The foundation was established in Australia by the Kiwi-born ophthalmologist (eye doctor) to treat eye problems in poorer countries. Within six years, 200,000 people had their sight restored through cataract surgery.
Doctors
Events In History
3 May 1897
Margaret Cruickshank, the first female doctor registered in New Zealand, practised in Waimate, South Canterbury, until her death from influenza in 1918.
Articles
New Zealand and Le Quesnoy
It was the New Zealand Division's final action of the First World War. On 4 November 1918, just a week before the Armistice was signed, New Zealand troops stormed the walled French town of Le Quesnoy. The 90 men killed were among the last of the 12,483 who fell on the Western Front. Read the full article
Page 4 - Battle accounts, Lieutenant Averill
Leslie Cecil Lloyd Averill is best remembered for his exploits during the liberation of Le Quesnoy on 4 November
Armistice Day
After four terrible years, fighting in the First World War finally ended with the signing of an armistice between Germany and the Allies on 11 November 1918. New Zealanders celebrated enthusiastically, despite having recently celebrated the surrenders of the three other Central Powers and the premature news of an armistice with Germany. Read the full article
Page 5 - Armistice Day and the flu
The influenza pandemic dampened some armistice celebrations, particularly in
Hospital ships
The Maheno and Marama were the poster ships of New Zealand's First World War effort. Until 1915 these steamers had carried passengers on the Tasman route. But as casualties mounted at Gallipoli, the government - helped by a massive public fundraising campaign - converted them into state-of-the-art floating hospitals. Read the full article
Page 4 - Civilians at Gallipoli
The Maheno arrived in the Mediterranean in time for the Allies’ bloody late August 1915 offensives to find that not much had improved since the April
Page 5 - Life on board
What was life like aboard a hospital ship? That largely depended on your job, your rank and your
Medical Units
The New Zealand Expeditionary Force was supported by a broad network of medical services in the First World War Read the full article
Page 1 - Medical Units of the NZEF
The New Zealand Expeditionary Force was supported by a broad network of medical services in the First World
Biographies
Biography of doctor, politician and anthropologist Peter Buck (Te Rangi Hīroa)
Margaret Cruickshank was the first woman to be registered as a doctor in New Zealand. She worked tirelessly during the 1918 influenza pandemic but eventually caught the disease herself and died on 28 November 1918.
A stalwart of Wellington political life, Featherston served as provincial Superintendent and later served as a member of the House of Representatives, colonial secretary and minister without portfolio.
Largely forgotten today, Daniel Pollen was considered a ‘safe man’ and a good administrator. In July 1875 he took over the premiership from Sir Julius Vogel, absent in Germany, although Harry Atkinson really ran things.
At Green Lane Hospital Barratt-Boyes pioneered new surgical techniques involving the replacement of defective heart valves.
Dr Doug Jolly pioneered mobile emergency surgery during the Spanish Civil War. He is described by US medical historian David Adamas as ‘one of the most notable war surgeons of the 20th century’.
Main image: Margaret Cruickshank
Margaret Cruickshank, New Zealand's first registered woman doctor,
pictured at her graduation from University of Otago Medical
School, circa 1897.
