[1] She served in the First World War and was awarded the Associate Royal Red Cross for bravery during the evacuation of a field hospital that was under enemy bombardment on the Western Front.

14 General Stationary Hospital at Boulogne, and was moved again to serve duty at a casualty clearing station in the danger zone.

[1] During her time spent on the casualty clearing stations her group had a hasty removal of the hospital, which was immediately behind the lines on the Western Front, owing to the allied army being pressed back by the Germans.

[2] Despite her harrowing experiences of war, Abell was quoted in the Sydney Morning Herald on 17 July 1918 as saying, "Much as I would like to come home, I do not wish to leave the boys or my work."

[1] Abell never married, and died on 21 July 1959 at the Lady Gowrie Home in Gordon, New South Wales, aged 87 years.