1. SISTERS in COURAGE.
- Author
-
BURGESS, COLIN
- Subjects
SISTERS ,MANGROVE swamps ,NURSES as patients ,COURAGE ,FLOATING bodies - Abstract
A further 21 nurses (those who Betty and Iole spotted beside a signal fire) were marched back into the ocean and massacred on Radji Beach by Japanese soldiers. After about an hour of swimming with leaden arms and keeping an eye on Iole, who had caught a different current and was swimming hard for shore about 400 yards (365 metres) away, Betty noticed that the two sailors were no longer to be seen. Clockwise from left: Betty (top right) at a reunion in Melbourne, circa 1978; Betty (centre) recuperating after being freed; the survivors were an inspiration for Paradise Road. Betty and Sister Iole Harper swam through the jetsam alongside a raft that carried other nurses, including Matron Paschke, a number of babies and toddlers and two Malay sailors, many of whom were unable to swim. [Extracted from the article]
- Published
- 2023