The article documents Vivian Statham being recognised by the City of Melville Bicentennial Subcommittee of Ex-Service Associations. Vivian was asked to deliver a requiem at the following year's Anzac service, during which a clock tower would be dedicated to those who served in the war. The article is also biographical, detailing Vivian's experiences 45 years before as, while serving with the Australian Army Nursing Service, the ship she and other nurses were being evacuated on was sunk by the Japanese. Vivian was part of a group that survived to make it shore, where they and a group of English servicemen decided to give themselves up to the Japanese. She was one of twenty-one nurses who were then shot, along with the bayoneting of the English servicemen. Vivian survived but ultimately became a POW for the next three and a half years. After returning to Australia Vivian gave evidence at the War Crime Trials in Tokyo in 1946-47. More recently Vivian a member or representative of many organisations and keeps herself busy.A newspaper clipping with six columns of text and a black and white photo of an smiling older woman centred under the title and subtitleww2, wwll, banka island, japanese, sumatra, vivian bullwinkel, vivian statham (nee bullwinkel), 13th australian general hospital, johore bahru, singapore, vyner brooke, vyner brook

Vivian Bullwinkel (Mrs Frank Statham), matron of Fairfield Hospital since 1961, is to retire after sixteen years. Born in Kapunda, South Australia, Vivian did her training at the Broken Hill District Hospital from 1934-39, moving on to a private hospital in Hamilton, the Jessie McPherson Hospital, Melbourne, after graduation. She served with the 13th Australian General Hospital, Australian Imperial Force, from 1941 in Singapore and Johore Bahru, Malaysia. Vivian was the sole survivor of the [Banka Island Massacre], followed by three years as a prisoner of war (POW) in Sumatra and Banka Island. After the war Vivian was the matron of Heidelberg General Hospital from 1956-60. In 1963 she became trustee for the National War Memorial, Canberra, and was appointed deputy principal commandant of the Australian Red Cross Society.A newspaper clipping consisting of titles, four columns of text and a black and white photo of a middle aged woman outside a building.ww2, wwii, world war two, vivian st, vivian statham, perth, 13th agh, aif, army nurses, vyner brooke, banka strait, banka straits, florence night, florence nightingale medal