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Irene Melville Drummond
Irene Melville Drummond (1905-1942) was an army matron that was killed in the Banka Island Massacre during the Second World War.

Personal Life
Irene was born on 26 July 1905 at Ashfield Sydney. She was educated in Adelaide, South Australia and at Broken Hill, New South Wales. She decided on a career in nursing and returned to Adealide to train as a nurse at Miss Lawrence's Private Hospital. She graduated and then completed an obstetrics course and later worked at Angaston Hospital in Adelaide. In 1933 she moved back to Broken Hill to work at the Broken Hill District Hospital for 10 years and became Acting Matron during that time.

Second World War
Irene was called up for service with the Australian Army Nursing Service (A.A.N.S.) January 1941 and sailed to Singapore. Malaya was invaded by Japanese troops on December 8. By February 1942 the A.A.N.S began to evacuate but Irene Drummond remained. On the February 12 Matron Drummond and the remaining nurses and staff were forced to leave Singapore aboard the steamer Vyner Brooke back to Australia. On the February 14 the ship was bombed and sunk by the Japanese. Irene and many of the survivors managed to swim to Radji Beach, Banka Island unfortunately the Island was already occupied by the Japanese. On February 16 the group decided to surrender to the Japanese but before they could negotiate the Japanese arrived at the beach and surrounded them. The men were separated and march away and shot and bayoneted. The women were ordered to walk into the sea and shot. Irene Drummond was one of the first to die. Only one nurse survived the massacre that person was Vivian Bullwinkel.