DRUMMOND, IRENE MELVILLE (1905-1942), army matron, was born on 26 July 1905 at
Ashfield, Sydney, daughter of Cedric Drummond, marine engineer, and his wife
Katherine, née Melville, both Queensland born. Educated at Catholic schools in
Adelaide and at Broken Hill, New South Wales, Irene returned to Adelaide, trained
as a nurse at Miss Laurence's Private Hospital, qualified in obstetrics at the
Queen's Home and worked at Angaston Hospital. In 1933 she moved to the Broken Hill
and District Hospital where she proved to be a compassionate and extremely
competent nurse, well liked and respected by her superiors and colleagues. She
served as a surgical sister, assistant-matron and acting-matron.
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A member of the Australian Army Nursing Service, Irene Drummond was killed by Japanese soldiers during the Banka Island massacre of 1942.
The daughter of Cedric and Katherine Drummond, Irene worked as a nursing sister at Millswood, South Australia, before moving to Broken Hill in 1933 to work at the local hospital. She was Deputy Matron there before enlisting in the Australian Army in October 1940. Drummond was appointed to the 2/13th Australian General Hospital (AGH). In 1942, following the sinking of the SS Vyner Brooke en route from Singapore, she was gunned down by Japanese soldiers during the Banka Island massacre.
The Drummond Memorial Park was opened in Broken Hill in 1949 in honour of Irene Drummond.
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