Yesterday marked 100 years since the HMTS Marquette sunk in the Aegean Sea after being torpedoed by a German submarine in World War I.
On board were five Wairarapa nurses, among 50 nurses, many from the South Island.
A church service was held in Christchurch yesterday to mark the date.Of the 167 killed, 32 New Zealanders died in the attack.
The HMTS Marquette was a British transport ship bound for the UK. The ship was located 57km south of Salonika Bay in Greece when it sunk.
Sister Edith McLeod trained and worked as a nurse at Masterton Hospital. She was awarded the Royal Red Cross for her "valuable nursing services in connection with the war".
She was discharged in 1920 and died in 1971. Also on board from Wairarapa were Sister Isla Brice, Sister Kathleen Welch, Sister Charlotte Colenbrander and Sister Ada Scott. It was later found the attack on the transport ship by Germany was bound within war rules.
