Includes index.
"Based on the original book compiled by Innes Brodziak"--Cover.
First published 1988 under title: Proudly we served : stories of the 2/5 Australian General Hospital at war with Germany, behind German lines, and at war with Japan in the Pacific.
The history of the 2/5 Australian General Hospital is a fascinating story of World War Two and the part played by the personnel of this unit. Formed in 1940, the first task was to send a detachment to Darwin but it was in the Middle East that they were together as a full unit. Sent to Greece they were caught by the rapid German advance and although the female nurses and others escaped to Crete and Egypt, many staff volunteered to stay behind, care for the wounded and allow themselves to become POWs. It was at that that their CO was killed in the bombing. The reformed unit gathered in Palestine before a move to Eritrea where wounded were sent to them, to be out of the immediate battle area.
With the start of the Pacific War, they were needed at home and they eventually formed a hospital near Port Moresby, building a tent camp on open ground. Finally, at war's end they were at Morotai - the launching platform for operations in the Philippines and Borneo. The POWs continued their work with little hindrance in the early period of captivity but then followed the years behind the wire. Their story is told in detail. This proud hospital unit contributed greatly to saving of lives and it can be confidently said, that they did their duty to the fullest.