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Mateship

Episode 5
Ratings: 0.783 million viewers (8th)
Written by Niki Aken
Directed by Ian Watson

Alice struggles to accept that Harry may have been killed; Hilda discovers an aptitude for anaesthetics; Olive is proposed to by Pat; and Elsie returns to the war as part of the Croix Rouge.

Harry's name has not appeared on any death lists, and Alice (Georgia Flood) cannot help holding out hope that he is somehow alive, perhaps captured by the Germans or injured and unable to say his name.

As Alice swings between hope and despair, fury and misery, increasingly reliant on prescription heroin to sleep, Hilda (Antonia Prebble) is growing worried for her grieving friend. But Hilda has her own challenges — a shortage of doctors means that a select few nurses are being trained as anaesthetists. Hilda has found something at which she excels, so when a chauvinistic army order comes down banning Australian nurses from the work, Hilda is devastated.

As the bitter winter encroaches, and Harry's death is finally confirmed, Alice and Hilda face their darkest moments, but their friendship and loyalty sees them through — and when Hilda has the bright idea to call on her New Zealand citizenship, she is able to side-step the rules and go back to anaesthesia where she is needed.

Meanwhile at the Casualty Clearing Station at Trois Arbres, in between dealing with gas attacks and a stream of desperately wounded men, Olive (Anna McGahan) accepts Pat's (Brandon McClelland) proposal of marriage, but then has to contend with dour opposition from her parents at home. Pat wants her to defy them, but Olive cannot marry without their blessing. When Pat is critically injured and her chance of happiness looks to be slipping away, Olive at last takes control of her life — she will marry him whatever her parents think!

With Pat convalescing in England, after a brief visit to her nursing pals at No 1 AGH (at which Elsie Cook (Laura Brent), now nursing with the Croix Rouge, also appears), Olive resigns from the AANS and leaves the war for a future with Pat back in Australia.

Cast:

  • Georgia Flood as Sister Alice Ross King
  • Antonia Prebble as Sister Hilda Steele
  • Laura Brent as Sister Elsie Cook
  • Anna McGahan as Sister Olive Haynes
  • Caroline Craig as Matron Grace Wilson
  • Dustin Clare as Lieutenant Harry Moffitt
  • Todd Lasance as Major Sydney 'Syd' Cook
  • Charles Mayer as Major Xavier Leopold
  • Brandon McClelland as Private Norval 'Pat' Dooley
  • Erin Dewar as Sister Ethel 'Pete' Peters
  • Bonnie Soper as Sister Jessie Verey
  • Honey Debelle as Sister Catherine 'Kat' McNaughton
  • Leon Ford as Major John Prior
  • Glenn Hazeldine as Captain Charles Mooney
  • Nathaniel Dean as Major Lionel Quick
  • Clarence Ryan as Private Billy TInker
  • Brad Williams as Major Archibald Springer
  • Ben Hall as Private Hal Cooper
  • Hamish Stevenson as Private Sam Foster
  • Al Dukes as Post Office Sergeant
  • Jo Stone as Sister Earle
  • Lizzy Falkland as Matron Finlay
  • Kaaran Watene as Private Guthrie
  • Albert Jamae as Anaesthetist
  • Trevor Ablett as Soldier
  • Josh Battersby as Soldier
  • Sonny Beaumont as Soldier
  • Patrick Clements as Soldier
  • Alex Daly as Soldier
  • Ned Goult as Soldier
  • James Sullivan as Soldier
  • Ned Sullivan as Soldier
  • Vince Pusco as Clerk
  • Alice Scheid as Nurse ACCS
  • Rick Mills as Quartermaster ACCS
  • Rachel Rai as Waitress
  • Nick Martin as Lieutenant Norm Wilkinson
  • David Wiesner as German Soldier
  • Jason Honeychurch as Wilson Double