Anzac Girls

I just loved this series and watched it in one go, I have been telling everyone about it!!!! There are some pretty gruesome scenes of wounds, but that's what happened. I had no idea how many women were involved in WW1, what a culture shock it would have been for anyone, but women who had been sheltered as they would have been must have struggled. One thing is for sure though, they were tougher that I would be, NO WAY could I have done what they did. It humbled me, we don't appreciate how lucky we are. So my final words - watch it, beautifully written and filmed.

An excellent series sharing the stories and experience of the amazing ANZAC nurses. Each episode has a focus on a particular nurse and her experience of the war - whether it be adventure, romance, opportunity, the depths of grief or the sheer exhaustion of nursing the wounded day after day. It provides an important insight into the essential work of these women who put their lives on the line in so many ways. I was particularly inspired by the story of Sister Olive Haynes and her great generosity of spirit, commitment to serve and big heart for all the men she cared for. Matron Wilson, too, was an exceptional woman who demonstrated inspirational leadership, compassion and determination in the face of enormous hardship and challenge. A very moving series, well acted - a great Aussie production we can be proud to watch.

A number of the reviews here have taken issue with the nurses flirting etc in the early episodes. I don't see this as being inconsistent with their roles, most of these were young women in their early twenties many of them away from home for the first time. These were the girls that would have left fairly repressive by todays standards home so the fact they may have been interested in the blokes isn't really a surprise. As the series went on all of the characters got more sad and wise as anyone in that situation would. The book The Other Anzacs is a very good read and this show follows it fairly faithfully.

I think this is worth a look if nothing else for the way Nurse Alice Ross King gives the VD lecture.

I don't fully understand why some reviewers thought the script and dialogue was cringeworthy. I have just finished re reading and cataloguing in excess of 150 letters written to my grandma from Gallipoli, Egypt and the trenches of France during WW1, most of them from my grandfather, and several of his "cobbers". The series script echoes a lot of these letters' dialogue and terminology - taking leave in "old Blighty", referring to the enemy as "fritz", and so many Aussie terms and phrases from that era - bonzer, cobber, doing the trick, doing their bit for King and Country, kiddo, and many more. The dialogue could have been almost copied from my grandpa's letters. Loved the series.

I loved this series and didn't want it to end (not the war, I was well ready for it to end, but not the acquaintances with these phenomenal women). This series is brilliantly told and performed. It is the story of five real women who served the Australian and New Zealand war effort as nurses, researched through their journals and letters, at the time. The actors fully embody their characters and win our hearts. From the fledgling excitement of their new postings to the decent into the midst of the horrors of war, their tales are told. Greg Haddrick, Executive Producer, summed up this 6 hour limited TV series rather nicely, "...after watching it you have experienced the pointlessness of war and are left with a feeling that human compassion and decency toward each other is more important than many other things in life." I can't speak highly enough of this production, it just did everything right. I give it a 10 (brilliant) out of 10. {Historical War Drama}