The newspaper clipping is the second of two extract from 'Prisoners of War: Australians Under Nippon', by Hank Nelson. The extract touches on the conditions the nurses serving in Singapore experienced, moving into the eventual evacuation. The first nurses were evacuated on February 10, [1942], with half of the remainder the following day, and the final nurses were evacuated February 13. These sixty-five nurses were aboard the Vyner Brooke with 300 other passengers, mostly women and children. The ship was spotted and bombed the next day. Sister Vivian Bullwinkel, clinging to the side of a lifeboat, came ashore on Radji Beach, Banka Island. She became one of a group of twenty-two nurse, other Vyner Brooke passengers and twenty British soldier from another bombed ship. This group decided to surrender to the Japanese, who proceeded to kill all but one British soldier and Vivian Bullwinkel. After holding out for ten days the pair made their way to Muntok, hiding the evidence they had both survived a massacre. Of the sixty-five nurses to board the Vyner Brooke, twelve had drowned, twenty-one had been killed on the beach and thirty-two became prisoners of war (POW).A newspaper clipping consisting of four large columns of text and a small black and white photo of an older woman (head).'A[G]E / 26/4'[blue ink, top left]world war 2, wwii, ww2, world war ii, olive dorothy paschke, vyner brooke, vivian bullwinkel, sumatra, palembang, jean ashton, betty jeffrey, wah sui, empire star, micky syer, banka strait, private kingsley, cecil kingsley, 10th australian general hospital

The newspaper article gives a basic overview of two groups of POW nurses during World War 2. Twenty two of the nurses trying to escape from the Japanese in Singapore, February 1942, on the Vyner Brooke came ashore on Banka Island. A few days afterwards they were all machine gunned by the Japanese, with only one survivor, Vivian Bullwinkel. She managed to get herself and a wounded British soldier to Muntok, where they both became POWs (prisoners of war). Of the sixty nurses on the Vyner Brooke, twelve had drowned, twenty one had been murdered and thirty two had gone into prison. Those that would survive the war made it through on a terrible diet consisting mostly of rice, attempts of the Japanese to use them for 'entertainment', making their own entertainment in celebrating birthdays and holidays, having music concerts and terrible sicknesses including cerebral malaria. Finally after the Japanese surrendered they were met at an airstrip by the Matron in Chief, A.M. Sage. She was hoping for the full sixty five from the Vyner Brooke. There were twenty four left. Another group of nurses were captured by the Japanese in Rabaul, January 1942, where twenty of their patients were taken, killed and buried in a mass grave. The nurses were put in a prison camp with civilian women where they too were treated terribly. They would be knocked down and kicked if they didn't bow deep enough, or would have their captors trying to urinate on them while laughing. After being moved to Japan they continued to try to survive by eating glue they were using to make envelopes for the Japanese. Large newspaper page with a full page story consisting of five columns of text and a large, bold title beneath a large black and white group photo of forty six people, most in nurses uniforms'NC2' [circled, blue ink, middle left of page]world war 1939-1945, thelma mceachern, 10th australian general hospital, agh, radji beach, sumatra, banka strait, 2/22nd battalion, tootie mcpherson, mavis cullen, naruto maru, dutch, eurasian, iole harper, nesta james, waltzing matilda, margaret dryburgh, marjory jennings, norah chambers, new guinea, yokohama yacht club, yokohama, mount fuji, kay parker, eileen callaghan, banks island, betty jeffrey, flo trotter, blanche hempsted, perth, melbourne, melbourne cup, micky syer

Mrs Sally Alsop cherishes a treasure-trove of letters written by her aunt that she hopes will be collated into a book. Sally's aunt was Gwendoline Elmes, who died in the Banka Island massacre, shot by the Japanese. The Japanese had previously bombed and sunk the ship, Vyner Brooke, Gwen and 300 othe men, women, children and nurses were on, evacuating from Singapore. Sally gre up knowing little about her aunt, but when her mother became ill she heard about the letters and spent the night reading themA newspaper clipping of a large black and white photo with a title and five columns of text beneath. The photo shows a woman in glasses sitting in front of a window holding several sheets of paper'NC9' [blue ink, top left, sticky taped on]wwii, world war two, ww2, vivian bullwinkel, vivian statham (nee bullwinkel), banka strait, dorothy gwendoline elmes, bud, pacific war, sumatra, australian red cross