2/5 Aust General Hospital

2/5TH AUSTRALIAN GENERAL HOSPITAL
GRETA, DARWIN, SYDNEY, MIDDLE EAST
ADELAIDE, ARMIDALE, NEW GUINEA,
BATHURST, INGLEBURN, MOROTAI
IN AUSTRALIA DURING WWII

The 1,200 bed 2/5th Australian General Hospital was formed at Greta in New South Wales in June 1940. They sent a Detachment of 33 personnel to Darwin in the Northern Territory on 10 July 1940. They were joined enroute in Brisbane by six nurses. The main unit of the 2/5th AGH relocated to Sydney Showgrounds in September 1940 and departed by the "Queen Mary" on 20 October 1940 for the Middle East.

After their arrival in the Middle East in November 1940 they assembled at Gaza Ridge in Palestine. They relocated to Rehovot in December 1940. The Detachment from Darwin rejoined the unit at Rehovot in February 1941. The 2/5th AGH moved to Ekali, near Athens in Greece in April 1941 after the start of the German invasion. When the evacuation of Greece was ordered, the 2/5th AGH was ordered to continue operating and many personnel remained and became POWs. The remnants of the unit landed at Canea in Crete and were withdrawn before the German offensive.

They assembled at Kilo 89 in Palestine in May 1941 to rebuild the unit and they absorbed the 2/3rd General Hospital which recently arrived from the United Kingdom. The 2/5th AGH moved to Asmara in Eritrea in September 1941 where they received patients from hospital ships and looked after British and Indian troops. The 2/5th AGH withdrew to Palestine in December 1941.

After war broke out in the Pacific, the 2/5th AGH left the Middle East in February 1942 arriving in Adelaide, South Australia in March 1942. They relocated to Armidale in New South Wales in April 1942 under the command of DMS First Australian Army. The 2/5th AGH was sent to Port Moresby in December 1942 and joined up with the 2/9th General Hospital where they established a new hospital site at Bootless Inlet. The 2/5th AGH moved to Bathurst in New South Wales in May 1944 for refitting and training. They relocated to Ingleburn in August 1944.

The 2/5th left New South Wales in March 1945 and arrived at Morotai in Borneo on board the 2/1 Hospital Ship Manunda in April 1945 where they absorbed the 8th Hospital Laundry Unit in May 1945. They operated at Morotai through to the end of WWII.

Australian Army Nursing Service personnel from the 2/5th AGH
boarding the Hospital Ship Manunda in Sydney on 4 April 1945.

1 Lt D.E. Mullins, 2 Lt M. Gray, 3 Lt. E.M. Doyle, 4 Lt. J.M. Doran,
7 Lt M. Lavis, 8 Lt. M.I. Boyd, 9 Lt. D. Bell, 10 Lt G.M. Baker

The 2/5th AGH ceased to function on 20 October 1945. Over 1,400 men and women served in the 2/5th AGH including over 60 doctors, over 300 nursing sisters, 18 physiotherapists, and over 160 AAMWS personnel. Probably in excess of 15,000 patients were treated.

Elspeth Jane Margaret Rue QX45032 was one of the many ladies who served with the Australian Army Medical Women's Service AAMWS in the 2/5th AGH in Morotai during WWII.

I'd like to thank Ross Armour, the nephew of Elspeth Jane Margaret Rue QX45032, for his assistance with this web page. Elspeth Jane Margaret Rue (later Elspeth Bothwell) was a member of the 2/5th AGH in Morotai.

"The Unit Guide, The Australian Army 1939 - 1945, Volume 4 of 6, Medical and Signals Units", by Graham R. McKenzie-Smith AM

"Proudly We Served, Stories of the 2/5th Australian General Hospital in Australia and overseas, in battle areas and behind German lines in war-torn Europe" by Innes Brodziak

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