Agnes Betty Jeffrey, (14 May 1908 – 13 September 2000) was an Australian nurse, prisoner of war and writer, who wrote about her

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

nursing experiences in the book '' White Coolies''.

Second World War

Jeffrey was a

nurse Nursing is a health care profession that "integrates the art and science of caring and focuses on the protection, promotion, and optimization of health and human functioning; prevention of illness and injury; facilitation of healing; and alle ...

in the 2/10th Australian General Hospital during the

. She was taken a prisoner of war by the

Japanese Imperial Army The Imperial Japanese Army (IJA; , ''Dai-Nippon Teikoku Rikugun'', "Army of the Greater Japanese Empire") was the principal ground force of the Empire of Japan from 1871 to 1945. It played a central role in Japan’s rapid modernization during th ...

and interned in the

Dutch East Indies The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies (; ), was a Dutch Empire, Dutch colony with territory mostly comprising the modern state of Indonesia, which Proclamation of Indonesian Independence, declared independence on 17 Au ...

. While in the Japanese internment camp on Sumatra, Jeffrey joined the female vocal orchestra. Margaret Dryburgh, Vivian Bullwinkel and Wilma Oram were fellow internees with Jeffrey. Jeffrey was freed following the end of the war and returned home on 24 October 1945.

Charitable activities and writer

Jeffrey and Vivian Bullwinkel visited every sizeable hospital in Victoria to raise the money that created the Australian Nurses Memorial Centre. She is noted as a founder together with Edith Hughes-Jones, Wilma Oram and Annie Sage. The Melbourne Nurses Memorial Centre opened in 1949 to honour the heroism of nurses. She later wrote about her experiences in the book ''White Coolies'', which partially inspired the film '' Paradise Road'' and the 1955 Australian radio series ''White Coolies''.

Works

* ''White Coolies'', Betty Jeffrey, Eden Paperbacks, Sydney, 1954

Second World War

Charitable activities and writer

Works

References

Further reading