Vivian Bullwinkel

Lieutenant-Colonel Vivian Bullwinkel, Mrs. Statham, AO, MBE, ARRC, FNM (18 December 1915 – 3 July 2000) was an Australian Army nurse during the Second World War. She was the only one alive from the Bangka Island Massacre. In that massacre, Japanese troops killed 21 of her fellow nurses on Radji Beach, Bangka Island (Indonesia) on 16 February 1942.

 Events 
Japanese troops invaded British Malaya in December 1941. They went southward. They won several victories. By late January 1942, Japanese forces went through Johore. Australian hospital staff were told to get to Singapore. On 12 February, Bullwinkel and 65 other nurses boarded a steamship to escape.

Two days later, the ship was sunk by Japanese aircraft. Bullwinkel and many others made it ashore. There were about 100. They surrendered to the Japanese. An officer walked to Muntok, a town on the northwest of the island, to contact the Japanese.

In the Banka Island Massacre, Japanese soldiers came and killed the men. Then forced the nurses to go into the sea. They then machine-gunned the nurses from behind. Bullwinkel was struck by a bullet which passed completely through her body, missing her internal organs. She played dead until the soldiers left. She hid with British Army Private Cecil George Kingsley of the Royal Army Ordnance Corps for 12 days. She took care of his severe wounds. They were taken into captivity. Private Kingsley died soon after  his wounds.

 References 

Category:World War II people
Category:Australian military people
Category:Australian nurses
Category:Military personnel of World War II
Category:War crimes