Sister Mary Theresa Martin (1881 – 1929), an Australian Nurse who served with the 2nd Australian General Hospital in Cairo, Egypt. She sailed from Sydney on the 28th November 1914 on the Kyarra, a steel cargo passenger and luxury liner requisitioned and converted into a hospital ship (HMAT A.55 Kyarra) for the purpose of transporting Australian medical units to Egypt.
Mary Martin’s life was probably no different from numerous others who joined and served in the Commonwealth forces during the Great War. However, through one small incident – a memorable visit to the Great Pyramid , she left her name to posterity as the first lady to explore Campbell’s Chamber.
Whilst in Egypt with thousands of other Australian troops waiting to be deployed, Mary Martin visited the Great Pyramid at Giza and painted her name on the wall inside Campbell’s Chamber, the uppermost of four chambers directly above the Kings Chamber. The graffiti reads “SISTER M. T. MARTIN 6.2.15 – FIRST LADY TO EXPLORE THIS TOMB” indicating that she visited the pyramid on 6 February 1915. This date is consistent with the deployment of Australian troops who trained in Egypt before being sent into action.
After serving in France she returned to Australia in November 1918 and took up employment at the Prince of Wales Hospital, Sydney. She died suddenly in 1929 at the relatively young age of 48 and was buried in the Roman Catholic section of the Botany Cemetery.
‘Campbell’s Chamber’, named after Major-General Patrick Campbell (1779 – 1857), Agent and Consul-General of Egypt, 1833 by its discoverer Giovanni Battista Caviglia
Thank you. Most illuminating.