Alice Ross-King

Alys Appleford, ( Ross King; 5 August 1887 – 17 August 1968), known as Alice Ross-King, was an Australian civilian and military nurse who took part in both World Wars. She has been described as Australia's most decorated woman. During the First World War she served in hospitals in Egypt and France and was one of only seven Australian nurses to be awarded the Military Medal for gallantry. In the Second World War she held a senior post within the Australian Army Medical Women's Service. In 1949 she was awarded the Florence Nightingale Medal, the highest award made by the International Committee of the Red Cross.

Early life Ross-King was born in Ballarat, Victoria. Her parents, Archibald Ross King and Henrietta King (née Ward), named her Alys Ross King. The family moved to Perth but her father and two brothers drowned in an accident and Henrietta King moved, with Alys, to Melbourne.

First World War Shortly after the outbreak of the First World War, Ross-King enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force as a member of the Australian Army Nursing Service (AANS). It was at this time that she changed her surname from Ross King to the hyphenated Ross-King, to distinguish her from another AANS nurse called Alice King, and presentation of the medals was made by General Sir William Birdwood, General Officer Commanding I ANZAC Corps. and had also been mentioned in despatches. During the voyage to Australia in 1919, Ross-King met Dr Sydney Appleford and they married in August 1919, settling in Lang Lang, Victoria, where they raised their four children. The citation for the medal concluded:

Later life Sydney Appleford died in 1958 and Alice Appleford spent her final years in Cronulla before her death on 17 August 1968.

Recognition Since 1970 the ex-AAWMS Association has presented an annual proficiency award, the Alice Appleford Memorial Award, to a non-commissioned member of the Royal Australian Army Nursing Corps.

In 2008 author Peter Rees told the story of Ross-King's First World War experiences in his book The Other ANZACs (republished as Anzac Girls), which was turned into the TV series ANZAC Girls in 2014. The role of Ross-King was played by Georgia Flood.

In 2008, Appleford was added to the Victorian Honour Roll of Women.

One of the four tunnel boring machines used in the construction of the Metro Tunnel in Melbourne, Victoria is named after her.