Vivian Bullwinkel: Australian Nurse Survived a Massacre

Tortured, Shot, and Imprisoned

When the Japanese invaded Malaysia in 1941, Vivian was working as a nurse for the Australian Army Nursing Service. Trying to escape to Singapore, the ship she was on was bombed and sank. As she and 65 other nurses swam ashore with other survivors, they were captured by the Japanese. The Japanese killed all the men (about 50 of them), then ordered the women to wade into the ocean. They then opened fire killing all except Vivian who was shot through the back but survived. This later became known as the Banka Island Massacre. Thinking she was dead, she managed to get into the jungle and patch up her wound. She eventually turned herself in, too weak to continue running and spent three and a half years as a POW in a Japanese camp. She managed to survive this as well and was set free at the end of the war. After the war, she was involved in Operation Babylift, an evacuation of orphaned children from war torn Vietnam in 1975. She was awarded many awards for her bravery including: Officer of the Order of Australia, Member of the Order of the British Empire, Associate of the Royal Red Cross, and Florence Nightingale Medal.

Her bravery and survival against all odds is a legend. Valor is in you. Set it free.