Irene Drummond

{{Short description|Australian Army nurse}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2020}}

{{Use Australian English|date=July 2011}}

{{Infobox military person

| name = Irene Drummond

| image = Irene Melville Drummond.jpg

| image_size =

| alt =

| caption =

| nickname =

| birth_date = {{birth date|1905|07|26|df=yes}}

| birth_place = Ashfield, New South Wales, Australia

| death_date = {{death date and age|1942|02|16|1905|07|26|df=yes}}

| death_place = Bangka Island, Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia)

| placeofburial =

| allegiance = Australia

| branch = Second Australian Imperial Force

| serviceyears = 1940–1942

| rank = Matron

| servicenumber = SFX10594

| unit = Royal Australian Army Nursing Corps

| commands =

| battles = Second World War

| awards = Mentioned in Despatches

| relations =

| laterwork =

}}

Matron Irene Melville Drummond (26 July 1905 – 16 February 1942) was an Australian Army nurse during the Second World War. She was the most senior-ranking among the 22 Australian nurses killed in the Bangka Island massacre on 16 February 1942.{{cite AuDB| first = Julie| last = Gorrell| title = Drummond, Irene Melville (1905–1942)| volume = 14| year = 1966| id2 = drummond-irene-melville-10051| access-date = 2022-04-24}}{{cite web |title=Matron Irene Melville Drummond |url=https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/P11012084 |publisher=Australian War Memorial |access-date=2022-04-24}}

Drummond was posthumously mentioned in despatches in 1946 "for gallant and distinguished service in Malaya in 1942".{{London Gazette |issue=37651 |date=1946-08-01 |page=3922 |supp=y }}{{cite news|title=Mentioned in Despatches|url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/page/25116072|newspaper=Commonwealth of Australia Gazette|date=12 September 1946|issue=172|page=2475|access-date=12 February 2024}} Her last recorded words, uttered in a whisper as she and her colleagues were being marched into the sea to be shot, were "Chin up, girls. I'm proud of you and I love you all."