Bangka Island Massacre

*A group photo of the 2/13th AGH nurses in Singapore (Click to enlarge)*

In September 1941, the 2/13th Australian General Hospital (2/13th AGH) arrived in Singapore with a staff of 211, including 44 nurses. Initially, the nurses were attached to other units treating very few patients and spending their time learning about tropical diseases and training in modern military surgical practices. It was a carefree and happy life for them. But this would change.

In late November, the 2/13th AGH was relocated to a new hospital in Johore Baharu on the southern tip of Malaya. The Japanese invaded Malaya on the 8th December 1941 and quickly made their way south with the 2/13th AGH becoming the main casualty clearing station with a capacity to treat 945 patients. But in late January 1942, as the Japanese drew nearer, the hospital was forced to withdraw to Singapore.

With the increasing likelihood that Singapore would fall, all nurses were ordered to leave Singapore. The last group of 27 from the 2/13th AGH, joined other Australian nurses and boarded the SS Vyner Brooke on the 12th February. The Vyner Brooke was a small coastal vessel that had been requisitioned by the British Royal Navy and re-equipped as an armed trader. The Vyner Brooke usually had a crew of 47 and could carry 12 passengers. On this voyage, in addition to the usual crew, the Vyner Brooke had 181 passengers mainly women and children but also some injured soldiers and 65 Australian nurses.

The Vyner Brooke sailed south and the following day, sheltered in the lee of a small jungle island but was discovered and attacked by a Japanese aircraft late in the day. Fortunately, no one was seriously injured. That night, the ship made a run for the Bangka Strait between Borneo and Sumatra. However, Japanese warships slowed the ship’s progress and by morning, she was dangerously exposed.

That afternoon, the Vyner Brooke was attacked by Japanese aircraft. Despite evasive action by the captain, the overloaded Vyner Brooke was crippled by several bombs. In further attacks, the ship caught fire and the captain ordered for everyone to abandon ship. Within 20 minutes, the ship rolled over and sank bow first. The crew and passengers who had taken to lifeboats were strafed again and again by the Japanese aircraft. Twelve nurses did not survive the sinking.

Overnight and the next day, the survivors slowly drifted with most coming ashore on Bangka Island and about 100 (including 22 nurses) gathering on Radji Beach. Quickly, as best as they could, the nurses treated the injured. Approaches to locals to get food and assistance, were unsuccessful. Consequently, realising that this was a Japanese held island, an officer of the Vyner Brooke set off to contact the Japanese to surrender the group. Wearing their Red Cross armbands and having protective status as non-combatants, the nurses expected to be treated in a civilised manner by the Japanese.

While the ship’s officer was away, all the women and children except for one elderly woman, left Radji Beach to find assistance inland leaving the nurses, the elderly woman and the injured men.

*Bangka Island location (Click to enlarge)*

On the 16th February, the day after Singapore had fallen to the Japanese, about mid-morning, the ship’s officer returned with Japanese soldiers. Early, in the afternoon, the men who were capable of walking, were separated from the group and taken around a headland. Shots were heard and the Japanese soldiers returned and cleaned their bayonets and rifles.

It is unclear just exactly what happened next but there is evidence that the women were sexually assaulted by the Japanese soldiers. What is clear is that the soldiers then ordered the 22 nurses and the elderly woman to walk into the water. As they did, the matron (senior nurse) said, “Chin up, girls, I’m proud of you and I love you all.” Another quipped, “There are two things I hate in life: the Japs and the sea, and today I’ve got both.” When they were about waist deep in water, they were machine-gunned from behind. There were no tears or screams. The wounded soldiers left on the beach were then bayoneted and killed.

Of the 22 who walked into the water, one nurse, Vivian Bullwinkel, miraculously survived. She was hit in the hip and pretended to be dead. When she eventually looked to shore, it was deserted and she then came ashore. She found a British soldier who had also survived but had multiple bayonet wounds. She proceeded to tend to both their wounds. They hid for 12 days before starvation forced them to surrender. Unfortunately, the British soldier died soon after. Nurse Bullwinkel was reunited with other survivors of the Vyner Brooke and for the next three and a half years, they would be POW’s of the Japanese.

*Sister Vivian Bullwinkel at the Tokyo War Crimes Trial*

Of the 65 nurses on the Vyner Brooke, only 23 survived the war with eight dying of starvation and illness in the POW camps. Although her fellow nurses knew the story, the massacre was not spoken about until after the war. They believed that as far as the Japanese knew, there were no survivors from this atrocity. And for their own safety, it was better to keep quiet. After being freed, Nurse Bullwinkel’s story created outrage and anger in Australia and served to galvanise anti-Japanese sentiment. In 1946, she travelled to Tokyo and gave evidence at the War Crimes Trials. But the perpetrators of the massacre were unknown and escaped any punishment for their crime.

Roll of Honour

Those who died in the sinking of the SS Vyner Brooke:

Bates, Louvima Mary Isabella WX11169
Calnan, Ellenor QX19072
Clarke, Mary Dorothea NX70938
Dorsch, Millicent Heulda SX10597
Ennis, Caroline Mary VX38751
Kinsella, Kathleen VX61126
McDonald, Gladys Myrtle QX22815
Paschke, Olive Dorothy (Matron) VX33812
Russell, Lavinia Jean NX70571
Schuman, Marjorie NX70520
Trenery, Annie Merle SX13419
Wilton, Mona Margaret VX61225

Those who were killed on Radji Beach, Bangka Island, Sumatra (Indonesia today):

Balfour-Ogilvy, Elaine Lenore SX10596
Beard, Alma May WX11175
Bridge, Ada Joyce NX76284
Casson, Florence Rebecca SX13418
Cuthbertson, Mary Elizabeth VX38757
Drummond, Irene Melville (Matron) SX10594
Elmes, Dorothy Gwendoline Howard NX70526
Fairweather, Lorna Florence SX13431
Farmaner, Peggy Everett WX3438
Halligan, Clarice Isobel VX47776
Harris, Nancy NX76285
Hodgson, Minnie Ivy WX11174
Keats, Ellen Louisa SX1647
Kerr, Janet 'Jennie' NX76279
McGlade, Mary Eleanor NX76275
Neuss, Kathleen Margaret NX70527
Salmon, Florence Aubin NX70991
Stewart, Esther Sarah Jean NX70936
Tait, Mona Margaret NX76281
Wight, Rosetta Joan VX61329
Wilmott, Bessie WX3439