Sister Vivian BullwinkelPrint Page 
Vivian Bullwinkel was the sole survivor when the Japanese massacred 21 army nurses and one elderly civilian woman on Bangka Island, now part of Indonesia. She was taken POW and survived the hell camps of Sumatra, going on to become one of Australia's most distinguished women.
Vivian retired from the army in 1947 and became Director of Nursing at the Fairfield Infectious Diseases Hospital. She devoted herself to the nursing profession and to honouring those killed on Bangka Island, raising funds for a nurses' memorial and serving on numerous committees, including a period as a member of the Council of the Australian War Memorial, and later president of the Australian College of Nursing.
She married Colonel Francis West Statham in September 1977, and changed her name to Vivian Statham. She returned to Bangka Island in 1992 to unveil a shrine to the nurses who had not survived the war. She died on 3 July 2000, aged 84, in Perth, Western Australia.
Poem by Paula MilesLocation
| Address: | Vivian Bullwinkel Way , Russell, 2600 |
|---|---|
| State: | ACT |
| Area: | AUS |
| GPS Coordinates: | Lat: -35.299327 Long: 149.15188 Note: GPS Coordinates are approximate. |
Details
| Monument Type: | Roadway |
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| Monument Theme: | People |
| Sub-Theme: | Military |
Dedication
Plaque :
Vivian Bullwinkel Way
In honour of Vivian Bullwinkel, AO, MBE (1915 - 2000) who enlisted in the Australian Army Nursing Service in 1941. After being evacuated from Singapore aboard the S.S. Vyner Brooke, she was the sole survivor of the massacre of twenty-one Australian nurses and spent three and a half years in various prisoner-of -war camps in Sumatra.
Vivian's courage and endurance while a prisoner of the Japanese exemplified the bravery of Australian service nurses, who have faced injury, capture and death in times of war.
