Sisters of War

Background

Sisters of War was inspired by real events and based on Rod Miller's manuscript The Lost Women of Rabaul. At the heart of those events were the stories and experiences of Lorna Johnston and Sister Berenice Twohill. In the process of clearing possessions for an estate in 1991, Miller, who is a general auctioneer, came across an old diary. He was about to throw it out when he became intrigued by the contents of the modest book. On closer inspection he saw that it was written in cryptic prose and rhyme. The diary was written by Grace Kruger, one of four civilian nurses captured by the Japanese in Rabaul in 1942. Kruger had deliberately written the diary with cryptic prose so as to confuse any Japanese soldier or casual reader who might have discovered it. Miller became fascinated by this work and the history that motivated it. Discovering there was little information readily available about the Rabaul nurses, he started to research the events surrounding their internment in Rabaul. Miller first met Sister Berenice Twohill and Lorna Johnston in 1997 and through them was able to meet and interview most of the surviving nurses and officers of Lark Force. He was able to borrow and transcribe their diaries which added to the overall knowledge of what had occurred at the time. Miller and writer John Misto joined forces on the project and soon after ABC1 came on board and producer Andrew Wiseman joined the team. Wisemen has an interest in presenting history dramas for television and Sisters of War provided a natural progression from Curtin, the World War II telemovie he produced with Richard Keddie.

The shooting of the film began in April 2010 and ended in June 2010. It was shot in Gold Coast, Queensland.

Plot

In January 1942, the Japanese war machine thundered across South East Asia. In its path lay a tiny Catholic mission station, Vunapope, on the island of New Britain. Here a handful of Australian nurses, led by Matron Kay Parker took refuge along with a number of wounded Australian soldiers. Abandoned by their commanding officers, they were left to face the Japanese alone. When the Japanese arrived at Vunapope, the nurses and their patients were saved from massacre by the mission’s leader, Polish-born Bishop Leo Scharmach. This astonishing man bluffed the Japanese into believing that he was a personal friend of Hitler and that the mission was Hitler’s property.

In the dark days that followed, Sister Berenice and Lorna found themselves facing starvation, beatings and torture. Their beliefs were constantly tested, as was their friendship. Sister Berenice idolised Bishop Scharmach: Lorna was convinced he was a collaborator. The tiny mission became a setting for betrayal, heroism and death. And all the normal rules of war were broken. After six months, Lorna and Sister Berenice were separated. The Australian nurses were sent to Yokohama as part of a prisoner exchange. But the exchange program collapsed and the nurses found themselves trapped in wartime Japan, freezing and ravaged by disease. At the same time Sister Berenice, Bishop Scharmach and the nuns were taken to a dark, uninhabited jungle valley where they would be safe from air raids.

Cast

Source Australian Broadcasting Corporation

DVD release

Sisters of War will be available on DVD in Australia on 2 December 2010.