ANMC Memorial PlaquePrint Page

The plaque commemorates the bravery and sacrifice of Royal Australian Army Nurses who died or were prisoners-of-war in World War Two including Vivian Bullwinkel, sole survivor of the Bangka Island massacre.

On 12th February 1942, ahead of the fall of Singapore to advancing Japanese forces, 65 Australian Army Nurses were evacuated with soldiers and civilians on the SS Vyner Brooke, one of some 40 ships carrying evacuees.

Two days later the Vyner Brooke was bombed by Japanese aircraft and sank in the Bangka Strait. Twelve nurses were killed or lost at sea while 31 came ashore near Muntok on Bangka Island where they were imprisoned by Japanese soldiers. The remaining 22 nurses, together with civilians and soldiers, reached Radji Beach. After surrendering to Japanese soldiers on 16th February, all men in the group were shot and bayoneted. The nurses and one civilian woman were then lined up, marched into the sea, and shot from behind.

Vivian Bullwinkel, although wounded, survived by feigning death in the sea. She found a seriously injured British soldier, Private Kinsley, whom she nursed for 12 days in the jungle before they surrendered. Vivian was incarcerated with the nurses who had been captured earlier.

The Australian Army Nurses were held in prisoner-of-war (POW)camps on Bangka Island and Sumatra where a further 8 Nurses died. Betty Jeffrey one of the Australian nurses bravely kept notes during captivity and later published a record of the experience of the POW nurses in her book White Coolies (1954).

On return to Australia Vivian Bullwinkel, Betty Jeffrey, Wilma Oram with other survivors and a group of supportive nurses raised funds to establish a Centre in memory of the nurses who were lost. Their legacy is The Australian Nurses Memorial Centre located at 11/431 St Kilda Rd, Melbourne. Opened in 1950 it serves as a ‘Living Memorial’ that honours Australian nurses, past, present, and future. Honouring the vision of the WW2 nurses who founded it the ANMC provides postgraduate scholarships for nurses to help further research and improve patient care.

Vivian Bullwinkel exemplified resilience and a devotion to duty like no other. She dedicated her life to nursing and to honouring those killed on Bangka Island. Vivian died in 2000 at the age of 84.

The ANMC memorial plaque at the Devenish Art Silos will be unveiled on Saturday 22 April 2023 as part of the Devenish ANZAC Commemorative Service commencing with the march at 10.30am. 

Devenish is a small Victorian town north of Benalla on the Silo Art Trail where extraordinary images of a WW1 nurse, a modern female military medic and an Australian Light Horseman are featured on huge grain silos. These images will form the backdrop to a memorial plaque soon to be unveiled at Devenish in honour of the service and bravery of nurses in war.

The Remembering Vivian Bullwinkel at Devenish Silos project was supported by the Victorian Government and the Victorian Veterans Council. The memorial plaque was developed by the Australian Nurses Memorial Centre (ANMC) with support and the assistance of the Devenish Silo Art Committee, Benalla Rural City Council and the local community.

The plaque commemorates the bravery and sacrifice of Royal Australian Army Nurses who died or were prisoners-of-war in WW2 including Vivian Bullwinkel, sole survivor of the Bangka Island massacre.
Australian Nurses Memorial Centre, 28 March 2023.

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