The Suitcase

There was nothing special about the little brown suitcase. It was small, brown and unassuming, but what it held inside was the incredible true story of a young nurse from Manchester who had joined the Queen Alexandra’s Imperial Military Nurses Service (QAIMNS) working alongside our soldiers on the front line during World War II. Joan Whiteley spent a lifetime trying to keep the painful reminders in the past, but the suitcase held all the secrets that she ultimately wanted to forget.

The photographs, letters, and diaries tell a story of love, friendship, brutality and tragedy and the horrific cruelty inflicted on the inhabitants of the elite British Colony by the Japanese in December 1941.

The rollercoaster of events, the courage and the fortitude shown by the young nurses should be held up as an inspiration to women of all ages across the world! It is a heart wrenching and shocking account that needs to be told to keep the memory of those that suffered at the hands of the merciless Japanese alive for future generations!

She left her home and family in Manchester with nothing but a keen sense of duty and immense pride in being part of the QAIMNS wearing the prestigious grey and scarlet uniform. Setting sail from Liverpool in 1940, she could never have imagined what lay ahead for her in the hauntingly beautiful and exotic Hong Kong…