Matron Irene Melville Drummond (26 July 1905 – 16 February 1942) was an Australian Army nurse during the Second World War. She was the most senior-ranking among the 22 Australian nurses killed in the Bangka Island massacre on 16 February 1942.[2][1]
Irene Drummond | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 26 July 1905 Ashfield, New South Wales, Australia |
| Died | 16 February 1942 (aged 36) Bangka Island, Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia) |
| Allegiance | Australia |
| Service | Second Australian Imperial Force |
| Years of service | 1940–1942 |
| Rank | Matron |
| Service number | SFX10594[1] |
| Unit | Royal Australian Army Nursing Corps |
| Battles / wars | Second World War |
| Awards | Mentioned in Despatches |
Drummond was posthumously mentioned in despatches in 1946 "for gallant and distinguished service in Malaya in 1942".[3][4] Her last recorded words, uttered in a whisper as she and her colleagues were being marched into the sea to be shot, were "Chin up, girls. I'm proud of you and I love you all."
See also
edit- Clarice Halligan, also killed in the Bangka Island Massacre
- Vivian Bullwinkel, sole survivor of the Bangka Island Massacre
Citations
edit- ^ a b "Matron Irene Melville Drummond". Australian War Memorial. Retrieved 24 April 2022.
- ^ Gorrell, Julie (1966). "Drummond, Irene Melville (1905–1942)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Vol. 14. Canberra: National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. ISBN 978-0-522-84459-7. ISSN 1833-7538. OCLC 70677943. Retrieved 24 April 2022.
- ^ "No. 37651". The London Gazette (Supplement). 1 August 1946. p. 3922.
- ^ "Mentioned in Despatches". Commonwealth of Australia Gazette. No. 172. 12 September 1946. p. 2475. Retrieved 12 February 2024.