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Linen cloth, embroidered with the names of medical staff, nurses and crew of H.M. New Zealand Hospital Ship 'Maheno' on her first voyage

Object | Part of History collection

GH017818; Linen cloth, embroidered with the names of medical staff, nurses and crew of H.M. New Zealand Hospital Ship 'Maheno' on her first voyage.; July-August 1915; Various
GH017818; Linen cloth, embroidered with the names of medical staff, nurses and crew of H.M. New Zealand Hospital Ship 'Maheno' on her first voyage; July-August 1915; Various ; detail 01
GH017818; Linen cloth, embroidered with the names of medical staff, nurses and crew of H.M. New Zealand Hospital Ship 'Maheno' on her first voyage; July-August 1915; Various ; detail 02
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item details

NameLinen cloth, embroidered with the names of medical staff, nurses and crew of H.M. New Zealand Hospital Ship 'Maheno' on her first voyage
ProductionVarious; embroiderer; July-August 1915
Classificationcommemoratives, embroidery
Materialslinen, cotton, cardboard
DimensionsOverall: 565mm (width), 585mm (height)
Registration NumberGH017818
Credit lineGift of Wellington Returned & Services Association, 2014

Overview

A reproduction of this cloth is on display at Te Papa in Gallipoli: The scale of our war.

It memorialises a crucial aspect of New Zealand's participation in the First World War, the work of nurses, medical personnel and crew of the hospital ships which New Zealand sent to the aid of sick and wounded soldiers. While the names embroidered on the cloth relate specifically to the first voyage of His Majesty's New Zealand Hospital Ship SS Maheno, New Zealand's first hospital ship, the cloth has a wider significance commemorating in general the work of our medical services, especially nurses, during the war.