Olive Dorothy Paschke RRC, (19 July 1905 – 15 February 1942) was an Australian army nurse who died in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

Early life

Olive Dorothy Paschke was born at

Dimboola, Victoria Dimboola is a town in the Shire of Hindmarsh in the Wimmera region of western Victoria, Australia, 334 kilometres north-west of Melbourne. History Situated on the Wimmera River, Dimboola was previously known as 'Nine Creeks'. Following a survey ...

, the daughter of Heinrich Wilhelm Paschke and Ottilie Emma Kreig Paschke. Both of her parents were born in Australia. Her father was a farmer and a station agent. Olive Paschke earned her nursing certificate at Queen Victoria Memorial Hospital for Women and Children in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

. She also held certificates in

midwifery Midwifery is the health science and health profession that deals with pregnancy, childbirth, and the postpartum period (including care of the newborn), in addition to the sexual and reproductive health of women throughout their lives. In many cou ...

and infectious disease nursing.Janice McCarthy
"Paschke, Olive Dorothy (1905–1942)"
''Australian Dictionary of Biography'', National Centre of Biography (Australian National University 2000).

Career

Paschke worked as a hospital matron at Dimboola for four years, then in Melbourne at the Jessie McPherson Community Hospital. She joined the

Australian Army Nursing Service The Australian Army Nursing Service (AANS) was an Australian Army Reserve unit which provided a pool of trained civilian nurses who had volunteered for military service during wartime. The AANS was formed in 1902 by amalgamating the nursing servic ...

in 1940, at age 35. She was posted to

Malaya Malaya refers to a number of historical and current political entities related to what is currently Peninsular Malaysia in Southeast Asia: Political entities * British Malaya (1826–1957), a loose collection of the British colony of the Straits ...

, to establish the 2nd/10th Australian General Hospital, in early 1941. In 1942 she was sent to

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

to help convert a school into a 200-bed hospital. Soon her unit was converting nearby buildings and treating up to 600 patients at a time. Paschke was recognized with the

Royal Red Cross The Royal Red Cross (RRC) is a military decoration awarded in the United Kingdom and Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth for exceptional services in military nursing. Foundation The award was established on 27 April 1883 by Victoria of the Un ...

award in January 1942. In February 1942, Paschke and

Irene Melville Drummond Matron Irene Melville Drummond (26 July 1905 – 16 February 1942) was an Australian Army nurse during the Second World War. She was the most senior-ranking among the 22 Australian nurses killed in the Bangka Island massacre on 16 February 194 ...

were the matrons supervising 63 nurses when all of them were sent back to Australia on a ship carrying hundreds of women and children, the ''

SS Vyner Brooke SS ''Vyner Brooke'' was a Scottish-built steamship that was both the royal yacht of Sarawak and a merchant ship frequently used between Singapore and Kuching. She was named after the 3rd Rajah of Sarawak, Sir Charles Vyner Brooke. At the outbre ...

''. The ship was struck by a bomb in the

Bangka Strait Bangka Strait is the strait that separates the island of Sumatra from Bangka Island ( id, Pulau Bangka) in the Java Sea, Indonesia. The strait is about long, with a width varying from about to . See also * Japanese cruiser Ashigara * List of st ...

. Paschke's life raft never reached land, and all its passengers were considered lost at sea, presumed drowned. Twenty-two of Paschke's colleagues, Australian nurses who reached land following the bombing of the ''Vyner Brooke'', were executed by Japanese soldiers in the Bangka Island massacre.

Posthumous honours

Paschke was awarded the

Florence Nightingale Medal The Florence Nightingale Medal is an international award presented to those distinguished in nursing and named after British nurse Florence Nightingale. The medal was established in 1912 by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), f ...

by the

International Red Cross Committee The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a humanitarian movement with approximately 97 million volunteers, members and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ensure respect for all human beings, a ...

in 1951. The Matron Paschke Memorial Sundial at her alma mater in Dimboola was dedicated in 1949. Paschke's name is inscribed on the

Kranji War Memorial The Kranji War Memorial ( Chinese: 克兰芝阵亡战士公坟; ms, Tanah Perkuburan Perang Kranji; ta, கிராஞ்சி போர் நினைவு) is located at 9 Woodlands Road, in Kranji in northern Singapore. Dedicated to the ...

in Singapore. Pashke Place in the Canberra suburb of Chisholm is named in her honour.

References

External links

Another photograph of Olive Dorothy Plaschke
from the Australian War Memorial. {{DEFAULTSORT:Paschke, Olive Dorothy 1905 births 1942 deaths Australian women nurses Australian military nurses People from Victoria (Australia) Members of the Royal Red Cross Florence Nightingale Medal recipients 20th-century Australian women Australian Army personnel of World War II Australian Army officers Australian military personnel killed in World War II