in the blues.
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The Australian Red Cross in action
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Nurses from the Australian Red Cross serve tea and refreshments to returned soldiers, including those injured and in convalescence.
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Occupational Therapy
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Returned Australian soldiers in convalescence are shown to be in good spirits as they hand-craft objects from wooden materials.
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The Choice is Yours
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A government film gives hope of rehabilitation to the returning war veteran.
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With the Aid of the Red Cross
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Veterans returning in wheelchairs and with missing limbs gave Australians at home their first sight of the true cost of modern warfare.
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Anzac Hospitals at Home
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Returned servicemen engage in handicrafts, music-making and a degree of flirting with nurses while convalescing in an Anzac hospital.
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New Zealand soldiers recover from battle wounds
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After being wounded in battle, many Anzac soldiers were shipped to England to recover. Once their injuries healed, they were sent to convalescent camps around the country to restore them to fighting fitness. This short film shows New Zealanders at a convalescent camp taking part in training exercises to improve their fitness. As the film shows, training was not all hard work, and they certainly had some fun at the camps.