''Sisters of War'' is a telemovie based on the true story of two Australian women, Lorna Whyte, an army nurse and Sister Berenice Twohill, a Catholic nun from

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

who survived as prisoners of war in

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

.David Knox (25 October 2010
Airdate: Sisters of War: TV Tonight
www.tvtonight.com.au – Retrieved 2010-11-12. ''Sisters of War'' was written by

John Misto John Misto (born 13 October 1952) is an Australian playwright and screenwriter. He graduated with an Arts/Law degree from the University of New South Wales, and then practised as a lawyer before changing his career to concentrate on working as a ...

, produced by Andrew Wiseman and directed by Brendan Maher. It made its debut at the Brisbane International Film Festival on 11 November 2010.Nun's POW story draws family to film festival
www.cathnews.com – Retrieved 2010-11-11. It premiered on television on 14 November 2010 on Australian channel

ABC1 ABC TV, formerly known as ABC1, is an Australian national public television network. It is owned and operated by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, and is the flagship ABC Television network. The headquarters of the ABC TV channel an ...

Background

''Sisters of War'' was inspired by real events and based on Rod Miller's manuscript ''The Lost Women of Rabaul''. At the heart of those events were the stories and experiences of Lorna Johnston and Sister Berenice Twohill. In the process of clearing possessions for an estate in 1991, Miller, who is a general auctioneer, came across an old diary. He was about to throw it out when he became intrigued by the contents of the modest book. On closer inspection he saw that it was written in cryptic prose and rhyme. The diary was written by Grace Kruger, one of four civilian nurses captured by the Japanese in Rabaul in 1942. Kruger had deliberately written the diary with cryptic prose so as to confuse any Japanese soldier or casual reader who might have discovered it. Miller became fascinated by this work and the history that motivated it. Discovering there was little information readily available about the Rabaul nurses, he started to research the events surrounding their internment in Rabaul. Miller first met Sister Berenice Twohill and Lorna Johnston in 1997 and through them was able to meet and interview most of the surviving nurses and officers of

Lark Force Larks are passerine birds of the family Alaudidae. Larks have a cosmopolitan distribution with the largest number of species occurring in Africa. Only a single species, the horned lark, occurs in North America, and only Horsfield's bush lark occ ...

. He was able to borrow and transcribe their diaries which added to the overall knowledge of what had occurred at the time. Miller and writer John Misto joined forces on the project and soon after

came on board and producer Andrew Wiseman joined the team. Wisemen has an interest in presenting history dramas for television and ''Sisters of War'' provided a natural progression from '' Curtin'', the

telemovie he produced with Richard Keddie.Background – Sisters of War – ABC TV
''

Australian Broadcasting Corporation The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is the national broadcaster of Australia. It is principally funded by direct grants from the Australian Government and is administered by a government-appointed board. The ABC is a publicly-own ...

''. Retrieved 2010-11-14. The shooting of the film began in April 2010 and ended in June 2010. It was shot in Gold Coast, Queensland.

Plot

Vunapope, a small Catholic mission station on New Britain, is captured by Japanese forces in January 1942.

Cast

Claire van der Boom Clair or Claire may refer to: *Claire (given name), a list of people with the name Claire * Clair (surname) Places Canada * Clair, New Brunswick, a former village, now part of Haut-Madawaska * Clair Parish, New Brunswick * Pointe-Claire, Qu ...

as Sister Berenice Twohill. Born in Murwillumbah, most of her early life was spent at Tumbulgum on the Tweed River. She was the eighth of 11 children with eight brothers and two sisters. Sister Berenice joined the missionary order of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart in 1934. *

Sarah Snook Sarah Snook (born 1 December 1987) is an Australian actress. She is known for her starring role as Shiv Roy in the television series ''Succession'' (2018–present), for which she earned critical acclaim in international media. She has won sev ...

as Lorna Whyte. Born in

Hay, New South Wales Hay is a town in the western Riverina region of south western New South Wales, Australia. It is the administrative centre of Hay Shire local government area and the centre of a prosperous and productive agricultural district on the wide Hay Pla ...

, Whyte was the youngest of eight children. She attended the Hay War Memorial School before training as a nurse at the Corowa Hospital. Joining the army in 1941, she was selected as one of the Australian Army Nursing Service nurses to be part of

, arriving in Rabaul on 25 April 1941. * Susie Porter as Kay Parker. Parker was the much-admired matron of the military nurses who were evacuated to the mission at Vunapope when the Japanese invaded Rabaul on 23 January 1942. She showed extraordinary leadership, often standing up to the Japanese to protect the Rabaul women under her care. *

Gerald Lepkowski Gerald Lepkowski is a British-Australian television and stage actor, who has had guest roles in Australian and British productions, before landing the lead role in drama series ''Dirt Game'' in Australia in 2009. Early life Born in the Sighthi ...

as Bishop Leo Scharmach. Polish-born, Bishop Leo Scharmach was the charismatic leader of the Catholic Mission at Vunapope, the headquarters of the Sacred Heart Mission which covered New Britain, New Ireland and Manus. In 57 main stations, 60 priests looked after the needs of 60,000 Catholics. Vunapope was the centre of this extensive mission and the Bishop took up residence there in 1939. *

Paulini Curuenavuli Pauline Curuenavuli (born 15 October 1982), known professionally as Paulini, is a Fijian-Australian singer and songwriter. Born in Suva, Paulini moved to Sydney with her family at the age of four. She rose to fame in 2003 as a contestant on the ...

as Sister Marie. * Khan Chittenden as Len. *

Anna Volska Anna Volska (born 1 December 1944 in Milanówek, Poland) is an Australian stage and television actress. She arrived in Australia when she was young and has acted from a young age. Television work Volska has appeared in many Australian televis ...

as Sister Cordula. Source

Characters – Sisters of War – ABC TV
''

''. Retrieved 2010-11-14.

DVD release

''Sisters of War'' is available on DVD in Australia.Sisters of War – DVD – ABC Shop
shop.abc.net.au – Retrieved 2010-11-18.

References

{{Reflist

External links

''Sisters of War'' at IMDb

Australian television films 2010 television films 2010 films Australian World War II films Films shot in Australia Films set in Australia Films set in Papua New Guinea 2010s English-language films