Angels of Mercy: Far West & Far East - Softcover

Lynette Ramsay Silver

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1863515003 ISBN 13: 9781863515009

Publisher: Sally Milner (AUS), 2019

Synopsis

Angels of Mercy: Far West & Far East follows the gripping stories of two different Australiannursing sisters, who overcame the challenging adversities of two very different circumstances.In the 1930s, Marjorie Silver was employed by The Far West Childrens Health Scheme andbecame their first permanent flying sister, based in Bourke. She fought a single-handed waragainst heat, dust and isolation of the outback to bring vital medical assistance to the far west ofNew South Wales, before moving on to central Queensland where she established a clinic at MtMargaret station, in close co-operation with the flying doctor, based at Charleville. In 1964, shemoved to Brunette Downs, Northern Territory, where she continued to make use of her nursingskills at the Aboriginal Camp and in the stations hospital. This previously untold story alsoinvolves the topical Nancy Bird, who was employed as the sister's pilot for the first nine months.Whilst Sister Silver was fighting a battle against the harsh elements of the bush, anotherdedicated woman of about the same age had graduated as a nursing sister with a view tooverseas travel. Little did she know that she would shortly embark on a sea voyage to the exoticFar East, where she would engage in a battle for survival as an unwilling guest of the Emperor ofJapan. Sister Pat Gunther joined the AIF and served in the Far East on the battlefield of Malayaand Singapore. She was captured and taken prisoner at Bangka Island, Sumatra. The story of thenurses imprisoned in various camps in Sumatra is not unknown, but this book delves far deeperthan any other story to date and reveals the 'secret' that the nurses kept throughout their lifetimes. Author and military historian Lynette Ramsay Silver has an entire 'forensic' chapter devoted to the unravelling of this secret. This book has been compiled from their edited memoirs, supplemented by various conversations and interviews. Interspersed throughout the book and printed in italics, are Lynette Ramsay Silvers historical details providing additional narrative to compliment first-hand accounts. The book also lists, for the first time, the name of every nurse who served in WW2. It also includes the fate of other internees that Sister Pat had met in Malaya and during her three years of captivity and the fate of the nurses evacuated from Singapore. It also includes the 29 women that served as doctors in the Australian Army Medical Corps during World War 2, as well as the names of the women who served as nursing sisters in the Royal Australian Navy, Royal Australian Airforce, Australian Army Nursing Service and the Army Hospital. Angels of Mercy: Far West & Far East is a tribute to the huge contributions made by our nurses in the Australian Outback, and to those who served during wartime.

About this title

About the Author

Lynette Silver is a military historian, the author of a number of books on Australian history, including The Battle of Vinegar Hill, Fabulous Furphies, The Heroes of Rimau, Krait - the Fishing Boat that went to War, Sandakan - A Conspiracy of Silence, The Bridge at Parit Sulong, Blood Brothers, Deadly Secrets - The Singapore Raids 1942-45, a novel In The Mouth of the Tiger, Billy- My life as a teenage POW, At War with my Father: Fred Howe – Prisoner of war, Angels of Mercy: far west & far east.

In 2003 Lynette received a Defence Forces Commendation and Medal from Special Operations Command Australia, for her work during the 60th Anniversary of Operation Jaywick, the first civilian ever to receive this prestigious award. In January 2004 she was awarded an OAM in the Australia Day Honours for her services to veterans and their families for her work on Sandakan. The Sabah Government recognised her research work and her contribution to Sabah’s war history with a Minister’s Special Award, an honour rarely conferred on a foreigner, which was presented to her in November 2009 by Datuk Masidi Manjun, Minister for Tourism, Culture and the Environment.

In the Australia Day Honours 2019, in recognition of her on-going historical research since 2003, her efforts to keep alive the memory of thousands of POWs and her philanthropic projects to make life better for the people of Sabah, the Australian government upgraded Lynette’s OAM to a Member of the Order of Australia or AM, which takes precedence over both the Order of the British Empire (OBE) and Member of the British Empire (MBE), under the previous Imperial system. The years of honorary work by her husband Neil, who takes care of all administrative and logistical matters connected with the various projects initiated by the Silvers, was also recognised with the receipt of a Medal of the Order of Australia or OAM, which takes precedence over the British Empire Medal or BEM, under the Imperial honours system.

In October 2022, Lynette was made Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (MBE), an appointment made by Her Late Majesty The Queen, shortly before her death the previous month, in recognition of Lynette’s services to British personnel who died in WW2 and their families.

Apart from being reported in various radio and TV news items, Lynette’s research work has been featured in scores of newspaper articles and journals, and she has been interviewed for the electronic media many times. She has also played a pivotal role as consultant on history programs and appeared on numerous current affairs’ programs and in TV documentaries. Website: lynettesilver.com

Edition details

• Publisher: Sally Milner (AUS)
• Publication date: 2019
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1863515003
• ISBN 13: 9781863515009
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 448