On ANZAC Day, Australia and New Zealand remember the sacrifice of their soldiers in World War II. However, there is one particular group of heroes that often get overlooked: the Australian nurses who lost their lives in the 1942 Bangka Island massacre. This tragic incident saw 22 unarmed Australian nurses killed by the Japanese shortly after the outbreak of the Pacific War on February 16th, 1942. Lieutenant Vivian Bullwinkel was the only nurse to survive the massacre. As we approach ANZAC Day 2023, the Australian College of Nursing (ACN) is paying tribute to Vivian Bullwinkel, who rose to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel before retiring from the Australian Army in 1947.
According to Adjunct Professor Kylie Ward, CEO of the ACN, Bullwinkel played a vital role in transforming the nursing profession. However, despite her heroism and bravery, she remains relatively unknown. To commemorate her service to the country, a sculpture of Vivian Bullwinkel will be unveiled in the Australian War Memorial in Canberra in August 2023. This will be the first sculpture at the Memorial to honour an individual woman or nurse.
Born in Kapunda in 1915, Bullwinkel trained as a nurse in Broken Hill and worked at hospitals in Victoria and Melbourne. She joined the Australian Army Nursing Service in 1941 and sailed to Singapore later that year. However, the Japanese invasion of Singapore soon saw her boarding the SS Vyner Brooke to escape. The ship was sunk two days later, and Bullwinkel was forced to swim ashore along with 21 other nurses and British soldiers. The group surrendered to the Japanese and were lined up on the beach. The Japanese then proceeded to shoot them with machine guns. Somehow, Bullwinkel survived the massacre, pretending to be dead until the Japanese left. She remained hidden in the jungle for 12 days, tending to a wounded soldier, before surrendering to the Japanese. She spent three and a half years in a prisoner of war camp until the war ended.
After the war, Bullwinkel became the keeper of the knowledge of the Bangka Island massacre. She bravely gave harrowing evidence at the Tokyo War Crimes Tribunal in 1946 and later became the Matron of the Fairfield Infectious Diseases Hospital in Melbourne. She also established the Australian Nurses Memorial Centre (ANMC) and advocated for better education and conditions for nurses everywhere. She received numerous accolades for her work during her lifetime, including the Florence Nightingale Medal, a Member of the British Empire, and an Order of Australia.
Vivian Bullwinkel’s story is not only a nurse’s story or a woman’s story, but a human tale of sacrifice, strength, and justice. That is why the ACN Foundation is launching 21 scholarships in the names of the 21 fallen nurses. These scholarships will inspire future generations of nurses and ensure that the legacy of Bullwinkel and her colleagues lives on. In addition, the Foundation will publish a commemorative book detailing Bullwinkel’s life and legacy, including stories and reflections from the family, friends, and colleagues of the fallen nurses.
In the darkest of days, there are always shining lights. Vivian Bullwinkel’s story is one that can inspire all of us to strive for a world where sacrifice, strength, and justice are honoured, and where the legacy of our heroes lives on.
