Vivian Bullwinkel was born in Kapunda, SA, but grew up and trained as a nurse and midwife in Broken Hill, NSW. Bullwinkel began her working life in country Victoria before moving to Melbourne in 1940. She joined the Australian Army Nursing Service in August 1941 and was assigned to the 2/13th Australian General Hospital in Johor Bahru, Malaysia. Japanese troops invaded in December 1941 and in late January 1942, the hospital was evacuated to Singapore. When it became clear that Singapore too was to be occupied by the Japanese, the nurses were evacuated. Bullwinkel was in the third and last group of Australian nurses to leave the city, departing 12 February 1942. Their ship, the SS Vyner Brooke, carrying over 300 men, women and children including the 65 Australian nurses was sunk by Japanese bombers in Bangka Strait two days later. Bullwinkel, 21 other nurses, a number of civilians and about 100 British servicemen eventually made it to shore on Radji Beach, Bangka Island. With little fresh water, no food and wounded who required medical attention, the group had no choice but to surrender to the Japanese. The civilian women and children left the beach to find the local authorities to whom they could surrender. The Australian nurses remained behind to tend the wounded. When Japanese soldiers arrived on the beach, they separated the men from the nurses and shot them. Then the nurses were ordered to wade into the sea and were shot from behind. Bullwinkel was hit in the hip. Eventually she was washed ashore where she remained still, hoping the Japanese soldiers would think she was dead. Bullwinkel and a wounded British soldier hid in the jungle for several days until they decided they must again try to surrender. They were taken into captivity and the soldier died shortly afterwards. Bullwinkel was incarcerated for three and a half years. She was reunited in the prisoner-of-war camp with others from the Vyner Brooke. Of the 65 Australian nurses who were evacuated on the Vyner Brooke, only 24 survived the war.

February 1942: sole Australian survivor of massacre by Japanese soldiers on Radji Beach, Bangka Island

1947: Awarded Florence Nightingale Medal by International Committee of the Red Cross

1963-1977: Trustee of the National War Memorial, Canberra; first woman trustee

1964-1969: Deputy Commander and Nursing Advisor of the Australian Red Cross Society

1 January 1973: Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE)

1973-1974: President of the Royal College of Nursing Australia

De Vries, Susanna.Heroic Australian women in war : astonishing tales of bravery from Gallipoli to Kokoda, Pymble, N.S.W. : HarperCollins, 2004

Just wanted to be there : Australian Service nurses, 1899-1999, Canberra : Commonwealth Dept. of Veterans' Affairs, 1999

Kenny, Catherine. Captives : Australian army nurses in Japanese prison camps, St. Lucia, Qld. : University of Queensland Press, 1986

Manners, Norman. Bullwinkel : the true story of Vivian Bullwinkel, a young Army nursing sister, who was the sole survivor of a World War Two massacre by the Japanese, Carlisle, W.A. : Hesperian Press, 1999

Anzac Day Commemoration Committee (Queensland): See History: World War 2: Supplementary Information and Anecdotes: Bangka Island

Australian War Memorial: Finding Aids: See Private Records: Guide to the Papers of Vivian Bullwinkel

Australian War Memorial - Who's who in Australian military history: See Persons of historical importance: Bullwinkel, Vivian

Australian Women in War exhibition (National Foundation for Australian Women): Browse women: Bullwinkel