Balgownie's Alice Thompson was one of hundreds of Australian nurses sent to serve at Salonika in Greece in 1917.

According to an article on the Australian War Memorial website, Mettle and Steel: the AANS in Salonika, although there were no Australian soldiers fighting on this front, Australian nurses were sent to relieve the British, French and Canadian nurses and to provide nursing care to British soldiers and Bulgarian Prisoners of War.

In April 1917, an urgent request from the British Director General of Medical Services called for four contingents of Australian Army Nursing Service nurses to be dispatched to Salonika to increase the hospital services there. Each unit was allocated one matron, 10 AANS sisters and 80 staff nurses. RMS Mooltan left Sydney in June 1917 with 215 nurses aboard.

Matron McHardie White described the difficulties of obtaining fresh food and how the sisters drew rations just as the soldiers did ("though they did not use their rum ration!"). Once a week they had iron rations, that is bully beef and biscuits.

At other times, the "home sister" allocated to each hospital for the purposes of attempting to obtain fresh vegetables, eggs or milk would be successful.

The weather was atrocious. Matron McHardie White described "the winter was exceedingly severe; the wind known as the Vardar wind, being almost a blizzard. There were heavy falls of snow, and very low temperatures at night". The extreme temperatures caused drugs, ink and hot water bottles to regularly freeze in the morning.

Wintery conditions were a danger to the nurses as some fainted, while others were affected with carbon monoxide poisoning as fuel was almost impossible to obtain and the only means of heating came from charcoal burnt in braziers.

And there was little respite in the warmer months as the heat of the summers was as intense as the cold of the winters. The heat also contributed to the malaria which dominated the difficult summer months and Matron McHardie White later reported that "most of the nurses were affected by it [malaria] one time or another".

In letters home to her parents, which were reproduced in the Illawarra Mercury, Alice wrote that "most of the cases so far are sickness owing to the terrible heat, which is bad at this time of the year".

"However, she is satisfied with her lot and says she is not sorry that she came and if she had to choose over again she would do the same, as too much cannot be done for the boys who are fighting and bleeding for us all," the story continued.

She married Dr Theo Allen in England in January 1919, which resulted in her discharge from the AANS and they returned to Australia.

According to a report in the South Coast Times and Wollongong Argus on March 28 1919, Alice was warmly welcomed home: "... she was conveyed to Balgownie, where there was a very large gathering of citizens, also the Brass Band, awaiting to meet her. These were most enthusiastic hands being extended from all sides for a welcoming grip of the courageous nurse, who went so far from all she loved to help her country in the Great War. The Band led a procession to her home, where Mr R. Morgan and Mr D. Emery on behalf of the citizens gave a short address of welcome to the Balgownie nurse, which was received with continuous cheers for Nurse Allen and her parents, also her husband, Dr. Allen, who is still on duty at the front."

Alice Thompson was awarded a Greek Medal for Military Merit.