MacKAY, Annie Johanna
(Service number 22/142)
| First Rank | Nurse | Last Rank | Sister |
|---|
Birth
| Date | 25/06/1880 | Place of Birth | Southland (at or near Invercargill) |
|---|
Enlistment Information
| Date | Age | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Address at Enlistment | Southland Hospital | ||
| Occupation | Nurse | ||
| Previous Military Experience | |||
| Marital Status | Single | ||
| Next of Kin | Leslie D. MacKAY (brother), Schoolhouse, Longbush, Southland; Miss Mary MacKAY (sister), The Hospital, Timaru | ||
Military Service
| Served with | NZ Armed Forces | Served in | Army |
|---|
Embarkation Information
| Body on Embarkation | H.S. "Maheno" | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Unit, Squadron, or Ship | N>Z. Army Nursing Service Corps | ||
| Date | 11 July 1915 | ||
| Transport | Maheno | ||
| Embarked From | Wellington | Destination | Suez, Egypt |
| Other Units Served With | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Last Unit Served With | NZ A.N.S.C. | ||
Military Awards
| Campaigns | Balkan (Salonika); Egyptian; Egyptian EF | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Service Medals | 1914-1915 Star; British War Meddal; Victory Medal | ||
Award Circumstances and Date
For valuable services in hospital in Great Britain towards the successful conduct of the War, April 1917; Hospital work - for valuable nursing services rendered in connection with the War, August 1918. For valuable nursing services in connection with the War, November 1918
Prisoner of War Information
| Date of Capture | |
|---|---|
| Where Captured and by Whom | |
| Actions Prior to Capture | |
| PoW Serial Number | |
| PoW Camps | |
| Days Interned | |
| Liberation Date |
Death
| Date | 6 November 1960 | Age | 80 years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Place of Death | Southland (Pahia) | ||
| Cause | |||
| Memorial or Cemetery | Eastern Cemetery, Invercargill | ||
| New Zealand Memorials | |||
Biographical Notes
Annie Johanna Mackay was born on 25 June 1880 at or near Invercargill, Southland, the eldest daughter of Eric Kenneth Findlater and Mary Stewart (née Cameron) Mackay. Her mother died in 1893 not long after the birth of ninth child. Her father, a schoolteacher, died in 1906. Annie trained at Southland Hospital, passed her State Examination and registered as a nurse in 1908.
Annie was engaged in private nursing when she was selected for staff on the Hospital Ship with the Army Nursing Corps, giving her last address as Southland Hospital. She named her brother as next-of-kin – Leslie D. Mackay, Schoolhouse, Longbush, Southland. When Leslie himself went on active service, her youngest sister was named as next-of-kin – Miss Mary Mackay, The Hospital, Timaru. Mary Lucy Mackay was doing her nursing training at Timaru Hospital, where she passed the State examinations in December 1920. Having commenced duty on 6 July 1915, Nurse A. J. Mackay embarked with the Hospital Ship, Maheno, on her first voyage on 11 July 1915, arriving at Suez on 16 August. Nurse Mackay was with No. 1 New Zealand Stationary Hospital aboard the Marquette when she was sunk in the Aegean Sea on 23 October 1915, and survived but lost ten of her nursing companions. She bravely went on nursing.
As of mid-1916, Staff Nurse Mackay was stationed at the Reception Station at Mustapha, Egypt. She afterwards nursed in military hospitals in England. Nurse A. J. Mackay was one of the New Zealand nurses who were mentioned, in April 1917, to the Secretary of State for War for valuable services in hospital in Great Britain. On 12 August 1918, the London Times recorded a list of nurses which included Sister A. J. Mackay, No. 2 N.Z. General Hospital, Walton-on-Thames, under the banner – “Recognition of Home Hospital Work”. In October 1918, Sister A. J. Mackay, N.Z. Convalescent Hospital, Hornchurch, was again mentioned for war services.
Miss Annie Johanna Mackay, New Zealand Army Nursing Service, a sister at the N.Z. Convalescent Hospital, Hornchurch, was awarded the Royal Red Cross in November 1918. Then Sister A. J. Mackay, 22/142, of Timaru, was on her way home. Draft No. 244, on board the “Arawa”, was due to reach Lyttelton on 12 May.
After her return, Annie nursed for a time at Trentham Military Hospital then returned to Southland and private nursing in about 1922. She had given well over four years of service in the war and was awarded the 1914-191 Star, the British War Medal and the Victory Medal. Her brother Leslie Donald Mackay enlisted in 1917, naming his youngest sister, Miss Mary Mackay, Hospital, Timaru, as next-of-kin. Annie Johanna, Emily May, Mary Lucy and Leslie Donald lived for much of their adult lives at Pahia. Their brother Eric Victor Mackay was killed in action in 1918 in France and is remembered on the Chatham Islands Memorial. John Mitchell Mackay, a sheep farmer in the Chatham Islands, was called up. Annie Johanna Mackay died on 6 November 1960, probably at Pahia. She was 80 years old and was buried at the Eastern Cemetery, Invercargill, with her parents, brother Leslie and two sisters, her brother Eric also remembered on the stone.
Sources
Auckland War Memorial Museum Cenotaph Database [31 May 2020]; NZ BDM Indexes (Department of Internal Affairs) [26 June 2023]; Eastern Cemetery, Invercargill headstone image & burial records (Invercargill City Council) [27 June 2023]; Kai Tiaki, 1 July 1908, 1 July 1915, 1 October 1915, 1 July 1916, 1 April 1917, 1 July 1917, 1 July 1919, NZ Times, 27 April 1917, Evening Post, 10 October 1918, 29 April 1919, Otago Daily Times, 23 November 1918, 29 April 1919, Press, 2 June , NZ Times, 4 & 25 June 1919, NZ Herald, 4 June 1919 (Papers Past) [2020; 27 & 28 June 2023]
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Researched and Written by
Teresa Scott, South Canterbruy Genealogy Society
Currently Assigned to
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Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License unless otherwise stated.
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