Irene Melville Drummond
Born(1905-07-26)26 July 1905
Ashfield, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Died16 February 1942(1942-02-16) (aged 36)
Bangka Island, Indonesia
AllegianceAustralia
Service/branchRoyal Australian Army Nursing Corps
Years of service1940–1942
RankMatron
Service numberSFX10594[1]
Battles/warsSecond World War

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]

She was mentioned in dispatches 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

Citations

  1. ^ a b "Matron Irene Melville Drummond". Australian War Memorial. Retrieved 24 April 2022.
  2. ^ Gorrell, Julie (1966). "Drummond, Irene Melville (1905–1942)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Vol. 14. National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. ISSN 1833-7538. Retrieved 24 April 2022.
  3. ^ "No. 37651". The London Gazette (Supplement). 1 August 1946. p. 3922.
  4. ^ "For gallant and distinguished service in Malaya in 1942, mentioned in dispatches". Commonwealth Gazette. 1946 (172): 2475. 12 September 1946.
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