Matron
Fletcher received the Honorary Serving Sister of the Order of St. John of
Jerusalem in August 1916 for her services in Belgium and France.
Matron
Nora Fletcher was awarded Commander of the British Empire, receiving her
honours in March 1920, as announced in The
Times, (London), Civilian War Honours, March 31, 1920.
Nora Fletcher was amongst the first group of Red
Cross nurses to arrive in France at the beginning of the war and the last to
leave. She left France on 6 November 1919, taking with her the last of the Red
Cross nurses to be on duty in France. Her work in France lasted five years and
one month.
‘Miss Nora Fletcher, of Sydney, who
was matron-in-chief of the British Red Cross in France and Belgium, has
added C.B.E. to her other orders and decorations, and must now have
every honour it is possible for a nurse to win, including the
Royal Red Cross, the Order of St. John of Jerusalem, the Belgian
Order of Elizabeth, the French Order of Gratitude, the 1914
Star, 'and the various war medals.'
SOCIETY
& FASHION, (1920, June 5), The
Australasian, (Melbourne, Vic.), p. 32
Nora’s collection of photographs, papers and medals
were donated to the Library in 1968 by her brother and sister.
In
November 1921, Fletcher was awarded the French honour, the Medaille de la
Reconnaisance in recognition of her devoted services in the work of the French
Red Cross.
Instituted in 1883, the Royal Red Cross (RRC) was
the first example of an Order exclusively for women. Men became eligible only
in 1976.
This medal was awarded to nurses who had; 'shown
exceptional devotion or competency in performance of nursing duties with the
Army in the field, or in Naval and Military or Air Force hospitals or in an
Auxiliary War hospital over a continuous or long period or who has performed
some exceptional act of bravery or devotion to the post of duty'.
Australian women and Imperial honours,
http://www.womenaustralia.info/exhib/honours/rrc.html
A small article was published in some Australian newspapers
announcing the award bestowed on Matron Fletcher;
HONOR TO AUSTRALIAN
NURSES
At an investiture at
BuckinghamPalace his Majesty
decorated NursesIda Greaves and
Nora Fletcher, bothof Australia,
with the Royal Red Cross,the
highest distinction that can be accorded to women. He pinned the decorations on
their breasts personally,saying.
"I am so very pleased with you.” Nurse Fletcher
said, "It was a simple, pretty ceremony. The King looked very tired."
"HONOR TO AUSTRALIAN
NURSES." Barrier Miner (Broken Hill, NSW), 24 July 1915, page 7