Nurse Florence Mundie

During World War II, a British Red Cross nurse named Florence Mundie (1896-1987), spent time in New Zealand. She was returning to the United Kingdom after bringing 500 evacuated children to Australia. The British Red Cross had selected Mundie to help as a nurse for the voyage, where hundreds of evacuated children were brought to Australia. The voyage to Australia spanned 64 days, leaving from Liverpool on August the 14^th of 1940 and arriving on October the 16^th of the same year.

After the children were landed in Australia, Mundie journeyed to New Zealand to board the MS Rangitane for the trip home. During her time in New Zealand waiting to return home, Mundie visited various places including Rotorua. Mundie boarded the Rangitane a few days early and departed on Sunday, November the 24^th 1940.

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The voyage only began the next morning, but the crew and passengers would soon pass the meridian, giving them a second Sunday. Time aboard the ship was spent relaxing, but this was short-lived, because at 3.45am (as noted by Mundie in her unpublished memoir in the collection of the National Museum of the Royal New Zealand Navy) on Tuesday 27^th November the Rangitane was attacked by the German Raiders KMS Orion and KMS Komet.

When the MS Rangitane sank, Mundie was amongst those who survived the explosions of the bombing, but the event had left her with severe injuries. With numerous burns on her body, and her chin injured worst of all, she managed to escape along with almost 300 others from the ship.

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The survivors, including Mundie, were taken on board from lifeboats to the German ships and became prisoners-of-war. Mundie was badly wounded in the jaw, because of the explosion of a German shell. She was fully conscious as she was treated on the German ship and her chin stitched. For days, Mundie lived on the German ship, struggling to heal her wounds. After a month as prisoners on board the raiders, the Germans decided to leave most of the prisoners on an island called Emirau in the Bismarck Archipelago. Mundie was part of the group left on the island.

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The group arrived at the island on December the 21^st 1940. As they were waiting for the German boats to transfer the rest of the survivors from the ships to the shore, the group had decided to stay around the boathouse. In the late afternoon, a truck came for the wounded. Mundie and her group were transferred to the home of Mr and Mrs Cooke who managed the copra plantation. They remained there until December 29^th 1940.  The stranded people were transported from Kiering, then on SS Nellore to Sydney to receive further medical treatment. Mundie was in the hospital for four weeks before travelling to New Zealand and then on to England. She safely arrived in England during the December holiday season of 1941.

Nurse Florence Mundie retired, spending her days painting. The artworks were often scenes from her memories of the voyage. One of her paintings depicts what she describes as ‘the most terrible moment of her life’ as she experienced the shelling. Mundie also wrote a memoir about her experiences after returning, further sharing her story as she was featured in numerous New Zealand and Australian news articles.

In 2025, Our Health Journeys continued our partnership with Saint Kentigern College in Auckland to challenge a number of students to conduct research into an aspect of the medical history of Aotearoa New Zealand. The students, ranging from Years 8-13, produced their research in written, oral, or video format and the top projects were chosen for publication to Our Health Journeys.