Newspaper - Newspaper clipping, The Chronicle, New honour for Sister Bullwinkel : one more chapter for war heroine, November 24 1987

Historical information

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.

Physical description

A newspaper clipping with six columns of text and a black and white photo of an smiling older woman centred under the title and subtitle

Back to top