Iole (Harper) Burkitt (1911 - 1998)

Born 15 Mar 1911 in East Guildford, Western Australia, Australia

Ancestors

Wife of Arthur Robert Burkitt — married 6 Jun 1947 in Guildford, Western Australia, Australia

Died 4 Sep 1998 at age 87 in Guildford, Western Australia, Australia

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Australian Nurses of the Vyner Brooke

Iole was a nurse

Iole (Harper) Burkitt is a Military Veteran.
Served in the Second Australian Imperial Force 1941-1947
2/13th Australian General Hospital

Iole (Harper) Burkitt was a prisoner of war of the Japanese during the Second World War.

Biography

Iole Harper, eldest daughter of Harcourt Harper and Daisy Miller, was born on 15th March 1911 at East Guildford, Western Australia, Australia.

ANNOUNCEMENTS.
BIRTHS.
HARPER.—On March 15, to Mr. and Mrs. H. R. Harper, East Guildford—a daughter. ^[1]

Iole Harper had a remarkable life. She trained as a registered nurse at Perth Hospital, Western Australia and served in this capacity in World War II, commissioned on 15 August 1941 into the Australian Army Nursing Service (AANS) and attached to the 2/13th Australian General Hospital, then based in Malaya.

Name HARPER, IOLE

Service Australian Army

Service Number WX11172 (W16367)

Date of Birth 15 Mar 1911

Place of Birth EAST GUILDFORD, WA

Date of Enlistment 15 Aug 1941

Locality on Enlistment EAST GUILDFORD, WA

Place of Enlistment SWAN BARRACKS, WA

Next of Kin HARPER, HARCOURT

Date of Discharge 12 May 1947

Rank Lieutenant

Posting at Discharge 13 AUSTRALIAN GENERAL HOSPITAL

Prisoner of War Yes

Honours None for display ^[2]

Iole was a prisoner of war (along with Sister Vivian Bullwinkle) held in Japanese camps on Bangka Island and Sumatra, Netherlands East Indies (Indonesia). ^[3]

Nurses Story of Massacre
SINGAPORE, Mon— Two nurses from Western Australia are among the 24 survivors of shipwreck, mass massacre and Jap prison camp brutality who have arrived in Singapore by air from Sumatra. They are Iole Harper, of Guildford, and Ada Syer, who enlisted from Devonleigh Hospital. Some of the nurses are painfully thin, others look reasonably fit, but all are very cheerful. West Australian Colonel Cyril Fortune, senior officer at the 2/14th Australian General Hospital, to which they were taken, says that not one is on the seriously ill list.

Eldest of seven sisters, Lieutenant Iole Harper, is a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. H. R. Harper of York Road, East Guildford. Sister Harper went to Perth College, trained at Perth Hospital, enlisted in 1941. She left for Malaya with the 2/ 13th A.G.H. in September, 1941. Only word from her was a card written from Palembang on her birthday, March 15, 1942..... ^[4]

Iole married Dr Arthur Robert Burkitt on 6 June 1947 at Guildford, Western Australia.

WOMAN'S REALM
SOCIAL NOTES
Burkitt-Harper Wedding Yesterday (By "Avon.") The wedding of Miss Iole Harper, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Harcourt Harper, of Guildford, to Dr. Arthur Burkitt, son of Professor and Mrs. A. N. Burkitt, of Sydney, took place yesterday afternoon at St. Matthew's Church, Guildford. The bride, who was given away by her father, wore a sprig of real orange blossom at the neck of her simply-cut gown of deep shell pink, fashioned with long-fitting sleeves and a short train. On her hair she wore a cluster of multi-coloured flowers veiled in pink. Her sheaf bouquet was of pastel-toned flowers. She was attended by her sister, Miss Nan Harper, who chose a long frock of soft green crepe with a tucked bodice and elbow-length sleeves. Golden rosebuds were used for the spray she wore in her hair and roses and irises for her bouquet. Mr. Neville Burkitt was best man. After the ceremony a reception was held at the Lady Onslow Hall, where Mrs. Harper received the guests wearing an attractive pleated frock of black and white sheer, with little touches of scarlet on the bodice and a smart black softly veiled feather-trimmed hat. Before leaving the reception the bride changed to a suit of cyclamen pink, the jacket of which had a little scalloped basque. Her veiled hat and accessories were of a deep chocolate brown. During the war the bride served with the A.A.N.S. and was a member of the 13th A.G.H., which was sent to Singapore. ^[5] and ^[6]

Iole (née Harper) Burkitt was a founding member of New Era Aboriginal Fellowship. ^[7]

She died, aged 87 years, on 4 September 1998 at Guildford, Western Australia, and is buried in Karrakatta Cemetery, Nedlands, Western Australia.^[8]

Sources

1. ↑ "Western Mail" (Perth, WA : 1885 - 1954), Saturday 1 April 1911, page 31, column 1 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/38825806?searchTerm=wife%20H%20R%20Harper%20birth#
2. ↑ https://nominal-rolls.dva.gov.au/veteran?id=747381&c=WW2#R
3. ↑ Shaw, Ian W. 2010. On Radji Beach: the story of the Australian nurses after the fall of Singapore. MacMillan, Sydney. ISBN 978-1-4050-4024-2
4. ↑ Informative full article at Nurses Story of Massacre "Daily News" (Perth, WA : 1882 - 1950), Monday 17 September 1945, page 1, columns 1- 3 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/78778931?searchTerm=Iole%20Burkitt#
5. ↑ "West Australian" (Perth, WA : 1879 - 1954), Saturday 7 June 1947, page 7, column 4 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/46317171?searchTerm=Iole%20Burkitt#
6. ↑ "Daily News" (Perth, WA : 1882 - 1950), Saturday 7 June 1947, page 25, columns 1-2 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/78242994?searchTerm=Iole%20Burkitt#
7. ↑ "Yarranma" Dec. 1998, p. 19, 362.29 https://encore.slwa.wa.gov.au/iii/encore/record/C__Rb1884344 ("Yarranma" is a government sponsored magazine for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health in Western Australia)
8. ↑ https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/209589544/iole-burkitt

Also see more newspaper articles

• EX-P. O. W. NURSES ON WAY TO ENGLAND "Daily News" (Perth, WA : 1882 - 1950), Saturday 7 October 1950, page 4, column 1 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/82922946?searchTerm=Iole%20Burkitt#

• "Sisters Of The Lost Division" "Swan Express" (Midland Junction, WA : 1900 - 1954), Thursday 18 October 1945, page 4, columns 1-4 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/207360210?searchTerm=Iole%20Harper%20greeting#

• NURSES RETURN. WELCOME AT FREMANTLE "West Australian" (Perth, WA : 1879 - 1954), Friday 19 October 1945, page 8, column 3 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/44825814?searchTerm=Iole%20Harper%20greeting#

• Emotional welcome as gallant women return "Australian Women's Weekly" (1933 - 1982), Saturday 3 November 1945, page 19, columns 1-5 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/55465571?searchTerm=Iole%20Harper%20greeting#