Gaye Thomas
WWII Nurse Vivian Bullwinkle
A photo of WWII Nurse Vivian Bullwinkle. Escaping Singapore on 12th Feb 1942 with 65 other Australian war nurses on the SS Vyner Brooke along with hundreds of other men, women and children, she found herself and 21 other nurses on Radji Beach, Banka Island.
When Japanese troops arrived, they killed all the men, then they gathered 22 nurses together at the beach.
Vivian said nothing aloud. None of the nurses did. Except for the sound of the water hitting their thighs, the beach was silent. Vivian, sad to think her mother would never learn what happened to her, suddenly felt peaceful when she realized she would soon see her deceased father. She wanted to communicate her new emotion to the other nurses. She turned and smiled at them. They returned her smile 'in a strange and beautiful way.'The Japanese and ordered them into the sea, where they machine gunned them.
Nurse Bullwinkel, badly wounded and feigning death, was the only survivor..
When Japanese troops arrived, they killed all the men, then they gathered 22 nurses together at the beach.
Vivian said nothing aloud. None of the nurses did. Except for the sound of the water hitting their thighs, the beach was silent. Vivian, sad to think her mother would never learn what happened to her, suddenly felt peaceful when she realized she would soon see her deceased father. She wanted to communicate her new emotion to the other nurses. She turned and smiled at them. They returned her smile 'in a strange and beautiful way.'The Japanese and ordered them into the sea, where they machine gunned them.
Nurse Bullwinkel, badly wounded and feigning death, was the only survivor..
Date & Place:
at Bangka Island in Bangka Belitung Islands Indonesia
AncientFaces 
