The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (SFX10596) Sister Elaine Lenore Balfour-Ogilvy, 4th Casualty Clearing Station, Royal Australian Army Nursing Service, Second World War.

The Last Post Ceremony is presented in the Commemorative area of the Australian War Memorial each day. The ceremony commemorates more than 102,000 Australians who have given their lives in war and other operations and whose names are recorded on the Roll of Honour. At each ceremony the story behind one of the names on the Roll of Honour is told. Hosted by Michael Kelly, the story for this day was on (SFX10596) Sister Elaine Lenore Balfour-Ogilvy, 4th Casualty Clearing Station, Royal Australian Army Nursing Service, Second World War.

SFX10596 Sister Elaine Lenore Balfour-Ogilvy, 4th Casualty Clearing Station, Royal Australian Army Nursing Service
Executed 16 February 1942
Photograph: P01021.001

Story delivered 3 October 2015

Today we remember and pay tribute to Sister Elaine Lenore Balfour-Ogilvy, who was killed during the Second World War.

Elaine Balfour-Ogilvy was born on 11 January 1912 to Major Harry Lort Spencer and Jane Balfour-Ogilvy in Renmark, South Australia. Her father was a veteran of the Boer War, having served with the 2nd Victorian Bushmen. He also served in New Guinea in the First World War, and some of the first inland charts of the island were prepared by him. The family was well known in the district and the father was highly respected for his war service.

Elaine attended St Peter’s Woodlands Girls’ Grammar School, and later Renmark High School. She trained as a nurse and served on the staff of the Adelaide Children’s Hospital. She also enjoyed singing, and was for a time the secretary of the Adelaide Women’s Choir.

On 13 September 1940 she enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force, becoming the district’s first army nurse. She was soon appointed to the 4th Casualty Clearing Station of the Australian Army Nursing Service, and in February 1941 embarked on the Queen Mary for Singapore. She worked in various places on the Malay Peninsula, often with the 9th Field Ambulance, before being based with the 4th CCS in Lampai, South Johore. Her brothers Spencer and Douglas also served in the Second World War, enlisting in the RAAF and AIF respectively.

After the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor the 4th Casualty Clearing Station was withdrawn to a makeshift theatre at the Kluang airfield. Once the fall of Singapore became inevitable the nurses began to be evacuated from the island, but Elaine’s station remained until 12 February, when it, too, was evacuated. Elaine was one of 65 Australian nurses who left Singapore aboard the Vyner Brooke, but two days later
the ship was bombed by the Japanese and many lives were lost. Those who could swim made for the nearby Banka Island.

Some of the survivors set out for the nearest port to formally surrender to the Japanese, but Elaine was among the 22 Australian nurses who remained on the beach to tend the wounded.

On the morning of 16 February a group of Japanese soldiers arrived and ordered the wounded around a headland, where they were subsequently executed.

The rest of the survivors on the beach were ordered to walk into the sea. When the water reached their waists the Japanese opened fire with machine-guns. Of the 22 Australian nurses ordered into the sea 21 were killed, including Elaine Balfour-Ogilvy. She was 30 years old.

Back home in Renmark Elaine’s legacy was continued with the dedication of the Elaine Balfour-Ogilvy Children’s Library, and the establishment of the Elaine Balfour-Ogilvy Memorial Scholarship, which
to this day is funded by the Woodlands Old Scholars’ Association and at the annual Bangka Memorial Service held at the SA Women’s Memorial Playing Fields.

Elaine Balfour-Ogilvy is commemorated in her home town, and on the Roll of Honour on my left, along with some 40,000 others from the Second World War. Her photograph is displayed beside the Pool of Reflection.

This is but one of the many stories of service and sacrifice told here at the Australian War Memorial. We now remember Sister Elaine Lenore Balfour-Ogilvy, and all those Australians who have given their lives in
service of our nation.

Christina Zissis
Editor, Military History Section