Hardcover book with a dustjacket firmly attached. There is a black panel across the top with the title in yellow print and another thinner black panel across the bottom with the author's name in cream coloured print. The front cover shows an illustration of a Japanese soldier in the foreground and behind him are eight women working in a field, they are being watched by an armed soldier stationed at a lookout on a wall behind them. The image is in black, green and yellow.non-fictionSister Jessie Elizabeth Simons tells the story of the sixty-five members of the Australian Army Nursing Service who were evacuated from Singapore just before the arrival of the Japanese, their ship was bombed and sunk and they were captured by the Japanese soldiers and held in prison camps until the day of liberation.women prisoners, prisoners of war, australian nurses, world war 2, world war ii, wwii, ww2, japanese, vyner brooke, sister jessie elizabeth simons

Dark green, faded cloth bound book with a bright orange sticker at the bottom of the spine.non-fictionSister Jessie Elizabeth Simons tells the story of the sixty-five members of the Australian Army Nursing Service who were evacuated from Singapore just before the arrival of the Japanese, their ship was bombed and sunk and they were captured by the Japanese soldiers and held in prison camps until the day of liberation. sister jessie elizabeth simons, vyner brooke, japanese, prisoners of war, world war 2, australian nurses, ww2, wwii

Faded red hard covered, cloth-bound book with gold title on the spine and a white sticker at the bottom of the spine with B38 in red texta.non-fictionSister Jessie Elizabeth Simons tells the story of the sixty-five members of the Australian Army Nursing Service who were evacuated from Singapore just before the arrival of the Japanese, their ship was bombed and sunk and they were captured by the Japanese soldiers and held in prison camps until the day of liberation.women prisoners, prisoners of war, australian nurses, world war 2, world war ii, wwii, ww2, japanese, vyner brooke, sister jessie elizabeth simons

Ill, p.131.The experience of Australian nurses as captives of the Japaneseworld war 1939-1945 - prisoners of war - japan, world war 1939-1945 - personal narratives - australia

Nursing a memory Several of the nurse survivors of the Banka Straits tragedy share their stories and personal recollections of the war. Some nurses wrote books, some talk about staying optimistic while being POWs, others say they've never stopped being stunned by the war years. Fifty years after the Banka Straits tragedy and the years the POWs spent in camps in Sumatra, the poignancy has not been dulled, and has been etched into the memories of the nurses who survived. Betty Jeffery, now in her 80's, says that despite the hardships she faced, it change her life for the better. When the ship, the Vyner Broooke, was bombes she was in the water for seventy hours. In the POW camps they slept on concrete floors and starved as food was allowed to rot just out of reach. The nurses that endured so much together have stayed in touch. Betty has also written a highly successful book, 'White Coolies', based on diaries of her experience. Of all the nurses Vivian Bullwinkel is the most celebrated, her story being one of ultimate survival. One of a group of about 100 survivors after the sinking of the Vyner Brooke, she and the others thought the Japanese wouldn't kill such a large number when they surrendered to them. The Australian soldiers were bayonetted, the nurses and civilians were lined up in the sea and shot. Vivian played dead. A tribute to Aussie courage A brief recounting of the sinking of the Vyner Brooke and the survivors' three and a half years as prisoners of war of the Japanese. Of the sixty-five who attempted to evacuate Singapore on the Vyner Brooke, twenty-four made it home to Australia. A memorial to the brave Australian nurses has been organised to ensure their contribution is remembered forever.A large newspaper clipping consisting of two stories with titles and four columns of text each. The larger story also has two black and white photos, on of an older woman holding a book, and the other of two young women leaning in toward each otherww2, wwii, world war two, vivian statham, 13th agh, aif, army nurses, vyner brooke, banka strait, banka straits, florence night, florence nightingale medal, muntok, malacca, iole harper, australian army nurses, wanganella, katong, perth, red cross, english, kingsley, heidelberg repatriation hospital, fairfield hospital, wilma oram, 13th, 13th australian general hospital, murtoa, warrnambool, allies, singapore, johore baru, wilma young, cardinia, jessie simons, in japanese hands - australian nurses as pows, jessie hookaway, tasmania, british, singapore harbour, banka island, empire star, prisoner of war, palembang, sumatra, malay, dutch, ex-prisoners of war association of australia, sir edward 'weary' dunlop, max lee, glen waverley, jenny greer

Article about the wartime experiences of four Tasmanian army nurses: Harley [Rosalind] Brewer, Mollie [Marie] Gunton [Henning], Hilda [Mavis] Hildyard & Maisie [May Eileen] Rayner. Article details their evacuation and escape from the fall of Singapore during WWII.First & second photocopy of a double page spread of a journal article with a large black and white photograph of four army nurses in uniform, this spread has six columns of text. Third photocopy of a double page spread of a journal article with a small black and white photograph of women that is difficult to make out, this spread has six columns of text. Final photocopy is a single page photocopy of the final part of article with a small black and white photograph of people in operating theatre personal protective equipment with three columns of text.olive dorothy paschke, jessie elizabeth simons [hookway], vivian bullwinkel, matron drummond, singapore, wwii, world war two, ww2, harley rosalind brewer, mollie marie gunton henning, hilda mavis hildyard, maisie may eileen rayner

A hymn written by Margaret Dryburgh, whilst in a Prisoner of War camp. It was first sung on the 5th of July in 1942 at Irenelaan, Palembang, Sumatra. Margaret Dryburgh was a Presbyterian Missionary in Singapore when the Japanese arrived, she died in a camp hospital in 1945.An A4 sheet of paper that has been cut down to a smaller size. The front contains the typed words of the hymn in black ink, the title in underlined in red pen ink. There are handwritten inscriptions on the back of the page.'Jessie Hookway / (Simons) / AANS 2/13th AGH / passed away / 23 December 2004' [Handwritten in pencil on the back of the paper] [Handwritten information regarding Miss Margaret Dryburgh, written in black ink on the back of the page, refer to media image] prisoners of war, margaret dryburgh

Six year old Judith Furphy was the first person known to have been buried at Kangaroo Ground Cemetery in May 1851. The cemetery is situated on an ancient river bed with exposed Nillumbik sands. The rest of the district is formed from black volcanic soil which was hard to dig. According to local historian Mick Woiwod (deceased) the site may have been a burial ground for the local Wurundjeri people as the exposed softer sands were always their prefered camping sites. The Hon. Ewen Hugh Cameron who lived at Pigeon Bank and was the Member for Evelyn for 40 years (1874-1914) was buried here in 1915. Published: Nillumbik Now and Then /​ Marguerite Marshall 2008; photographs Alan King with Marguerite Marshall.; p39 The Wurundjeri people might have buried their dead on the site of the Kangaroo Ground Cemetery, according to local historian Mick Woiwod. Kangaroo Ground was a premier hunting ground, but camping on the black volcanic soil would have been uncomfortable. Unlike most of Kangaroo Ground, its cemetery, on an ancient river bed, comprises a rare exposure of Nillumbik sands – always the preferred campsite for Aboriginal people. The cemetery area is the only place where the soil was soft enough to dig a grave easily.1 Six-year-old Judith Furphy was the first person known to have been laid to rest at the Kangaroo Ground Cemetery. She died on May 17, 1851, from a chill caught by resting on wet grass. Local Andrew Ross wrote ‘..no public burying place existed nearer than Melbourne. The case being considered urgent, a general meeting of the settlers took place on the evening of the 17th……. The result was the selection of unoccupied crown land …….which was subsequently granted by Government for a public cemetery.’2 Judith was buried the next day on May 18. Her grave was marked by the trustees with a plaque, which unfortunately states nine years old, when she was probably only six. Judith came from an illustrious family. Her brother, Joseph, was the author of Such is Life and other works. Another brother, John, developed and manufactured the famous Furphy water cart, which distributed water to World War One soldiers along with the latest rumours. Hence the name Furphy entered the Australian idiom, as synonymous with ‘rumour’. Judith’s father Samuel helped build the first Kangaroo Ground church school. Inside, near the entrance of the cemetery, on Yarra Glen Road, stand a rotunda and a water tank. Occasional benches invite mourners to pause and remember. The gate with wrought iron and brick supports, bears the inscription ‘Erected by Sir Ewen and Lady Cameron in memory of their daughter, Flora Margaret’. These are only two of the famous people connected with this cemetery. The Hon. Ewen Hugh Cameron JP and MLA from 1874 to1914, who lived at Pigeon Bank, Warrandyte Road, was buried here in 1915. Unrelated, but with the same name, was Sir Ewen Cameron who had been Minister for Health and was laid to rest there in 1964. Sir Herbert Gepp, a leading industrialist and the former owner of Garden Hill, at Yarra Glen Road, was buried there in 1954.3 Many of the more imposing tombstones belong to the earlier graves. Unfortunately bushfires have cracked several. But this adds to the melancholy attractiveness of the cemetery, graced by some beautiful eucalypts, cypress and pines. Early pioneering families represented at the cemetery include Armstrong, Barr, Bell, Harkness, Jardine, Johnston, Rogerson, Stevenson, Thomson and Walters. Armstrong and Bell were among the first families to come to the district and Stevenson owned the district’s first sheep station. It took in much of present day Christmas Hills, which was the name he gave his sheep station. Harkness was the first to suggest a Kangaroo Ground school be built, and one of the first to suggest establishing the Eltham District Road Board. Many of these families leased pastoral land before the mid-century and bought land when it came on sale in 1849. In the cemetery’s early days sections were devoted to the major Christian denominations (mainly the Protestant) and one section was set aside for ‘other’ or ‘non-believers’. However in modern times burial plots have not been placed in areas according to religious beliefs.This collection of almost 130 photos about places and people within the Shire of Nillumbik, an urban and rural municipality in Melbourne's north, contributes to an understanding of the history of the Shire. Published in 2008 immediately prior to the Black Saturday bushfires of February 7, 2009, it documents sites that were impacted, and in some cases destroyed by the fires. It includes photographs taken especially for the publication, creating a unique time capsule representing the Shire in the early 21st century. It remains the most recent comprehenesive publication devoted to the Shire's history connecting local residents to the past. nillumbik now and then (marshall-king) collection, kangaroo ground, eltham-yarra glen road, agnes bell cameron, agnes cameron (nee bell), cameron family, edward aubrey haughton, eugene cameron, evelyn florence cameron, ewen hugh cameron, gravestones, jane armstrong, jane bell, jessie agnes haughton (nee cameron), jessie cameron, john donald cameron, kangaroo ground cemetery, neville cameron, simon armstrong, vera cameron, william bell armstrong, wurundjeri