The ANZAC Spirit - Alive and Well

Following is the essay that was awarded the George V. Smith award for 2018 as the best essay by a year 10 Wesley College student about the ANZAC Spirit. Student, Sarah Gordon, is the author.

“The ANZAC Spirit was seen to be alive and well in the actions of Australians during World War II.”

Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) spirit first surfaced in World War I during the Gallipoli campaign where ANZAC forces bravely fought against the Turkish in ghastly conditions. Ever since the war, ANZAC spirit has been defined by courage, endurance, initiative, discipline and most importantly, mateship. The first ANZAC day was in 1916, on the 25^th April and has been celebrated ever since^[2]. ANZAC spirit has been applied to locations (Gallipoli and Kokoda), military formations and people. One such person who displays the ANZAC spirit is Agnes ‘Betty’ Jeffrey, an Australian war nurse who was taken as a POW (Prisoner of War) in World War II. Jeffrey displays the desire for freedom, justice, and peace that are characteristic of ANZAC spirit. She displayed these characteristics during her service, captivity and after the war when she continued the ANZAC legacy through her actions^[1,3]. She is an example that the spirit of ANZAC was alive and thriving in WWII.

Agnes Jeffrey shows ANZAC spirit through her unwavering, courageous service as a nurse. Jeffrey was a nurse deployed to the Pacific front to work recovering ill and wounded soldiers. She was assigned to the 2/10^th AUS General Hospital in Malacca, Malaya in 1941 where she and 65other nurses worked in often half-built or makeshift hospitals^[4]. They nursed the men there until January 1942. The area was unsafe as the Japanese were advancing and so the hospital was moved to Singapore. They turned an abandoned school into a makeshift hospital where soldiers were nursed. The hospital was abandoned when the nurses were ordered to evacuate to Java on the 12^th February 1942. Initially, the nurses refused as Jeffrey later recalls “Our refusal was useless… we were ordered to leave and had to walk out… I have never felt worse about anything…”White Coolies p.2.^[7] Jeffrey displayed great courage and initiative but was forced to board the Vyner Brooke. Two days later, on the 14^th of February, the Vyner Brooke was sunk by Japanese aircraft bringing an end to Jeffrey’s nursing career^[4]. Jeffrey remained calm and strong throughout her service and displayed vital aspects of ANZAC spirit. She showed initiative and discipline during the evacuation and mateship throughout the course of her service. Jeffrey also endured many trialling tasks in her service such as working in poor conditions and in anticipation of an invasion, but she persisted and showed discipline, mateship, endurance, and courage.

Jeffrey’s ANZAC spirit can also be observed in her 3 ½ years as a POW in a Japanese camp. She displayed mateship, endurance, and courage during her capture with other nurses and women. After the Vyner Brooke sunk on the 14^th of February, Jeffrey spent 16 hours floating on some debris until she landed on Banka Island, which was occupied by the Japanese^[6]. She gave herself up to the Japanese, as she had no other options, and was escorted to Palembang where a camp of women greeted her. Jeffrey and the other prisoners suffered cruel conditions from lack of basic survival needs, tropical diseases, malnutrition, abuse and forms of torture^[5]. However, Jeffrey did not give in to despair; she strengthened her bonds with her fellow prisoners and kept a hidden journal of the conditions and occurrences of the camp. If the journal had been found, Jeffrey would have been cruelly punished or executed. Jeffrey was also a member of the ‘Vocal Orchestra’, a choir the women started to ease the boredom and raise their morale. This choir was vital as it made the women “…clean forgot where we were during those rehearsals and you see that was so important”, Margaret Dryburgh^[7], and it created an escape for Jeffrey and others to endure their cruel captivity. Throughout her 3 ½ years of imprisonment, Jeffrey displayed consideration of her friends, dauntless determination, and endurance which were extremely encouraging to others' spirits in those times of desperation.

Agnes Jeffrey did not stop her service after the war. After being liberated from the Palembang in Jeffrey was admitted to the hospital and suffered two years from severe malnutrition as she weighed 32 kilograms and suffered from tuberculosis in her lungs^[4]. Once she was discharged, she travelled the country with Vivian Bullwinkel, a close friend who had also been a POW at the Palembang camp. Together, the women visited hospitals and war centres to educate others, raise awareness and funds. The funds they gathered went towards the Nurse’s Memorial which was opened in 1949 and Jeffrey was the first administrator and continued her duties there until her death in 2000^[6]. Jeffrey continued to raise awareness to the ANZAC spirit and contribution from nurses to the war effort. Jeffrey didn’t stop there though; she wrote a book based on her journal from the prison camp. The book was called White Coolies and was published in 1954^[5]. Jeffrey’s recounts and knowledge was also incorporated into the movie, Paradise Road, a movie about the Vocal Orchestra the women ran. Her tales of hardship and persistence inspired thousands to learn and teach others about the events of World War II. Her post-war actions kept the legacy of the ANZAC spirit alive and well as the centre she opened is still running today, she educated hundreds and the film and book she created continue to inspire and educate thousands. Her actions reflect on the spirit of ANZAC from her persistence to teach others and open the nurse’s centre, endurance when dealing with her illness whilst assisting others and her strong desire to bring justice to the war nurses and have them be recognised like soldiers for their bravery.

 Agnes ‘Betty’ Jeffrey clearly displays all the qualities of the ANZAC spirit proving it has been carried on from WWI. She was brave when the situation was atrocious during her captivity and service in islands were the Japanese threat was high and persisted through these tough times with assistance from her friends and strong spirit. She also embodies the spirit of ANZAC through her desire for freedom for all and to help anyone and everyone she can; the reason why she became a nurse. Agnes Jeffrey is an inspiration to others, an icon among nurses and clearly displays the characteristics of ANZAC spirit, making her an example of how the ANZAC spirit lives on past World War I.

Bibliography

1.     ANZAC Day Commemoration Committee 2016, The Spirit of ANZAC, Australia, accessed 5 April 2018, <https://anzacday.org.au/the-spirit-of-anzac>.

2.         Australian War Memorial 2017, Anzac spirit, Australian Government, Australia, accessed 5 April 2018, <https://www.awm.gov.au/articles/encyclopedia/anzac/spirit>.

3.         Australian War Memorial n.d., Dawn of the Legend: The Anzac spirit, Australian Government, Australia, accessed 5 April 2018, <https://www.awm.gov.au/visit/exhibitions/dawn/spirit>.

4.         Australian War Memorial n.d., Lieutenant Agnes Betty Jeffrey, Australian Government, Australia, accessed 29 March 2018, <https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/P10676864>.

5.         Encyclopaedia of Australian Science 2012, Lieutenant Agnes Betty Jeffrey, Australia, accessed 29 March 2018, <http://www.eoas.info/biogs/P004118b.htm>.

6.         National Library of Australia 2001, Jeffrey, Agnes Betty, Australian Government, Australia, accessed 13 April 2018, <https://trove.nla.gov.au/people/1473722?c=people>.

7.         Ryde, N 1997, Betty Jeffrey, Australian War Memorial, pdf, accessed 29 March 2018, <https://www.awm.gov.au/sites/default/files/jeffrey.pdf>.

8.         Singing To Survive 2013, The Vocal Orchestra, Australia, accessed 16 April 2018, <https://singingtosurvive.com/the-vocal-orchestra-1943-44/>.