Kathleen Constance 'Pat' Blake was born on 16th July 1912 at Chatswood, New South Wales, Australia. She was a daughter of George Blake and Catherine F unknown.[1]
Kathleen was a nurse
Pat completed her training and was registered as a nurse.
Kathleen (Blake) Dixon is a Military Veteran. Served in the Second Australian Imperial Force 1940-1946 2/10th Australian General Hospital
On 20th December 1940, Pat was commissioned as a nurse in the Australian Army Nursing Service (AANS) and posted to the 2/10th Australian General Hospital, then deployed in Malaya.[2] Along with 64 other Australian nurses and many civilians, including women and children, Pat was evacuated from Singapore on 12th February aboard the ill-fated Vyner Brooke. The ship was discovered by the Japanese as it was entering the Bangka Strait two days later, bombed and strafed repeatedly, and sank in twenty minutes.[3]
Kathleen (Blake) Dixon was a prisoner of war of the Japanese during the Second World War.
After several hours drifting in the sea, Carrie's life-boat found land at Bangka Island, Netherlands East Indies (Indonesia) and made her way to the tin-smeltering town of Muntok. There, she became a prisoner of war of the Japanese; held at Bangka Island and Sumatra until September 1945. After being repatriated to Australia, she was discharged from the Second Australian Imperial Force (AIF) on 24th July 1946.[4]
Kathleen lost no time in marrying Keith Dixon in 1945 at North Sydney.[5]
She passed away, aged 85 years, on 7th April 1998 at Sydney, New South Wales and is buried in the New South Wales Garden of Remembrance.[6]