- Entry type: Person
- Entry ID: AWE0460
Syer, Ada Corbitt (Mickey)
(1910 – 1991)
- Born 1910, Melbourne Victoria Australia
- Died 1991
- Occupation Servicewoman
Summary
Mickey Syer enlisted at Claremont, Western Australia, in the Australian Army on 6 February 1941. A member of the Australian Army Nursing Service, she was stationed with the 2/10th Australian General Hospital when captured by the Japanese during the fall of Singapore. Mickey spent three and a half years in Japanese prisoner of war camps in Sumatra.
During October 1945, she returned to Australia and was discharged from the Army on 10 August 1948.
Archival resources
Digital resources
- Title: Group portrait of Australian Army Nursing Service (AANS) nurses, who were former prisoners of war (POWs
- Type: Image
- Description: Group portrait of Australian Army Nursing Service (AANS) nurses, who were former prisoners of war (POWs), aboard the hospital ship Manunda on its arrival. Most of the nurses were staff members of the 2/10th and 2/13th Australian General Hospital (2/10AGH and 2/13AGH) and the 2/4th Casualty Clearing Station (2/4CCS) who have returned from Malaya. Known to be in the photograph are: Christien 'Chris' Oxley, Jean 'Jennie' Greer, Beryl 'Woodie' Woodbridge, Florence 'Trot' Trotter, Eileen 'Shortie' Short, Jessie Blanch, Valerie Smith, Violet McElnea, Betty 'Jeff' Jeffrey, Nesta James, Pat Blake, Janet P. 'Pat' Gunther, Jess Doyle, Cecilia E. M. 'Del' Delforce, Iole Harper, Sylvia Muir, Joyce 'Tweedie' Tweddell, V. Haig, Wilma Oram, Jean Ashton, Jessie Simons, Ada C. 'Mickey' Syer and Veronica R. Clancy. The woman in the centre wearing the dress uniform and hat is Colonel Annie M. Sage, Matron-in-Chief of the AANS. The woman in the foreground, standing behind the two seated nurses on the right, is Captain E. Mavis Hannah (later Allgrove) and the tall woman third from the right holding flowers is Vivian Bullwinkel. A number of the nurses are holding bouquets of flowers that have been sent by their families. Many of these nurses became prisoners of war (POWs) when they were captured by the Japanese after the fall of Singapore in February 1942 and survived captivity. Bullwinkel survived the massacre of 21 nurses on Radji Beach, Banka Island on 16 February 1942.
- Date: 3 May, 2023
Published resources
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Resource
- Brave Women, Angell, Barb, http://www.angellpro.com.au/women.htm
- Trove: Syer, Ada Corbitt (1910-1991), http://nla.gov.au/nla.party-743091
- Book