Nursing a memory Several of the nurse survivors of the Banka Straits tragedy share their stories and personal recollections of the war. Some nurses wrote books, some talk about staying optimistic while being POWs, others say they've never stopped being stunned by the war years. Fifty years after the Banka Straits tragedy and the years the POWs spent in camps in Sumatra, the poignancy has not been dulled, and has been etched into the memories of the nurses who survived. Betty Jeffery, now in her 80's, says that despite the hardships she faced, it change her life for the better. When the ship, the Vyner Broooke, was bombes she was in the water for seventy hours. In the POW camps they slept on concrete floors and starved as food was allowed to rot just out of reach. The nurses that endured so much together have stayed in touch. Betty has also written a highly successful book, 'White Coolies', based on diaries of her experience. Of all the nurses Vivian Bullwinkel is the most celebrated, her story being one of ultimate survival. One of a group of about 100 survivors after the sinking of the Vyner Brooke, she and the others thought the Japanese wouldn't kill such a large number when they surrendered to them. The Australian soldiers were bayonetted, the nurses and civilians were lined up in the sea and shot. Vivian played dead. A tribute to Aussie courage A brief recounting of the sinking of the Vyner Brooke and the survivors' three and a half years as prisoners of war of the Japanese. Of the sixty-five who attempted to evacuate Singapore on the Vyner Brooke, twenty-four made it home to Australia. A memorial to the brave Australian nurses has been organised to ensure their contribution is remembered forever.A large newspaper clipping consisting of two stories with titles and four columns of text each. The larger story also has two black and white photos, on of an older woman holding a book, and the other of two young women leaning in toward each otherww2, wwii, world war two, vivian statham, 13th agh, aif, army nurses, vyner brooke, banka strait, banka straits, florence night, florence nightingale medal, muntok, malacca, iole harper, australian army nurses, wanganella, katong, perth, red cross, english, kingsley, heidelberg repatriation hospital, fairfield hospital, wilma oram, 13th, 13th australian general hospital, murtoa, warrnambool, allies, singapore, johore baru, wilma young, cardinia, jessie simons, in japanese hands - australian nurses as pows, jessie hookaway, tasmania, british, singapore harbour, banka island, empire star, prisoner of war, palembang, sumatra, malay, dutch, ex-prisoners of war association of australia, sir edward 'weary' dunlop, max lee, glen waverley, jenny greer

Front page - Governor, Sir Dallas Brooks, opens the War Nurses' Memorial Centre on St Kilda Road. The centre is a memorial to the 75 Australian nurses who lost their lives in the war. The centre will offer various rooms for use and house the the headquarters of the Australian College of Nursing. General Sir Thomas Blamey, chairman of the Centre Committee said there was hardly a fighting soldier who had not at some time experienced the care and devotion to duty of the service sisters. Back page - Left hand clipping - About 500 people, including more than 100 service and civilian nurses attended the ceremony that opened the War Nurses Memorial Centre. The centre is a refurbished and converted house. The crowd also included former POWs and relatives of the 75 nursing sisters who lost their lives in the 1939-45 war. Dr Garnet Leary gave 100 pounds towards the establishment of a nurses' library in the centre. Back page - Right hand clippings - top - The author heard a service broadcasted from St Paul's Cathedral and felt overwhelming gratitude towards nurses. bottom - After the dedication of the War Nurses Memorial Centre, the author was reminded of two instances of senseless loss of nurses' live during the war. May 1943, the Australian hospital ship, the Centaur, was torpedoed by the Japanese, resulting in 299 dead, eleven of them nurses, and only 64 survivors. Also the Banka massacre, where 22 nurses were shot by the Japanese, after surviving the sinking of their ship. Only one nurse survived the massacre. Three newspaper clippings have been glued to either side of a lined sheet of paper. Front of page - A newspaper clipping of two black and white photos and a short story in two columns. the larger photo is of two men in military uniform walking through women in nurses uniforms lined up on either side of a path. The smaller photo is of three women, all wearing nurse's uniforms, one woman holding a tray with cups. Back of page -Two newspaper clippings have been glued to a lined sheet of paper. The left hand clipping consists of a large black and white photo of a crowd of people and nurses outside a nice house, and a column of text. The right hand clipping is of two separate paragraphs of text, both appear to be letters to the editor.'Feb 19 50.' [blue ink, front of page, top right]melbourne, wwii, ww2, st kilda road, muriel violet turner laing, thomas blamey, annie moriah sage, muriel brooks, queensland, vivian bullwinkel, heidelberg military hospital

A paperback book with a blue spine, red and tan cover with a sepia photograph of two women in nurses uniforms. Writing on cover and spine is in black, blue and white.fictionIn 1942 a group of Australian Army nursing sisters was evacuated from Malaya a few days before the fall of Singapore. Two days later their ship was bombed and sunk by the Japanese. Of the fifty-three survivors who scrambled ashore, twenty-one were murdered and the remainder taken prisoner. This engrossing record was kept by one of the surviving sisters, Betty Jeffrey, during the three-and-a-half gruelling years of imprisonment that followed. It is a grim story of deprivation and harsh conditions, but its darkness is relieved by the humorous incidents that somehow helped the women to preserve their sanity. Their ingenious and entertaining attempts to make their lot more tolerable, and their comradeship as they faced so much anguish leave the reader with enormous admiration for their endurance and strength. (Back cover)nursing in warfare, world war two, wwii, ww2, malaya, pacific theatre, japanese pow, agnes betty jeffrey, betty jeffrey, bangka island, vyner brooke

Article relating to the main character of a television drama that was to be made for the bicentenary of Australia about the experience of Vivian Bullwinkel [Statham] during WWII. Article quotes her on her current feelings towards the country that held her captive as a POW.Newspaper clipping with two embedded close up head shots in black and white of the same woman. One photograph shows her looking serious with her hand to her chin, in the other she is smiling. There are three columns of text between the photographs.vivian bullwinkel, vivian statham, japan, bangka island, willesee's australians