Lorna Rattray
{{Short description|New Zealand nurse (1875–1915)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Lorna Aylmer Rattray
| image =Staff Nurses Catherine Anne Fox - Mary Helen Rae - Lorna Aylmer Rattray - The Sphere 22 April 1916.jpg
| alt =
| caption = Staff Nurses Catherine Anne Fox - Mary Helen Rae - Lorna Aylmer Rattray from The Sphere 22 April 1916
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1875|01|10|df=y}}
| birth_place =
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1915|10|23|1875|01|10|df=y}}
| death_place =
| death_cause = Sinking of SS Marquette
| nationality = New Zealand
| occupation = Nurse
| years_active =
| known_for =
}}
Lorna Aylmer Rattray (10 January 1875 – 23 October 1915) was a New Zealand nurse who served in the First World War and died when the SS Marquette was torpedoed and sunk in 1915.{{Cite web|url=http://www.nzwargraves.org.nz/news/marquette-sinking-centenary|title=The Marquette Sinking Centenary {{!}} New Zealand Wargraves Project|website=www.nzwargraves.org.nz|access-date=2016-06-27}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.nzwargraves.org.nz/casualties/lorna-aylmer-rattray|title=Lorna Aylmer Rattray {{!}} New Zealand Wargraves Project|website=www.nzwargraves.org.nz|access-date=2016-07-02}}
Early life
Rattray was born in Dunedin.{{Cite web|url=http://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/359733/trust-fund-helping-nurses-century|title=Trust fund helping nurses for a century {{!}} Otago Daily Times Online News : Otago, South Island, New Zealand & International News|website=www.odt.co.nz|date=18 October 2015 |access-date=2016-07-02}} After qualifying, Rattray nursed in Christchurch.
First World War
In July 1915, Rattray enlisted in the New Zealand Army Nursing Service and left Wellington on board the SS Maheno. The ship sailed to Port Said, Egypt, and the contingent of nurses worked in a stationary hospital there. In October 1915 she was on board the SS Marquette when it was torpedoed by a German submarine and sunk.
= Recognition =
Two years after her death, the Otago Nurses' Association created the New Zealand Nurses' Memorial Fund in memorial to Rattray and fellow Otago Marquette victim, Mary Rae. Donations from the medical community in Dunedin started the fund, which aimed to be a practical fund of "people helping people". Most grants are given to retired nurses who are struggling financially.
Rattray is named on the Mikra British Cemetery in Greece and in the Nurses' Memorial Chapel at Christchurch Hospital.{{Cite web|url=http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~nzlscant/marquette.htm|title='Marquette'. Thirty-one New Zealanders died on 23 Oct. 1915.|website=www.rootsweb.ancestry.com|access-date=2016-06-26}} She is also remembered in the Five Sisters window at York Minster
There is a commemorative plaque to Rattray in St. Matthew's Church, Dunedin.
= Film =
In 2014, actress Robyn Paterson played Lorna Rattray in the Australian television mini series ANZAC Girls, appearing in the episodes "Duty" and "Endurance".{{Cite web|url=http://www.australiantelevision.net/anzac-girls/cast.html|title=Australian Television: ANZAC Girls: cast|website=www.australiantelevision.net|access-date=2016-12-30}}
References
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Category:New Zealand military nurses
Category:Female nurses in World War I
Category:19th-century New Zealand people
Category:New Zealand women in World War I
Category:Nurses killed in World War I
Category:Sinking of the SS Marquette