A collection of unique photos is now in the local history collection at Yarra Plenty Regional Library. The Alice Elizabeth Broadhurst collection includes over 255 photos from about 1918-1920 depicting the 16th Australian General Hospital, Mont Park (Macleod West, now part of La Trobe University and the Springthorpe Community). The albums were compiled and owned by Australian Red Cross nurse, Alice Elizabeth Broadhurst (1896-1981), probably while working with the Voluntary Aid Detachment. Many of the photos depict her time there, including nursing staff, patients, buildings, group gatherings, a visit by General Birdwood and the end of the service of the hospital as a military hospital in 1920 when the military patients started to leave. In addition the albums include photos of her childhood home in Western Australia, her parents’ home “Heatherleigh” in Tunstall and hospitals she later worked at in Melbourne and Bendigo.
The featured photo on this article is one to the photos from the Alice Broadhurst collection
Photos have been digitised and can be accessed at Yarra Plenty Local History Flickr and via Trove Pictures.
To learn more about the Military Hospital at Mont Park access this list via Trove .
