Doris Giles

After Doris had completed her nursing training at the Brisbane General Hospital, John Flynn asked her to come and work at the Penola Home for the Australian Inland Mission Hospital at Maranboy in 1922, along with her friend Jean Herd. During her time at the hospital there was not a doctor who visited regularly, so that Doris and Jean were left to manage the hospital and treat all sorts of illnesses. The hospital was also the social centre for the surrounding area with a library and gramophone. Among the young men who visited, was Harold Giles, a policeman station nearby. In 1924, Doris went to Melbourne for midwifery training and on her return to Darwin she married Harold. The couple commenced their married life at the Kahlin Compound, they had four children. In 1928, Harold resigned from the police force to take up a position as manager of Elsey Station near Mataranka. Times where hard and isolating, often Doris and the children were left for long period's time to manage the station with a cook and one stockman while the rest were out on a cattle muster. In 1940, part of the homestead was washed away by a big flood they escaped on a raft built by the stockmen and others at the station. When the Japanese started bombing raids in the Territory, Doris and her two children were evacuated to Brisbane. Months later she retuned to look after visitors and soldiers who came in truck loads each day for their meals. In 1941 the Giles bought a house at Indooroopilly where Doris and the children lived for part of each year while the children attended school. They sold their home in 1955 and moved to Sandgate, Harold died in 1960 and Doris in July 1979.Nurs