Letters of Matron Irene Melville Drummond

S.X. 10594.
Matron Drummond
13th A.G.H.
A.A.N.S
A.I.F.

Malaya.
17.12.41
My dear Phylis & Ruth,
It is about your turn
for a letter and these are 
the latest effort of the
postal authorities to save 
paper and weight and we are

asked to use them. I think I told 

you that your parcel of books

arrived safely and I am very

pleased to have them especially 

now when we are so isolated.
Not that I get much time for
reading & almost invariably when 
I do settle down to give myself a
little relaxation at night the
air raid warning goes and all lights
have to be put out.. The blackouts
are the bane of my existence at
present. I do dislike not having
proper light at night. We have 
hurricane lamps with blue
paper as our normal light.
It is impossible to write by them
so seize every spare minute in

the day times to write letters.
There is of course no news to
tell you as we dont go beyond
the precincts of the hospital &
our quarters so it is nothing 
but work & sleep with food

in between whiles.
I find it difficult to write letters
these days on that account.
but the letters after all are to let
you know that we are well

and safe.
I hear no more cables are to be 
sent now until after Xmas so
I do hope that Mother got hers 
safely before this pause came
on.
Our hospital grows bigger daily
and a tremendous lot of work
has been done during the last
ten days.

We are in the throes of a thunder
storm at present and my tent 
is not very water proof though  
it has the advantage of being 

cool and I get a breeze.

I really dont mind if the rain
continues - as it gives us a quiet
night from air raid alarms as
visibility is bad with the heavy
clouds about.
Tell Dad I saw Capt. Patterson
again this morning had a yarn
to him. He was pleased as I had
received a canteen order from
the [[Vacuum?]]. I am wondering if
they well send me one being
an employees daughter. I dont
expect it.
Had a letter from Giles this
week. She is also producing
young.
I heard a good story the other day.
Have you heard it.
What did the brassiere say to
the top hat.?
You go on ahead & I'll give
the other two suckers a lift.
Well I dont recommend this paper
to anyone but as I have said
before it is an uncomfortable
war and I suppose we'll have
to put up with it.
Hope you are all well &
heaps of love to all
Irene

Mrs. G. Webb

19 Day Road

Glen Osmond

S. Aus.

AUSTRALIA.

[*Mr Henty?*]

[*Matron Drummond

13th A.G.H.

A.A.N.S.

A.I.F.

Malaya*]
[*PR 87/187
AUSTRALIAN
WAR MEMORIAL*]

S.X. 10594.
Matron I.M. Drummond
13th A.G.H.
A.A.N.S
A.I.F.
Malaya
5/2/42.

My dear Phyllis,

There is nothing to write

about as usual except bombs

& more bombs, which is not a

particularly cheerful subject but

I must answer your letter of the

14^th Jan. which I received about

the 20th and was the last letter

I got from home. Thank you for

it. The stoppage of the air mail

is a great blow to us here as

the only bright spot was the

regularity of the mail. I am afraid

that the Quantas that was lost

on Jan 30th was carrying South

Aus mails as we have missed

out on the last two Thank you

for sending the Digests I suspect

they will arrive in time &

all reading matter is extremely

useful to us here.

I am glad to hear you have a

job. It will make things easier

for you with George away.

Our new hospital is taking shape

well and I am beginning to think

it looks like one now. For a few

days I was in despair that we

would ever be straight but it

is amazing how things gradually

right themselves.

I have Ogilvey & Dorsch attached to

my staff now. Hannah & Co

are with the other A.G.H. They are

both very good workers and I am

glad to have them with me.

I havent seen anything of hugo

Hobbs for some time. Saw Bill

Scollier before  we left Johore.

He gave me an amusing &

graphic description of some of

his experiences. However he was

looking better than last time I

saw him. A good many of the

officers there at Port Dickson have

been killed or are missing.

The two Scotchman  who taught

us to do an eight some reel on

the Queen Mary have been

killed. Another lad I knew called

Martin who took us out to

dinner a couple of times is

missing but the Australians are

wonderful at finding their way

and it is hoped that he

will turn up again.

I saw Mrs Marshall yesterday.

she gave us her wireless set

for the hospital also several

other things. It must be awful 

for these people to have to

abandon their homes.

I had a letter from Bridgie

Cooper last week. She is in

Syria, during the snow & ice

a bit of it here wouldnt go

amiss

The Australians are marvellous

you cant imagine the stories we

hear of their bravery. One Colonel

[[Thurnow?]] is almost certain

to get the V.C. He is an unassuming

man - very short sighted &

not a bit like a soldier. He

came to see me yesterday & I

was very pleased to see him

He always carries three pairs

of glasses - incidentally he lost

one pair swimming a river He & 

I have a  fellow feeling about

glasses.

Well I must close. I hope you are

all well. My best to George

and I sincerely hope the war

is over before he has to go

away. I cant help feeling very

thankful that Nelson is not

here. Heaps of love to all

Irene

On Active Service

AUST BASE.P.O.

27 FEB 42

28.
Mrs G. Webb.

C/o G. Drummond

Learmonth

36 Maleshire St

Millswood

S.Aus.

[*Drummond*]

Matron Drummond

13th A.G.H.

A.A.N.S.

A.I.F.

Malaya.
[*PR 87/187
AUSTRALIAN
WAR MEMORIAL*]