Olive Weston the Heroic Life of A WWII Nurse by Peter Fenton

Olive Weston the Heroic Life of A WWII Nurse by Peter Fenton

Olive Weston was born in townsville in 1926. A cream-skinned tomboy, she joined the Girl Guides, Junior Red Cross and VADs. Her ambition was to be a medical missionary working in New Guinea, where her grandfather owned gold mines. However, when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor she decided her already considerable nursing skills should be redirected. Putting up her age, she was seconded to the American 12th Station Hospital in townsville. She stood with General MacArthur's finest nurses in his bunker at townsville as he spoke of the challenge before them. She helped as they treated over 23 000 troops: casualties of tropical disease and the bloody fighting in New Guinea. Repatriated at 18, suffering malaria and dengue fever, she continued nursing until she married in 1952. When she learned her only son was intellectually handicapped, she showed the determination and compassion born of wartime nursing as she set about improving the appalling conditions and attitudes that confronted the handicapped. Years later she is still fighting for them. Awarded the OAM and the OOA, Olive Weston is a champion of the underdog.

Peter Fenton worked for over 30 years as chief sound mixer on approximately 150 overseas and Australian motion pictures, including My Brilliant Career, Gallipoli and The Russia House. He is the author of six books including biographies of Les Darcy and Wayne Harris. This is his seventh book. Peter lives in Sydney.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9780732276447
ISBN 10	0732276446
Title	Olive Weston the Heroic Life of A WWII Nurse
Author	Peter Fenton
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Paperback
Publisher	HarperCollins Publishers (Australia) Pty Ltd
Year published	2004-08-25
Number of pages	316
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.