War chronicle · 23 October · Aegean Sea
Kiwi nurses ‘murdered’
Ten nurses die on the torpedoed Marquette – why weren’t they on a clearly marked hospital ship?
On the morning of 23 October, the transport ship HMT Marquette is torpedoed by German submarine in the Aegean Sea. A devastating explosion rips through the starboard side and the transport ship sinks in just 10 minutes.
A New Zealand Army hospital unit – including 36 nurses – is on board along with 500 British troops. Thirty-two New Zealanders are among the dead – 10 are nurses.
The New Zealand public is outraged by these ‘murders’, leading to an upsurge in anti-German feeling. The government too is angry, but for different reasons. As a troop transport the Marquette was, in fact, a legitimate target. Defence Minister James Allan blames the British authorities in Egypt for not putting the nurses and their unit on a clearly marked hospital ship.