Dr. Cotter Harvey's archive collection
World War Two service
This collection contains images and documents from Cotter Harvey's service in World War Two.
In January 1941 he enlisted in the Australian Army Medical Corp (AAMC) with the rank of lieutenant colonel. He was sent to Singapore in charge of the medical division of the 2/10 Australia General Hospital (AGH), stationed at Malacca. After Singapore and the Malay Peninsula were overrun by the Japanese in February 1942, Dr. Harvey became a Prisoner of War. For the next three years he cared for the sick and wounded in Changi and Kranji. He worked tirelessly to alleviate the unbearable conditions of his fellow prisoners especially in devising ways to overcome the chronic shortage of vitamins. He too developed beri-beri but fortunately made a full recovery.
Along with his fellow prisoners, he was liberated in 1945
