In 1941, Vivian found herself member of staff in the newly formed 13th Australian General Hospital (13th AGH) and in September of that year their unit sailed on the Hospital Ship Wanganella for an unknown destination, which eventually became Singapore.

"In 1941, wanting to enlist, Bullwinkel volunteered as a nurse with the RAAF but was rejected for having flat feet. She was, however, able to join the Australian Army Nursing Service; assigned to the 2/13th Australian General Hospital (2/13th AGH), in September 1941 she sailed for Singapore. After a few weeks with the 2/10th AGH, Bullwinkel rejoined the 13th AGH in Johor Baharu.

In December 1941, on the same December morning that the Japanese forces attacked Pearl Harbour (7th December), General Yamashita's 25th Army invaded Malaya, Singapore was bombed and the Japanese began fighting their way down the Malaysian Peninsula towards the island of Singapore.

Japanese troops invaded Malaya in December 1941 and began to advance southwards, winning a series of victories and, in late January 1942, forcing the 13th AGH to evacuate to Singapore. But the short-lived defence of the island ended in defeat, and, on 12 February, Bullwinkel and 65 other nurses boarded the SS Vyner Brooke to escape the island. And just after 5.00 pm, on 12th February, these nurses boarded the small dark grey vessel.

Vivian sitting in front of her portrait at the Australian War Memorial, 1999

After dodging bombs from Japanese planes and machine gun fire which had left the starboard lifeboats holed, the ship eventually received three direct hits (it was 2pm on the 14th of February). All night long, exhausted survivors from the Vyner Brooke and other shipwrecks, kept coming ashore and by morning almost sixty men, women and children and 22 members of the AANS were gathered on Radji beach.

Others on board either went down with the ship or were swept away and never seen again. The group were joined the next day by others making a total of about 100 including about twenty English soldiers from another ship sunk earlier. They elected to surrender to the Japanese. An officer from the Vyner Brooke walked to Muntok, a town on the north-west of the island, to contact the Japanese. While he was away Matron Irene Drummond, the most senior of the Australian nurses, suggested that the civilian women and children should start off walking towards Muntok.

Banka Island Massacre, Indonesia

At mid-morning February 16, the ship’s officer returned with about twenty Japanese soldiers. Having separated the men from the women prisoners, the Japanese divided the men into two groups, and marched them along the beach and behind a headland.

The nurses heard a quick succession of shots before the Japanese soldiers came back, sat down in front of the women and cleaned their bayonets and rifles. A Japanese officer, smaller than his men, told the women to walk into the water. A couple of soldiers shoved those who were slow to respond. Twenty-two nurses and one civilian woman walked into the waves, leaving ten or twelve stretcher cases on the beach. Vivian said that when the women were up to their waists in water the Japanese started firing up and down the line with a machine guns.

Bullwinkel was struck by a bullet which passed completely through her body, missing her internal organs, and feigned death until the Japanese soldiers left. Bullwinkel was the sole survivor of the 1942 Banka Island (Indonesia) massacre in World War II

She hid with British Army Private Cecil George Kingsley RAOC for 12 days, tending to his severe wounds, only then realizing the extent of her own wound, before being captured. They were taken into captivity, but Private Kingsley died soon after due to his having sustained such serious wounds, including a gunshot wound in his abdomen.

Bullwinkel was reunited with survivors of the Vyner Brooke. She told them of the massacre, but none spoke of it again until after the war lest it put Bullwinkel, as witness to the massacre, in danger. Bullwinkel spent three and half years in captivity; she was one of just 24 of the 65 nurses who had been on the Vyner Brooke to survive the war."

She survived and was taken POW and survived the hell camps of Sumatra.

Bullwinkel went on to testify at the war crimes tribunal in Tokyo in 1946, and dedicated her life to ensuring the nurses killed at Banka Island were not forgotten.

After the War

After the War she worked in Melbourne at both the Heidelberg Repatriation Hospital and the Fairfield Hospital.

In 1949, Vivian resigned from the army and continued her career as a civilian nurse. She retained her position at the hospital which had now become the Heidelberg Repatriation Hospital and was transferred to the hospital's blood bank.

In 1950, she traveled to England with Betty Jeffrey. They were able to obtain positions at St Mary's Hospital in Paddington. Vivian later was employed as a sister-receptionist at the Department of Immigration at Australia House. They spent two years working in England but the highlight of their trip was being invited to tea with the Queen Mother who was eager to hear about their war experiences.

On returning to Australia, in 1953 she resumed her position at the Heidelberg Repatriation Hospital and in 1955 she became the Assistant Matron.

In 1959, Vivian completed a Diploma in Nursing Administration and was appointed Matron of Fairfield Infectious Diseases Hospital in Melbourne. She was to remain there for the rest of her career.

She devoted herself to the nursing profession and to honouring those killed on Banka Island, raising funds for a nurses' memorial and serving on numerous committees, including as the first woman on the Council of the Australian War Memorial, and later president of the Australian College of Nursing.

In 1975

In 1975, Vivian would experience war again. As matron of Fairfield Hospital, she lead a team to Saigon to evacuate 80 Vietnamese war orphans - just weeks before the city fell to the North Vietnamese army. The operation was called 'Operation Babylift'

Vivian grew very attached to the children during the months they stayed at Fairfield under her care and she remained in touch with many of them as they grew up with their adopted Australian families.

President of the Royal College of Nursing Australia

As the President of the Royal College of Nursing Australia (1973-1974), she was a key player in the struggle to have nursing education moved to universities.

Marriage

She resigned from Fairfield Hospital in 1977 when she married Colonel F.W. (Francis) Stratham.

1992

She returned to Banka Island in 1992 to unveil a shrine to the nurses who had not survived the war.

Death

Vivian Bullwinkle died suddenly of a heart attack in a Perth hospital on Monday 3rd July 2000 after leg surgery. She was 84 years old.

She was given a State Government Funeral, which was held St George’s Anglican Cathedral, St George’s Terrace, Perth at 10.30 am on Monday 10 July 2000.

Awards & Legacy

In the decades following the war, Bullwinkel received many honours and awards, including the Florence Nightingale Medal, an MBE and the AO.

In 2001, Bullwinkel was inducted posthumously to the Victorian Honour Roll of Women.

Northern Melbourne Institute of TAFE redeveloped the old nurses quarters on its Fairfield campus in 2010 for residential student accommodation. A common room is named after Vivian Bullwinkel, who was the Director of Nursing for many years at the Fairfield Hospital.

In 2019, she along with Grace Wilson, were memorialised in mosaic banners installed at the Repatriation General Hospital at Heidelberg, Victoria.

The Vivian Bullwinkel Wing at Hollywood Private Hospital, Perth (the former Repatriation General Hospital, Hollywood) was renamed in her honour.

The Royal Australian Air Force Association runs the Vivian Bullwinkel Lodge aged care facility in the northern suburbs of Perth.

Monash University (Melbourne) and Eastern Health (Melbourne) have named the chair in palliative care nursing after her.

In February 2023, the hall at Broken Hill High School, where Bullwinkel was school captain in 1933, was named the Vivian Bullwinkel Drill Hall.

Australian War Memorial - Commemorative Sculpture. More than 80 years later, Bullwinkel has been immortalised in a bronze sculpture by Brisbane artist Dr Charles Robb at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra. It is the first sculpture to commemorate the service of an individual woman or nurse in the grounds of the Australian War Memorial in Canberra.

May 2024: Australian Electoral Commission: Electoral Division: Bullwinkel (WA). In May 2024, the Australian Electoral Commission proposed that a new electorate in the Australian House of Representatives be created in Western Australia to be named Bullwinkel in honour of her.

Links

Australian War Memorial: Captain Vivian Bullwinkel, AO, MBE, ARRC	Australian War Memorial: Fifty Australians: Vivian Bullwinkel
Wikipedia: Vivian Bullwinkel	Research Data: Guide Papers of Vivian Bullwinkel
Australian War Memorial - Blog 2 August 2023 This blog is very detailed about Vivian's life and experiences
Australian War Memorial - Commemorative Sculpture This page shows the making of the sculpture It is the first sculpture to commemorate the service of an individual woman or nurse in the grounds of the Australian War Memorial in Canberra. Bullwinkel’s sculpture now stands in the grounds of the Memorial, opposite a sculpture of her friend, wartime surgeon and fellow prisoner of war, Sir Edward “Weary” Dunlop [Life on the Job link]. On the base are 22 stainless steel discs, representing the victims of the Banka Island massacre. They are arranged at the base of the sculpture as a reflection of the stars that would have been visible in the night sky on 16 February 1942.

YouTube: Nurse's height helped her survive WWII island massacre /Today Show Australia (2023)

https://youtu.be/JXGF_eY5Q28?si=DkgB09Bnbr4Ns_H_

Australian Electoral Commission: Electoral Division: Bullwinkel (WA)

Date this name and boundary was gazetted: 24 September 2024

First election this name was used at: First federal election following the 2022 election

First election this boundary was used at: First federal election following the 2022 election

Name Derivation: Named in honour of Vivian Statham (née Bullwinkel) AO MBE ARRC ED FNM FRCNA, 1915–2000.

Lieutenant Colonel Bullwinkel was a civilian and military nurse who was the sole survivor of the 1942 Bangka Island massacre and a prisoner of war. In recognition of Lieutenant Colonel Bullwinkel's dedication to honouring victims of war crimes, service to nursing, and the community, in both her civilian and military service. This electoral division name also honours the contribution of military nurses, and other military medical personnel, and recognises those who were prisoners of war.

Google Doodle Design (contributed by Ella Barry, ACU Education Student)

Primary Middle  Secondary

Australian Curriculum General Capability: Critical & Creative Thinking

Australian Curriculum General Capability: ICT Capability

Teacher

 Can you make your design into animated gif like the Halloween example?

Go to the following site to make your doodle special using Scratch:

4. Compare with other students in your group of 4 - 5 students and explain your reasoning behind your design.

5. What would be another way to celebrate this famous Australian?