Sisters in Captivity: Sister Betty Jeffrey OAM and the Courageous Story of Australian Army Nurses in Sumatra, 1942–1945 by Colin Burgess

Book Description

Secondhand. Fine condition.

The incredible account of Sister Betty Jeffrey OAM and the Australian war nurses who survived the bombing of evacuation ship SS Vyner Brooke in February 1942, and subsequently spent three years in Japanese prison camps in Sumatra.

During those perilous years surviving in squalid conditions, Sister Jeffrey kept a secret diary of day-to-day events which, after the war, was turned into a hugely successful book and radio serial: White Coolies . She would often write of the powerful sisterhood that emerged as the prisoners of war drew strength from one another, even forming a vocal orchestra. White Coolies was a major inspiration for the 1997 film Paradise Road.

Sisters in Captivity builds on those diaries not only to relive the years the nurses spent as POWs but also to recount the early life and influences that led Betty Jeffrey into the field of nursing as a lifelong endeavour. A tireless advocate for returned nurses, she co-founded the Australian Nurses Memorial Centre with sole survivor of the Banka Island Massacre, fellow POW, and her longtime friend Vivian Bullwinkel.

Featuring 32 pages of photos, including personal mementos of Betty Jeffrey, courtesy of her family, and her drawings from the prison camps, this is a powerful account of women’s resilience amidst the devastating brutality of war. (back cover)