General News
14 March, 2026
Eleanor Kathleen Moyle
VETRAN'S VOICES: Eleanor Kathleen Moyle was born in 1880 at Laen, Victoria.
Her parents were Stephen Thomas Moyle and Jane nee Clarke.
Before enlisting, Eleanor Kathleen Moyle’s occupation was a trained nurse.
Eleanor enlisted July 29.
Joining the Australian Army Nursing Service as a staff nurse. Her age was 28.
During her service, she worked at the Caulfield Military Hospital in Melbourne and served in France.
Eleanor Moyle formally enlisted in the AIF on December 6, 1916, the same day that she embarked for overseas service aboard HMAT A67 Orsova.
HMAT A67 Orsova was requisitioned as a troop ship in 1915.
On March 14, 1917, she was damaged by a mine laid by German submarine UC-68 and beached in Cornwall, but was repaired in Devonport and resumed passenger service on the UK to Australia route in 1919.
Also, on board the troopship was 21-year-old 2nd Lieutenant (later Lieutenant) Noel Ernest Lakin of the 40th Battalion.
The couple fell in love and, at some point during the war, became engaged.
On July 11, 1917, Eleanor contracted Diphtheria Mild.
The Orsova docked in Plymouth, England on February 17, 1917.
Moyle arrived in France at the end of the month, where she was posted to the 14th Stationary Hospital at Rouen until September, when she transferred to the 2nd Australian General Hospital.
In 1918, she served at several British hospitals in France.
On leaving hospital 14th Stat Hosp on December 31, 1918, Staff Nurse Moyle was “Promoted to rank of Sister”.
On March 24, 1919, as a Sister AANS, Eleanor was taken on strength (T.O.S.) AIF HQ London (N.M.E.)
In March 1919, while Moyle was in England, her elder brother, 39-year-old Driver Edwin James Moyle, who had served in 4th Field Artillery Brigade, married 25-year-old Stella Valetta Adair, who claimed to be pregnant by him.
However, no child was born of their marriage.
To Sister Moyle's thinking, the scandal was such that she broke off her engagement to Lakin and remained in England until September, undertaking horticulture training at the Reverend J H Pemberton's nursery at Romford, which specialised in the development of hybrid roses.
The 'scandal' that had enveloped the Moyle family was compounded by the arrival of her brother's wife, Stella, aboard the Mooltan at the beginning of February 1920.
She immediately ran off with one of the ship's stewards with whom she had formed a liaison during the voyage.
Her husband, who denied paternity of her child born in December 1920, was granted a divorce in 1921.
Returned to Australia per Konig Louis on February 4, 1920, on the Nursing Staff. Eleanor disembarked 3MD February 4, 1920, and on July 4, 1920, Sister AANS was discharged AIF 3MD (T.P.E.)
Eleanor Moyle was entitled to the British War Medal (B.W.M.No.61016) B2455* Victory Medal (V.M.No.59564) B2455 November 28, 1916.
Ellie Moyle and Noel Lakin were later reunited and married in Victoria in 1927 and settled in Hobart.
Their only child, a son, was born the following year, but did not long survive his birth.
Eleanor Kathleen Moyle died in Hobart, Tasmania on January 14, 1963, at age 69.
Eleanor was cremated at Cornelian Bay Cemetery on January 17, 1963.
Her ashes are buried at Cornelian Bay Cemetery, Derwent Gardens, Australia Imperial Forces Arch Section 5 4 C
The Australian War Memorial in Canberra have in its collection a cushion is associated with the service of Sister Eleanor Kathleen (Ellie) Moyle, born in Douglas, Victoria.
This Salmon pink silk chiffon cushion cover, with a backing of white cotton lawn which forms a pocket to hold a cushion insert, hand embroidered with crossed French and Australian flags within a garland of pink flowers and green leaves.
'Souvenir de' is embroidered in a darker salmon pink immediately above the flags, and 'France' beneath them.
Each corner bears a silk ribbon bow in the same shade as the cover.
The cover is edged with a broad border of machine-made cotton lace.
Lakin is assumed to have given this embroidery to Moyle during their service in France.
Caulfield Hospital
In 1915, the federal government acquired a white mansion on Kooyong Road.
It had been built and served as the townhouse of the Riverina pastoralist Henry Ricketson and his family.
No 11 Australian General Hospital was opened on April 17, 1916, in the building.
It was the largest of the three Victorian repatriation hospitals operated by the federal government during World War I.
The Australian Red Cross built a 'rest home' near the original building in August 1916, where Red Cross volunteers could tend to recuperating servicemen.
In May 1917, a new tennis court was opened on the grounds.
The facility was re-opened as the Kooyong Military Hospital on March 18, 1918.
A committee led by Mrs. Morris, wife of the Mayor of Caulfield, raised funds for the hospital in 1925.
Nurses' residence 'Caulfield House' opened in 1936 and was expanded in 1937.
The hospital was known at various times as Caulfield Convalescent Hospital, Caulfield Repatriation Hospital and General Military Hospital at Caulfield.
In 1948, the state government's Alfred Hospital assumed management of much of the facility.
The original mansion was demolished in 1965, and the Victorian government purchased the last parts of the site from the federal Repatriation Department.
The state then opened the Southern Memorial Hospital at the site in 1968.
In 1979, the Red Cross Rest Home was renovated and transferred to the state government. This became the Montgomery Nursing Home in 2001.
The building was granted a heritage listing by the state government in 2016.
The hospital continues to operate on its original site today, as Caulfield Hospital.
It retains a focus on rehabilitation.
Services
Caulfield Hospital maintains a primary focus on rehabilitation and care.
In particular, the hospital provides aged care services, rehabilitation centres for patients affected by brain injuries, care for amputees, and general mental health services, with a specialised aged mental health department.
