Try free for 30 days
-
Sisters in Captivity
- Sister Betty Jeffrey OAM and the Courageous Story of Australian Army Nurses in Sumatra, 1942–1945
- Narrated by: Arianwen Parkes-Lockwood
- Length: 11 hrs and 7 mins
Failed to add items
Add to basket failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from Wish List failed.
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Buy Now for $26.99
No valid payment method on file.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Listeners also picked
-
The War Nurses
- By: Anthea Hodgson
- Narrated by: Harriet Gordan Anderson, Jo Van Es
- Length: 12 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1942, country girls Minnie Hodgson and Margot McNee set sail from Perth, Australia for Singapore in search of adventure, full of excitement and keen to do their part working as nurses to the fallen soldiers in a time of war. What they encounter is an army of new friends and the terrors of a city under siege. When the Japanese attack and Singapore falls, they are forced to flee aboard the Vyner Brooke. The ship is bombed, resulting in utter devastation.
-
-
Loved it
- By Kelly on 25-05-2023
-
White Coolies
- By: Betty Jeffrey
- Narrated by: Beverly Dunn
- Length: 7 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1942 a group of 65 Australian Army nursing sisters was evacuated from Malaya a few days before the fall of Singapore. Two days later their ship was bombed and sunk by the Japanese. Of the 53 survivors who scrambled ashore, 21 were murdered and the remaining 32 taken prisoner. White Coolies is the engrossing record kept by one of the sisters, Betty Jeffrey, during the more than three gruelling years of imprisonment that followed.
-
-
This should be required reading for all Australian Students
- By Anonymous User on 26-02-2024
-
The Last Charge of the Australian Light Horse
- From the Australian bush to the Battle of Beersheba - an Epic Story of Courage, Resilience and Derring-Do
- By: Peter FitzSimons
- Narrated by: Richard Bligh
- Length: 16 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On 31st October 1917, as the day's light faded, the Australian Light Horse charged against their enemy. Eight hundred men and horses galloped four miles across open country, towards the artillery, rifles and machine guns of the Turks occupying the seemingly unassailable town of Beersheba. What happened in the next hour changed the course of history. This brave battle and the extraordinary adventures that led to it are brought vividly to life by Australia's greatest storyteller, Peter FitzSimons.
-
-
A great story of a great Australian event
- By Russell on 22-02-2024
-
Australia's Secret Army
- By: Michael Veitch
- Narrated by: Michael Veitch
- Length: 10 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Established after World War I by the Royal Australian Navy, the Coast Watchers were a loose organisation of several hundred European settlers, missionaries, patrol officers and planters living in British and Australian Pacific Island territories whose job it was to observe and report on the enemy. They were mostly all unpaid volunteers whose job it was simply to observe and report on foreign shipping and aeroplane movements. It was never envisaged that the Coast Watchers would do any fighting, nor operate inside enemy-occupied territory.
-
-
Truly engaging
- By Bob Hartley on 26-02-2023
-
The Lost Boys
- By: Paul Byrnes
- Narrated by: Simon Harvey
- Length: 8 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the First World War of 1914-1918, thousands of boys across Australia and New Zealand lied about their age, forged a parent’s signature and left to fight on the other side of the world. Though some were as young as 13, they soon found they could die as well as any man. Like Peter Pan’s lost boys, they have remained forever young. These are their stories. This extraordinary book captures the incredible and previously untold stories of 40 Anzac boys who fought in the First World War, from Gallipoli to the Armistice.
-
-
Atrocious reading!
- By Anonymous User on 31-12-2021
-
Secret and Special
- By: Will Davies
- Narrated by: Steve Shanahan
- Length: 12 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Soon after the declaration of war on Japan, a secret military reconnaissance unit was established, based on the British Special Operations Executive (known as SOE) and called the Inter-allied Services Department. The unit was tasked with the role to "obtain and report information of the enemy...weaken the enemy by sabotage and destruction of morale and to lend aid and assistance to local efforts to the same end in enemy occupied territories."
-
-
Tuff buggers
- By tlcdc on 20-01-2024
-
The War Nurses
- By: Anthea Hodgson
- Narrated by: Harriet Gordan Anderson, Jo Van Es
- Length: 12 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1942, country girls Minnie Hodgson and Margot McNee set sail from Perth, Australia for Singapore in search of adventure, full of excitement and keen to do their part working as nurses to the fallen soldiers in a time of war. What they encounter is an army of new friends and the terrors of a city under siege. When the Japanese attack and Singapore falls, they are forced to flee aboard the Vyner Brooke. The ship is bombed, resulting in utter devastation.
-
-
Loved it
- By Kelly on 25-05-2023
-
White Coolies
- By: Betty Jeffrey
- Narrated by: Beverly Dunn
- Length: 7 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1942 a group of 65 Australian Army nursing sisters was evacuated from Malaya a few days before the fall of Singapore. Two days later their ship was bombed and sunk by the Japanese. Of the 53 survivors who scrambled ashore, 21 were murdered and the remaining 32 taken prisoner. White Coolies is the engrossing record kept by one of the sisters, Betty Jeffrey, during the more than three gruelling years of imprisonment that followed.
-
-
This should be required reading for all Australian Students
- By Anonymous User on 26-02-2024
-
The Last Charge of the Australian Light Horse
- From the Australian bush to the Battle of Beersheba - an Epic Story of Courage, Resilience and Derring-Do
- By: Peter FitzSimons
- Narrated by: Richard Bligh
- Length: 16 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On 31st October 1917, as the day's light faded, the Australian Light Horse charged against their enemy. Eight hundred men and horses galloped four miles across open country, towards the artillery, rifles and machine guns of the Turks occupying the seemingly unassailable town of Beersheba. What happened in the next hour changed the course of history. This brave battle and the extraordinary adventures that led to it are brought vividly to life by Australia's greatest storyteller, Peter FitzSimons.
-
-
A great story of a great Australian event
- By Russell on 22-02-2024
-
Australia's Secret Army
- By: Michael Veitch
- Narrated by: Michael Veitch
- Length: 10 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Established after World War I by the Royal Australian Navy, the Coast Watchers were a loose organisation of several hundred European settlers, missionaries, patrol officers and planters living in British and Australian Pacific Island territories whose job it was to observe and report on the enemy. They were mostly all unpaid volunteers whose job it was simply to observe and report on foreign shipping and aeroplane movements. It was never envisaged that the Coast Watchers would do any fighting, nor operate inside enemy-occupied territory.
-
-
Truly engaging
- By Bob Hartley on 26-02-2023
-
The Lost Boys
- By: Paul Byrnes
- Narrated by: Simon Harvey
- Length: 8 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the First World War of 1914-1918, thousands of boys across Australia and New Zealand lied about their age, forged a parent’s signature and left to fight on the other side of the world. Though some were as young as 13, they soon found they could die as well as any man. Like Peter Pan’s lost boys, they have remained forever young. These are their stories. This extraordinary book captures the incredible and previously untold stories of 40 Anzac boys who fought in the First World War, from Gallipoli to the Armistice.
-
-
Atrocious reading!
- By Anonymous User on 31-12-2021
-
Secret and Special
- By: Will Davies
- Narrated by: Steve Shanahan
- Length: 12 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Soon after the declaration of war on Japan, a secret military reconnaissance unit was established, based on the British Special Operations Executive (known as SOE) and called the Inter-allied Services Department. The unit was tasked with the role to "obtain and report information of the enemy...weaken the enemy by sabotage and destruction of morale and to lend aid and assistance to local efforts to the same end in enemy occupied territories."
-
-
Tuff buggers
- By tlcdc on 20-01-2024
-
Great Australian Outback Police Stories
- By: Bolinda Publishing
- Narrated by: Bill 'Swampy' Marsh, Kate Hood
- Length: 9 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
I tell you, you meet some strange characters in this game.... Boasting the biggest beats in the world - some as large as France - Australia's outback police have seen it all: natural disasters, incredible acts of selflessness, unspeakable crimes and daring rescues, just to name a few. And they've met some unforgettable characters along the way: from the murderer who stuffed his victims' bodies down wombat holes to the policeman who arrested his own wife....
-
-
Fascinating. More please.
- By Anonymon on 19-02-2016
-
The Mailman of the Birdsville Track
- By: Kristin Weidenbach
- Narrated by: Peter Hosking
- Length: 8 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Birdsville Track is one of the best-known - and loneliest – tracks in Australia, and for 20 years Tom Kruse was the mailman, battling the searing heat, floods, and mechanical breakdowns. He made the run every fortnight, and was a lifeline to the isolated settlements and stations along the way, delivering everything from letters to essential supplies. The Track is still just that - a track through the desert and sandhills. Tom began in the days before reliable vehicles, good communication, and air access in case of emergency. He made running repairs of his truck, he loaded and unloaded tons of stores to ferry his cargo across flooded creeks.
-
-
Great story, fabulous narration
- By Pilkom on 27-09-2017
-
Into the Wilderness
- A Novel
- By: Sara Donati
- Narrated by: Kate Reading
- Length: 30 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Weaving a vibrant tapestry of fact and fiction, Into the Wilderness sweeps us into another time and place...and into the heart of a forbidden, incandescent affair between a spinster Englishwoman and an American frontiersman. Here is an epic of romance and history that will captivate readers from the start.
-
-
A beautiful beautiful novel
- By N. Rendle-Smith on 17-04-2024
-
Saving Port Moresby
- Fighting at the End of the Kokoda Track
- By: David W. Cameron
- Narrated by: Steve Shanahan
- Length: 16 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Powerfully written by Australia's leading military historian, Saving Port Moresby commemorates the 80th Anniversary of the Battles in New Guinea. Japanese Major General Horii Tomitarō, commanding the South Seas Force, was tasked, after taking Kokoda Plateau in late July, with entering the Owen Stanley Range to capture Port Morseby. After the battles for Deniki and Isurava, his troops were pushing south through the mountains. The Australians under Brigadier Arnold Potts, however, were not in route, but were involved in a determined fighting withdraw.
-
Banks
- By: Grantlee Kieza
- Narrated by: Patrick Harvey
- Length: 14 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Explorer, naturalist and president of Britain's Royal Society, Sir Joseph Banks was a larger-than-life character best known for his promotion of science. In 1768 Banks joined Captain James Cook's expedition to the South Pacific. The 30,000 specimens he brought back generated enormous interest, as did the sometimes racy written account of the journey, which chronicled his frequent amorous exploits.
-
-
Splendid biography of a great man
- By Rodney Wetherell on 09-02-2021
-
Heroic Australian Women in War
- By: Susanna de Vries
- Narrated by: Beverley Dunn
- Length: 12 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Facing not onlt the astounding courage they displayed amid death and chaos but also on the triumphs and pain of their personal lives, Susanna reveals how these 11 Australian women were as influential and heroic in civil life as they were in war.
-
-
Amazing book 📕
- By Netta T on 22-04-2023
-
Kings in Grass Castles
- By: Mary Durack
- Narrated by: Jenny Seedsman
- Length: 17 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
"'Cattle Kings' ye call us, then we are Kings in grass castles that may be blown away upon a puff of wind..." - Patrick Durack, 1878. When Patrick Durack left Ireland for Australia in 1853, he was to found a dynasty of pioneers, and build an empire of cattle-land across the great stretches of Australia. His grand-daughter, Mary Durack, with a profound sense of family history, has rebuilt the saga of the Duracks, a saga that is the story of Australia itself, huge, pioneering, and tremendous in concept.
-
-
Total enjoyment
- By Brian Treloar on 20-04-2016
-
Anzac Girls
- The Extraordinary Story of Our World War I Nurses
- By: Peter Rees
- Narrated by: Anna McGahan
- Length: 10 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The harrowing, dramatic and profoundly moving story of the Australian and New Zealand nurses who served in the Great War. Now a major six-part television series. By the end of the Great War, 45 Australian and New Zealand nurses had died on overseas service and over 200 had been decorated. These were the women who left for war looking for adventure and romance but were soon confronted with challenges for which their civilian lives could never have prepared them.
-
-
Brilliant.
- By Georgie on 01-07-2016
-
The Midwife of Auschwitz
- By: Anna Stuart
- Narrated by: Sophie Aldred
- Length: 11 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ana Kaminski is pushed through the iron gates of Auschwitz beside her frightened young friend Ester Pasternak. As they reach the front of the line, Ana steps forward and quietly declares herself a midwife--and Ester her assistant. Their arms are tattooed and they’re ordered to the maternity hut. Holding an innocent newborn baby, Ana knows the fate of so many are in her hands and vows to do everything she can to save them.
-
-
Heart wrenching story
- By Lynne on 26-12-2022
-
War Dogs
- An Australian and His Dog Go to War in Afghanistan
- By: Tony Park, Shane Bryant
- Narrated by: James Saunders
- Length: 8 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A riveting account of the hidden war in the mountains and cities of the world's most dangerous conflict and the comradeship between man and dog that has saved numerous lives. In Afghanistan, sometimes all that stands between coalition troops and death or serious injury is a dog. Highly trained dogs and their handlers search for improvised explosive devices or hidden weapons out on patrol with combat troops. It's a perilous job, often putting them right in the firing line and making them high-priority targets for the Taliban insurgents they're fighting.
-
-
War Dogs
- By Murray Bobbin on 14-10-2021
-
Larrikins in Khaki
- By: Tim Bowden
- Narrated by: Stephen Hunter
- Length: 13 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Larrikins in Khaki, Tim Bowden has collected compelling and vivid stories of individual soldiers whose memoirs were mostly self-published and who told of their experiences with scant regard for literary pretensions and military niceties. NCOs and officers who were hopeless at their jobs were made aware of it - they laughed their way through the worst of it by taking the mickey out of one another and their superiors.
-
-
Blatant Plagiarism
- By Peter on 19-03-2021
-
Cinderella Boys
- The Forgotten RAF Force That Won the Battle of the Atlantic
- By: Leo McKinstry
- Narrated by: Peter Noble
- Length: 12 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In early 1943 Britain was engaged in an epic struggle for survival. As the deadly wolf packs of German U-boats roamed the Atlantic, supply lines and shipping losses fell victim to the carnage. In desperation, Churchill turned to the RAF's maritime wing - an overlooked, underfunded force known as "The Cinderella Service". But the ascendancy of the U-boat forced a change in attitude. Provided with the long-range planes, depth charges, rocket projectiles and radar equipment with which to challenge the enemy. The Cinderella boys provided vital air defence.
-
-
The Title says it all
- By Amazon Customer on 22-12-2023
Publisher's Summary
The incredible account of Sister Betty Jeffrey OAM and the Australian war nurses who survived the bombing of evacuation ship SS Vyner Brooke in February 1942, and subsequently spent three years in Japanese prison camps in Sumatra.
During those perilous years surviving in squalid conditions, Sister Jeffrey kept a secret diary of day-to-day events which, after the war, was turned into a hugely successful book and radio serial: White Coolies. She would often write of the powerful sisterhood that evolved as the prisoners of war took strength from each other, even forming a vocal orchestra. White Coolies was a major inspiration for the 1997 film Paradise Road.
Sisters in Captivity builds on those diaries to not only re-live the years the nurses spent as POWs but also recounts the early life and influences that encouraged Betty Jeffrey into the field of nursing as a lifelong endeavor. A tireless advocate for returned nurses, she co-founded the Australian Nurses Memorial Centre with sole survivor of the Banka Island Massacre, fellow POW, and her longtime friend Vivian Bullwinkel.
Featuring 32 pages of photos including personal mementos of Betty Jeffrey, courtesy of her family, and her drawings from the prison camps, this is a powerful account of women’s resilience amidst the devastating brutality of war.
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.
More from the same
What listeners say about Sisters in Captivity
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Anonymous User
- 26-04-2024
Great Narrator
Great in depth look into the life of nurses under the cruel Japanese of the time. I know it's said alot but this should be compulsory reading for Australian schoolchildren. What brave resilient women they were.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!