Whilst the allied forces were being driven back from Gallipoli, Sister Porter was stationed in the town of Roye, France. Roye was captured by the enemy in April 1918 and Sister Porter and her comrades only narrowly escaped being taken as a prisoner. All of her souvenirs and outfits were lost because the retreat was so rushed that only the wounded patients could be evacuated. Katherine Porter’s rank was a Nursing Sister in the Australian Army Nursing Service and she was second in command of her hospital unit in Egypt and France (RSL Virtual War Memorial, 2017; Australian Nurses in World War One, 2013). In June 1919, Katherine arrived in Milton on the transport Medic, to a special celebration for her arrival home, where she was greeted by the President of the Local Red Cross - Mrs Charles Kendall. In her hometown of Conjola (12.1 Km from Milton), Katherine was finally welcomed home by her close friends and family. After 4 years of valuable survice, she was to be offered the position of Matron of Randwick Military Hospital when she returned to Sydney, after her furlough. Shortly after her return in June 1919, Katherine contracted influenza when traveling to visit family members. Three weeks later, on the 16th of July 1919, she passed away. She was only 36 when she died, and was unable to ever marry Dr Bullock of Sydney, to whom she was engaged (Ulladulla.info, 2017).

Just like the soldiers in WW1, many nurses were later recognized for their efforts and were presented with awards and medals. Katherine was presented with many awards for her efforts such as The Royal Red 2nd class Cross Medal with added Oak Leaves, which was awarded after she passed away and was presented to her Mother, at a ceremony in Milton NSW by representatives of the AIF and British Army, and The British War Medal and many more (Ulladulla.info, 2017). Although she was unable to start a family of her own, she did have a very close family. Her parents were John Porter and Mary Guthrie and she had one brother and three sisters. She also had a big extended family including many cousins and aunts and uncles. These family members were all in attendance at Katherine’s funeral. Katherine was buried at the Waverly Cemetery Roman Catholic section Sydney NSW, with full Military honors (Ulladulla.info, 2017).