Ellen Savage (1912-1985), Australian Nurse Who Rallied a Nation at War

As Savage recalled later:

Merle Morton and myself were awakened by two terrific explosions and practically thrown out of bed. … I registered mentally that it was a torpedo explosion. … In that instant the ship was in flames. … [W]e ran into Col. Manson, our commanding officer, in full dress even to his cap and ‘Mae West’ life-jacket, who kindly said, “That’s right girlies, jump for it now.” The first words I spoke was [sic] to say, “Will I have time to go back for my great-coat?” as we were only in our pyjamas. He said, “No,” and with that climbed the deck and jumped and I followed. … [T]he ship was commencing to go down.

Manson did not survive, nor did Morton, Matron Sarah Anne Jewell or the nine other nurses onboard. Many of the ship’s personnel were trapped below decks or else perished in the flames, which spread to the water as Centaur’s oil supply escaped. Some of those who jumped overboard were sucked down with the sinking ship or devoured by hungry sharks.

Despite injuries that included three crushed ribs, a broken palate and nose and perforated ear drums, Savage made it to the water with a life preserver, clutching her rosary beads in one hand. Her skill as a swimmer and surfer may have saved her life.

She and another survivor managed to clamber atop a hunk of the ship’s chart house, where they shared a single greatcoat as they shivered in the frigid early morning air.

Ordeal at Sea

The ordeal did not end when the sun rose. Bitter nighttime cold soon gave way to blistering heat as sharks continued to circle. There had been no time to radio an SOS before the Centaur went down, so passing ships and airplanes failed to spot the survivors’ rafts and signal flares.

Concealing the extent of her injuries, Savage cared for the wounded as best she could, supervised rationing of their very limited supplies and bolstered morale with singalongs and prayers. According to her fellow survivors, her unshakeable faith became a comfort to all.

After another night of icy winds and hail, the survivors heard a Japanese submarine — possibly the same one that sunk the Centaur — surfacing nearby to recharge her batteries. The survivors hastily extinguished their lights, fearing they would become targets for the sub’s guns, but the submarine departed without further incident.

That afternoon, an Australian aircraft finally spotted the rafts and arranged for the American destroyer USS Mugford to rescue Savage and 63 other survivors. They had been in the water 34 brutal hours.

Public Outrage

When the sinking of the Centaur made the newspapers a few days later, Savage became a national hero. The attack outraged the Australian public, galvanizing the nation’s resolve.

Propaganda images of the sinking ship and calls to avenge the 10 dead nurses helped to raise money and recruit volunteers for the war. Savage was hospitalized for her injuries, but returned to active duty within months. For her “conspicuous service and high courage,” she was awarded the George Medal in August 1944.

Six weeks later, the submarine that sank the Centaur was herself sunk by an American destroyer. The sub’s commander was later convicted of war crimes related to a different sinking.

Later Life

Savage remained in the service until March 1946. After she returned home, Royal Newcastle Hospital appointed her as senior sister. She spent part of 1947 at England’s Royal College of Nursing, earning a postgraduate nursing administration certificate on a Florence Nightingale scholarship.

In 1949, she became a founding member of the New South Wales College of Nursing, forerunner of today’s Australian College of Nursing, the Commonwealth’s leading professional nursing organization. She later served a term as its president.

Despite her experience, the military discipline that had served Savage so well in wartime became an obstacle to her later career. In 1950, Newcastle Hospital passed her over for a director of nursing position because the superintendent felt she was too “entrenched in the ‘old school mode.’” She instead became matron of a unit on the hospital’s Rankin Park campus, where she remained for the rest of her nursing career.

Savage died in April 1985 after attending a reunion for Anzac Day, Australia and New Zealand’s counterpart to our Memorial Day.

The wreckage of the Centaur, discovered in December 2009, is now officially designated as a war grave to protect the remains of Savage’s comrades, who went down with their ship.

ELIZABETH HANINK, RN, BSN, PHN,  is a Working Nurse staff writer with extensive hospital and community-based nursing experience.

In this Article: Historical Nurses, Nurses at War, WW2