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White Coolies
An account of the true story which inspired the film Paradise Road.
"It is October 1942. From the doorway of this small three-roomed cottage, which houses thirty-two of us, we look out beyond to a steaming jungle in Sumatra..."
In 1942 a group of sixty-five 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 fifty-three survivors who scrambled ashore, twenty-one were murdered and the remaining thirty-two 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. It is an amazing story of survival amid deprivation and the harshest of conditions. The women’s ingenious and entertaining attempts to make their lot more tolerable, and their comradeship as they suffered so much anguish, display their incredible endurance and strength in the face of adversity.
Betty Jeffrey was awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia in 1987.
ISBN 0207196281
"It is October 1942. From the doorway of this small three-roomed cottage, which houses thirty-two of us, we look out beyond to a steaming jungle in Sumatra..."
In 1942 a group of sixty-five 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 fifty-three survivors who scrambled ashore, twenty-one were murdered and the remaining thirty-two 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. It is an amazing story of survival amid deprivation and the harshest of conditions. The women’s ingenious and entertaining attempts to make their lot more tolerable, and their comradeship as they suffered so much anguish, display their incredible endurance and strength in the face of adversity.
Betty Jeffrey was awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia in 1987.
ISBN 0207196281
204 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1965
11 people are currently reading
701 people want to read
About the author
Betty Jeffrey
7 books3 followersAgnes Betty Jeffrey, OAM was a nurse in the 2/10th Australian General Hospital during World War II. She was taken captive by the Japanese Imperial Army and interned in the Dutch East Indies. Her memoir, White Coolies, inspired the film Paradise Road.
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Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews
November 6, 2018
5 Stars = It made a significant impact. I won't forget it.
June 20, 2016
‘This is a story of women who fought in the last war.’
In 1942, a few days before the fall of Singapore, a group of sixty-five Australian Army nursing sisters was evacuated from Malaya. They were evacuated on the SS Vyner Brooke. Two days later, on 14 February 1942, the SS Vyner Brooke was bombed by the Japanese and sank. Fifty-three survivors made it ashore. Twenty-one survivors were shot and killed by the Japanese at Radji Beach on 16 February 1942. The other thirty-two were taken prisoner.
Betty Jeffrey was one of those nursing sisters, and she kept a record of their imprisonment. Using an exercise book she found and a stub of pencil, she kept a diary which she kept hidden. This diary, first published in 1954, entitled ‘White Coolies’, is an amazing story of courage, determination, ingenuity and resilience.
‘With these women, it was a different kind of war.’
Betty Jeffrey and her colleagues were held prisoner in and around Sumatra for over three and a half years. They lived in crowded and unsanitary conditions – thirty-two people in a small three roomed cottage, in October 1942 – on a diet of rice contaminated by dirt, bugs and rocks, and rotting vegetables. Occasionally, they might receive a sliver of meat. Many of the nurses had literally the clothes on their backs, and no shoes because they had removed their shoes before diving off the SS Vyner Brooke.
Amid the cruelty and despite the hardship, the nurses organised themselves. They established a routine, designating cooks, cleaners and gardeners. They also organised entertainment: establishing a choir, playing cards, making gifts for celebrations from what they had. Their guards were cruel: forcing the women to stand for long periods in the sun, requiring them to walk long distances to collect clean water for the guards’ sweet potato crop, when their own water supply was often contaminated and limited. Their Red Cross parcels were also withheld.
By the 18th of August 1945, there were only twenty-four survivors. On the 24th of August 1945, they learned that the war was over. On the 17th of September 1945, they were flown to Singapore.
‘We were out at last.’
I found this book deeply moving. I saw the movie ‘Paradise Road’ many years ago, but had not read the book. Betty Jeffrey’s account of events reminds us of events we’d prefer not to think of, of an ugly protracted side of war. These women were brave, courageous, and inspirational, and we should continue to remember them.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
In 1942, a few days before the fall of Singapore, a group of sixty-five Australian Army nursing sisters was evacuated from Malaya. They were evacuated on the SS Vyner Brooke. Two days later, on 14 February 1942, the SS Vyner Brooke was bombed by the Japanese and sank. Fifty-three survivors made it ashore. Twenty-one survivors were shot and killed by the Japanese at Radji Beach on 16 February 1942. The other thirty-two were taken prisoner.
Betty Jeffrey was one of those nursing sisters, and she kept a record of their imprisonment. Using an exercise book she found and a stub of pencil, she kept a diary which she kept hidden. This diary, first published in 1954, entitled ‘White Coolies’, is an amazing story of courage, determination, ingenuity and resilience.
‘With these women, it was a different kind of war.’
Betty Jeffrey and her colleagues were held prisoner in and around Sumatra for over three and a half years. They lived in crowded and unsanitary conditions – thirty-two people in a small three roomed cottage, in October 1942 – on a diet of rice contaminated by dirt, bugs and rocks, and rotting vegetables. Occasionally, they might receive a sliver of meat. Many of the nurses had literally the clothes on their backs, and no shoes because they had removed their shoes before diving off the SS Vyner Brooke.
Amid the cruelty and despite the hardship, the nurses organised themselves. They established a routine, designating cooks, cleaners and gardeners. They also organised entertainment: establishing a choir, playing cards, making gifts for celebrations from what they had. Their guards were cruel: forcing the women to stand for long periods in the sun, requiring them to walk long distances to collect clean water for the guards’ sweet potato crop, when their own water supply was often contaminated and limited. Their Red Cross parcels were also withheld.
By the 18th of August 1945, there were only twenty-four survivors. On the 24th of August 1945, they learned that the war was over. On the 17th of September 1945, they were flown to Singapore.
‘We were out at last.’
I found this book deeply moving. I saw the movie ‘Paradise Road’ many years ago, but had not read the book. Betty Jeffrey’s account of events reminds us of events we’d prefer not to think of, of an ugly protracted side of war. These women were brave, courageous, and inspirational, and we should continue to remember them.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
February 7, 2013
This was a book given to me by my Mother...Her friend (Sister ) P.B.(Blanche) Hempstead was a White Coolie and died as a POW. She is mentioned in the book.
This book is a remarkable story of cruelty, courage, perseverance, and strength of spirit. In spite of all the difficulty, deprivation and terrible conditions, there is also humour in the story, which is only to be expected from we Australians.
Sixty-five Australian Army nurses were hastily evacuated from Malaya in 1942, prior to the fall of Singapore to the Japanese Imperial Forces. After being at sea for only a brief time, the ship carrying them to safety was bombed and sunk by the Japanese.
Fifty-three survivors reached shore, twenty-one were shot on the beach by the Japanese, the rest were taken as prisoners of war. This then was their story, written by Sister Betty Jeffrey who kept an account of their terrible three and a half years as Prisoners of War and their courage and resourcefulness under the yoke of the Japanese.
This is a book to be read and remembered...
This book is a remarkable story of cruelty, courage, perseverance, and strength of spirit. In spite of all the difficulty, deprivation and terrible conditions, there is also humour in the story, which is only to be expected from we Australians.
Sixty-five Australian Army nurses were hastily evacuated from Malaya in 1942, prior to the fall of Singapore to the Japanese Imperial Forces. After being at sea for only a brief time, the ship carrying them to safety was bombed and sunk by the Japanese.
Fifty-three survivors reached shore, twenty-one were shot on the beach by the Japanese, the rest were taken as prisoners of war. This then was their story, written by Sister Betty Jeffrey who kept an account of their terrible three and a half years as Prisoners of War and their courage and resourcefulness under the yoke of the Japanese.
This is a book to be read and remembered...
January 12, 2013
I lucked into television last night and saw a movie called Paradise Road which at the time I thought was very similar to one of my favourite books as a teenager called "White Coolies". No doubt the names is no longer politically correct! The movie was very good but I am not sure that it followed the book exactly. Specifically, I cannot remember the forming of the choir. This book has travelled with me through thick and thin in life and currently lives on my bookshelf along with my other cherished books.
I would recommend this book to anyone for a detailed and graphic account of what being a POW was like in Sumatra in 1942.
I would recommend this book to anyone for a detailed and graphic account of what being a POW was like in Sumatra in 1942.
November 13, 2012
This is a raw story, reflecting the bitterness and animosity of captives for their captors through the long years of WWII after the fall of Singapore. Two cultures with little understanding and much misunderstanding forced into an uncompromising situation - each despising the other. There are times of joy and happiness in the little joys of pow life - fresh chooks in a stew, an uplifting choir performance, a birthday celebration. But the deprivations, illness, torture, starvation and inhumanity are beyond belief, and that any survived such treacherous conditions is truly amazing. The diary was illicitly kept by Jeffrey in an exercise book in a small pillow, and its survival is a miracle in itself, as the internees are marched between tropical camps and are subjected to intense searches. The nurses are unstinting in their endeavours to maintain the health of the camps, even when their own health is hanging in the balance.
September 9, 2010
My edition is from 1957 and has a very politically incorrect cover.
It is the story of a group of Australian Army Nursing Sisters and others who were captured by th Japanese in WW2 and held on Sumatra. Terrible conditions and many of them died but it was amazing the things they did to maintain the resemblance of a normal life.
It is the story of a group of Australian Army Nursing Sisters and others who were captured by th Japanese in WW2 and held on Sumatra. Terrible conditions and many of them died but it was amazing the things they did to maintain the resemblance of a normal life.
May 14, 2018
What I “really liked” about this book was not the events that took place in 1942 onwards but the fact that Sister Betty Jeffrey was able to record them and then have them published. How Sister Jeffrey or anyone in these POW camps survived is a story that needed to be told.
January 26, 2016
I really, really enjoyed this book. In the last few years I've read quite a few books about WWII and really enjoyed all of them because of the different aspects of WWII they highlighted and White Coolies is no exception. This was an aspect I knew nothing about I was so amazed by the courage and kindness and perseverance of all of the people in these internment camps in some of the Pacific Islands. I loved how matter of factly Betty Jeffrey writes about her experience.
I really love how she reads all the names of the nurses who were lost during their time together. The respect and love all the women had for each other was so evident, even in her minimal descriptions of events. And I loved that she read the names of those who survived as well. Such a great sense of loss and triumph.
I've noticed some reviews discuss how politically incorrect she is in how she references the Japanese but remember the context and time period and situation they were in. I don't think it is fair to judge the book based on what was acceptable during that time period. I'm not saying it is ok, but it is not a good measure to judge the book. Though if that is a turn off to you don't read it. I won't lie, it was tough to hear sometimes but I still enjoyed the book. It would be like judging To Kill a Mocking Bird based on its use of the n word.
I really love how she reads all the names of the nurses who were lost during their time together. The respect and love all the women had for each other was so evident, even in her minimal descriptions of events. And I loved that she read the names of those who survived as well. Such a great sense of loss and triumph.
I've noticed some reviews discuss how politically incorrect she is in how she references the Japanese but remember the context and time period and situation they were in. I don't think it is fair to judge the book based on what was acceptable during that time period. I'm not saying it is ok, but it is not a good measure to judge the book. Though if that is a turn off to you don't read it. I won't lie, it was tough to hear sometimes but I still enjoyed the book. It would be like judging To Kill a Mocking Bird based on its use of the n word.
June 8, 2013
Amazing how Miss Jeffrey could keep her spirits up the way she did. I suppose she only wrote in her diary when she could keep that "stiff upper lip." I read this book comparing the experiences of these Australian Army Nurse Corps nurses with the experiences of the American military nurses who were POWs at Santo Tomas in the Philippines. Both groups had it rough, the women in each group came home weighing less than 100 pounds, both were treated as civilian internees, not military POWs. Apparently the Japanese could not comprehend the idea of women actually serving in the military. Amazing that people could actually survive what these women went through - and their major "complaint" [if you could call it that] is that they were prevented from properly doing their job of nursing because of total lack of any kind of medical supplies. Definitely a good addition to my shelf of military nursing books.
May 6, 2020
It is inspiring woman like Betty Jeffery or Vivian Bullwinkle that make me feel honored to be a Australian nurse! Betty Jeffery has the positive Australian spirit that would of been so dearly needed in the POW camps and despite their captors and the camps they continued to treat the sick, withstand physical assault and outright refuse sexual assault under threat of death. These woman are heroes.
Lest we forget all of the men, woman and children who have died as a result of wars past, present and future!
Lest we forget all of the men, woman and children who have died as a result of wars past, present and future!
June 28, 2016
I expected this to be a depressing book but found it very uplifting to read about these amazingly brave, creative and resilient women.
Wish I had discovered this book twenty years ago! I would have loved to meet the author or one of the other Australian nurses she wrote about. Sadly the last lady died in 2007.
Wish I had discovered this book twenty years ago! I would have loved to meet the author or one of the other Australian nurses she wrote about. Sadly the last lady died in 2007.
May 6, 2013
This was an excellent read. I felt so connected to these women, the writing style of the book made me feel that I could feel what they were feeling. The fact that it was a true story made it even more powerful to me.
March 12, 2014
Really good read! Worth a read to know what the nurses captured in the war went through. In just one camp-about 60 went in and and only about 23 came out. Young ones too didn't make it. It was told by a nurse with a diary sewn in her pillow- amazing!
April 15, 2011
This book broke my heart, bless all of those wonderful women <3
March 26, 2012
I haven't read this for many years, but I read it numerous times as a teenager. White Coolies is absolutely compelling reading.
November 21, 2012
Extraordinary story of survival, told in very mater-of-fact way. These women were so admirable.
April 4, 2015
A moving diary of 3 years as an internee in Sumatra during WW2. An amazing group of women.
May 15, 2017
This is an extremely factual account of what happened to an amazing group of women in WW 11. It was recorded as a diary and hidden for almost four years - hence it is quite to the point and may seem lacking in emotion, but written exactly as it happened. I usually read novels to escape - this is a true story and no escape - but made me realise that my problems that seem over whelming at times are absolutely nothing. The book should really be mandatory reading for all, so much to learn from it. Thank you to a dear friend of my Mums who went to so much trouble to post the book to me - as I would never have read it of my own accord.
February 11, 2021
This is a story of cruelty, courage, strength and perseverance.
It is the story of thirty two Australian Army Nurses who were taken prisoner by the Japanese and interred for three years under terrible conditions. In spite of the difficulties and deprivation and terrible conditions there is also humour, which is typically Australian.
Written by one of the nurses, this book is an example of the strength of spirit and courage and also the resourcefulness shown by these women under the yoke of the Japanese.
It is the story of thirty two Australian Army Nurses who were taken prisoner by the Japanese and interred for three years under terrible conditions. In spite of the difficulties and deprivation and terrible conditions there is also humour, which is typically Australian.
Written by one of the nurses, this book is an example of the strength of spirit and courage and also the resourcefulness shown by these women under the yoke of the Japanese.
April 19, 2019
It’s been a lot of years since I read this book but i remember how powerful the support for each other in the prison camp was.
Tough, exceedingly tough, living conditions with disease and deaths continuously.
Starvation and brutality.
The shining light was the genuine care for each other and their patients by the nurses who were captured by the Japanese.
Tough, exceedingly tough, living conditions with disease and deaths continuously.
Starvation and brutality.
The shining light was the genuine care for each other and their patients by the nurses who were captured by the Japanese.
February 14, 2026
First read this at about 16 years of age, and a couple of more times since. An extremely confronting and inspirational account of some tenacious and strong women in a horror filled prisoner of war camp.
November 19, 2019
An incredible and remarkable journey.
I cannot even imagine what it was like to live through that and to keep a positive attitude at the same time? I’m just in awe.
I cannot even imagine what it was like to live through that and to keep a positive attitude at the same time? I’m just in awe.
July 11, 2023
A well written and very interesting insight into the life of a POW during WW2.
May 16, 2024
Lest we forget
For those sisters who didn’t make it home.
For those sisters who didn’t make it home.
November 27, 2023
Betty Jeffrey’s warm, insightful view of her time as a prisoner of war under the Japanese during WWII. Fascinating reading, terrible conditions. She and her mates all faced it with such strength of character and humour despite the disease, weather and cruelty wrought at the time. What a remarkable woman and document of events.
July 3, 2014
I am surprised by the high marks this book received. The events described were difficult and sad. But I did not see any personal growth or great insight from the author's experiences. I was offended by the language she used to describe her captors, and was bored by the long minuscule descriptions of life as a POW. I am not diminishing her experiences or her determination to survive, but I feel the writing was a disappointment.
February 5, 2009
Read for class HIST2078 - In the Firing Line: Australians At War
June 29, 2018
In 1942 a group of sixty-five Australian Army nursing sisters was evacuated from Malaya a few days before the fall of Singpaore. Two days later their ship was bombed and sunk by the Japanese. Of the fifty-three survivors who scrambled ashore, twenty-one were murdered and the remaining thirty-two 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. It is an amazing story of survival amid deprivation and the harshest of conditions. The women’s ingenious and entertaining attempts to make their lot more tolerable, and their comradeship as they suffered so much anguish, display their incredible endurance and strength in the face of adversity.
Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews