By LACHLAN MOORHEAD
HARKAWAY always served as a constant in the life of nurse Jessie Traill, both before and after her service in World War I.
When one pores over notes gathered by the Narre Warren and District Family History Group, it’s clear that in her later life the talented artist Jessie spent much of her time at home in Harkaway, finding sanctuary in the five-acre bush block she had bought in 1912 with her sister, Elsie.
Sanctuary, perhaps, from the three-and-a-half years of service she’d given as a Red Cross Voluntary Aid Detachment Nurse (VAD) at the military hospital in Rouyen, France, from 1915.
Jessie and her friend, Isobel ‘Iso’ Rae, are believed to be the only two Australian women to paint and live in France during the war years.
While neither woman was included as an Official Australian War Artist, both have examples of their work displayed in the Australian War Memorial in Canberra.
While stationed in France Jessie witnessed a local village become almost completely destroyed as the war raged on.
She gathered what money she had and put it towards rebuilding the small town.
For several years after this the French mayor and town band would escort Jessie to her hotel.
It seemed she was not just a hero in the eyes of Australians, but the French as well.
When her war service finished, its legacy was never far from Jessie’s mind. Nurse Traill was responsible for planting an avenue of flowering eucalyptus on either side of Harkaway Road, north of the roundabout, in memory of the nurses who had lost their lives during the Great War.
After the war Jessie, who never married, had an art studio built adjacent to her Harkaway home.
She held many exhibitions in which the proceeds were given to various charities, including those associated with the nursing profession.
During the 1960s Jessie’s studio was sold to Helen Leslie Hudson, a friend of hers who was also another passionate female artist. Helen kept the studio in use until 2005.
Jessie’s land in Harakway has since been heritage-listed, while part of it was also purchased by the City of Casey, and part of it donated to the Harkaway community.
Today it’s known as the Jessie Traill Reserve at King Road in Harkaway, an enduring testament to the landscape she was inspired by.
On Anzac Day, 1959, a permanent memorial was erected in honour of Harkaway’s First World War soldiers.
Nurse Traill is said to have laid a wreath at the memorial stone, which now honours her legacy alongside that of the 25 soldiers who served in WWI.
Jessie, a dedicated parishioner of the Anglican Christ Church in Berwick, passed away on 15 May 1967 at Dunbar Private Hospital in Emerald.
She was 86.
The Berwick Christ Church erected a bell tower in the wake of her death, which was updated in 2009.
As recently as last year, a retrospective exhibition of Jessie’s art work was held at the National Gallery of Australia.
