Sister Vivian Bullwinkel. VX61330 Australian Army Nursing Service.
Born 18 December 1915 to George Albert and Eva Kate (nee Shegog) . Enlisted 8 August 1941 aged 25 years at Drill Hall, William Street, Victoria, Australia, previously served as Staff Nurse W12997 Australian Army Nursing Service. Next of Kin, mother, Eva Kate Bullwinkel, 54 Cowra Street, Torrensville, South Australia. Served in Singapore 2 September 1941 to 24 (most a POW) October 1945. Japan 15 October 1946 to 28 February 1947 War Crimes Trial
She embarked Australia 2 September 1941 fro Singapore disembarking Singapore 15 September 1941.Embarked Singapore bound for Australia 12 February 1942 on Vyner Brooke as the Japanese were capturing Singapore. Captured by Japanese troops on Radji Beach at Bangka Island, 16 February 1942, aged 28 years after surviving the sinking of the SS Vyner Brooke. She and her colleges were ordered to walk in a row into the water when they were then gunned down After a bullet from a Japanese machine gun tore through her body, she floated face down in the sea and feigned death. She was the sole survivor of the Bangka Island Massacre when the Japanese killed 21 of her fellow nurses on Radji Beach on 16 February 1942. She spent three and half years in captivity in Sumatra Interment Camp and was one of 24 of the 65 nurses who had been on the SS Vyner Brooke to survive the war. She married Colonel Francis West Statham in September 1977.
She embarked Sydney for Japan 15 October 1946 and is temporary attached to 2nd Australian War Crimes Sec (SCAP) for duty in connection with the Japanese War Criminals Tokyo. Which went on to the 28 February 1947
Lieutenant-Colonel Vivian Bullwinkel, AO, MBE, ARRC, ED, FNM was an Australian Army nurse during the Second World War. Born: 18 December 1915, Kapunda, Australia Died: 3 July 2000, Perth, Australia aged 84
Battles/wars: Second World War
Years of service: 1941–1947
Awards: Order of Australia, Order of the British Empire, Royal Red Cross, Efficiency Decoration, Florence Nightingale Medal
http://www.cultureunplugged.com/doc...9906/Vivian-Bullwinkel--An-Australian-Heroine
