Bangka Strait Massacre

Mr DULUK (Davenport) (12:32): I move:

That this house—

(a) recognises that today is the 75^th anniversary of the 1942 Bangka Strait massacre;

(b) honours the memory of Australian nurses killed in the Bangka Strait massacre; and

(c) commends the SA Women's Memorial Playing Field Trust for their ongoing commitment to the annual Bangka Day Memorial Service.

Amongst the many revelations and horrors to emerge in the postwar years, the massacre at Bangka Island, Indonesia, was one of the most prominent in the news and minds of Australians in the immediate aftermath of the war. As time has passed, and we have been inundated with the stories of horror, courage and the ultimate sacrifice, the tale of Sister Vivian Bullwinkel's survival against Japanese forces in World War II still remains one of the most horrific. Seventy five years ago today, 22 brave women walked with their heads held high into the sea, as the Japanese machine guns opened fire behind them. On this day, above all days, we remember them.

The Bangka Strait massacre will be a familiar story for many here today, with members having a long tradition of commemorating its significance. Many of my colleagues, including yourself, joined me last Sunday for the annual commemoration service at the South Australian Women's Memorial Playing Fields. No words can truly do justice to the atrocities that unfolded on Bangka Island, but such is the bravery of the Australian nurses who endured unthinkable tragedy. It is most important that we remember their story of service and sacrifice.

In February 1942, there were more than 100 military nurses stationed in Singapore as part of the Australian 8^th Division. With Japanese forces advancing rapidly across the island, the fall of Singapore was imminent. On 6 February, an order came for all nurses to evacuate. Over the next week, despite their protests and reluctance to leave patients who were not fit enough for evacuation, the nurses departed Singapore.

Three ships were used in the evacuation. The fate of those three ships and that of the 100 plus nurses on board would be profoundly different. As the ascendancy of the Japanese air force gained momentum, all vessels would be subject to bombings. The first ship left Singapore on 10 February and made it without incurring much damage. The Australian nurses on board that ship were safely home within a few weeks. A day later, the second ship sailed, a cargo ship designed to carry 24 passengers but with more than 2,000 people crammed aboard. Although it sustained considerable damage from Japanese bombers, it too managed to reach Australia.

The final ship to leave Singapore harbour was the SS Vyner Brooke, carrying 65 Australian nurses and severely overcrowded with another 250 men, women and children. It would come under heavy attack just two days after leaving harbour, and on 14 February it sank in the Bangka Strait. While the passengers of the first and second ships were making their way to safer waters, a nightmare was unfolding for those aboard the Vyner Brooke. Many were killed during the initial Japanese attack on the ship. Many more drowned or were killed by machine-gun fire as they struggled in the water.

Under the direction of matrons Olive Paschke and Irene Drummond, the nurses had agreed to be the last to evacuate the Vyner Brooke so that they could ensure all other passengers had left the ship before they themselves jumped into the sea. Of the 65 Australian nurses on board, only 53 would make it to the island. Some were quickly captured by Japanese soldiers and interned at Muntok on Bangka Island. Another 22 nurses, all wearing their uniforms and Red Cross armbands, made it to shore at the nearby Radji Beach, where they were joined by civilians and servicemen who had also drifted ashore.

One of those nurses was 26-year-old South Australian Vivian Bullwinkel. Vivian was born on 18 December 1915 in Kapunda, training as a nurse and midwife in Broken Hill. When World War II erupted, Vivian applied to be a nurse in the RAAF, but was rejected for having flat feet. Undeterred, Vivian instead joined the Australian Army Nursing Service and was assigned to the 2^nd/13^th Australian General Hospital. In September 1941, she travelled to Singapore.

Now on Japanese-occupied land, without food and without help for the injured, Vivian and her compatriots surrendered to the Japanese troops. Vivian was the only survivor of what happened next and described the following in her own words:

…about 10 o'clock on the 16^th of February the ship's officer returned with a party of about 20 Japanese (soldiers). They lined us up—the men, of whom there were about 50, on one side and the 22 nurses and one civilian woman on the other. They then took the men away down the beach behind a bluff…they came back and cleaned their rifles in front of us, and then signed us to march into the sea.

They then started machine gunning from behind.

It is a tragedy so horrific it is difficult to recount. The proud and stoic matron Drummond's final words to her sisters as they walked towards the water's edge were, 'Chin up, girls. I am proud of you and I love you all.' It is impossible to comprehend what the nurses must have been thinking in their final moments: thoughts of their loved ones, thoughts of their years lived and their years lost, their unbelievable fear, no doubt hearts pounding through their chests. In 1945, in the aftermath of the war, as Australians learned of the nurses' fate, The Advertiser appropriately wrote:

There cannot be any savage so benighted as to be unable to realise something of the privileged position that an army nurse should hold in war, not only in consideration of her sex, but by reason of the mission of mercy she necessarily discharges, without discriminating between casualties among her own countrymen and wounded prisoners taken from the enemy.

Nurse Bullwinkel was the lone survivor of this atrocity. A bullet hitting her at waistline and passing straight through her saw her survive. The waves brought her back to the water's edge, where she lay until all fell quiet. Vivian's courage and resilience is unparalleled. She dragged herself out of the sea and into the jungle, tending to her own wounds and that of injured British soldier Patrick Kingsley, who had also miraculously survived the massacre.

After almost two weeks in the jungle, they surrendered to the Japanese and were taken to the prisoner of war camp at Muntok. At Muntok, Vivian was reunited with those Australian nurses who had washed ashore elsewhere on the island. They were held captive for 3½ years until the war's end. Sadly, eight nurses would never leave, dying from disease and malnutrition. Only 24 of the original group of 65 Australian nurses made it home.

It was not until the end of the war, and nurse Bullwinkel's release, that the horror of Bangka Island was revealed. It is also a reminder to us all about how fortunate we are and how much we owe to those who have served our country. We live in a time of relative peace, unprecedented prosperity and freedom. The Australia we know today was built on the courage and selfless actions of women like Vivian, the 21 women lost on Bangka Island 75 years ago today and the many thousands of Australian servicemen who have sacrificed their lives so that we can enjoy ours.

It is our responsibility to remember them and commemorate their courage, service and selflessness. We do so each year at the South Australian Women's Memorial Playing Fields. This year, we were honoured to be addressed by the Hon. Dr Brendan Nelson, Director of the Australian War Memorial. The playing fields eight-hectare site was established by Liberal premier Sir Thomas Playford in 1953 as a living memorial, as a home for and to encourage women's sport.

Today, the playing fields are home to Blackwood Hockey Club, Cumberland United Women's Soccer Club, SACA Women's Cricket and Sturt Lacrosse. A dedication ceremony was held in 1956 in memory of the contribution made by servicewomen during World War II, with a particular focus on the 65 nurses of the Vyner Brooke and victims of the Bangka Strait massacre.

The SA Women's Memorial Playing Fields Trust oversees the memorial aspect of the site and is also responsible for the annual Bangka Day Memorial Service. I thank Mr Bruce Parker OAM and the trust for their ongoing commitment to honouring the contribution made by our servicewomen. The work of the trust is critical to ensuring that the service and sacrifice of Australian women in armed conflict is never forgotten and that their memory lives on for future generations.

Ms DIGANCE (Elder) (12:41): I thank the member for Davenport for bringing this motion to the house. It is an extremely important motion in recognition of these amazing nurses. Today, 16 February, marks the 75^th anniversary of a very dark day in Australia's military history. On 12 February 1942, when the fall of Singapore was imminent, 65 nurses fled on a small boat, SS Vyner Brooke, heading for Palemburg in Sumatra. Along with a number of other vessels, the Vyner Brooke was sunk by Japanese aircraft in the Bangka Strait and 22 of the nurses, along with more than 100 soldiers and civilian men, women and children, washed up on Radji Beach, Bangka Island.

The island was occupied by Japanese forces, and Japanese troops soon arrived to deal with survivors. A fateful decision was made on 16 February 1942 to execute those survivors rather than take them prisoner and they were divided into groups, marched into the sea and mowed down by machine-gun fire. The nurses were the last group to be shot.

One survivor, Sister Vivian Bullwinkel, was born in Kapunda, South Australia. Though wounded by a bullet, Vivian pretended to be dead. Vivian hid for the next 12 days before surrendering to the Japanese, never once mentioning to them her knowledge of the massacre. Vivian spent the following 3½ years in a Japanese prisoner of war camp, until she was finally released at war's end in 1945.

After discharging from the Army in 1947, Vivian was appointed Director of Nursing at the Fairfield Infectious Diseases Hospital, devoting her life to the nursing profession and serving as a member of the Council of the Australian War Memorial. Vivian returned to Bangka Island in 1992 to unveil a memorial to those Australian nurses with whom she had served and who had not survived the war. Vivian died in July 2000, aged 84. The Radji Beach massacre is a vivid reminder of the tragedy of war. This story of courage, resilience and loss is captured in the poem Bangka Strait, written by Keith Shegog, which concludes with the verse:

Twenty-two nurses marched into the sea

Sounds of gun fire, a prayer to Thee

One survived the final test

Twenty-one more find eternal rest

So remember, those the Good Lord took

Their journey began with the sinking of

the Vyner Brooke.

I attended the service with my fellow parliamentarians from the electorates of Florey, Fisher, Reynell, Kaurna and Davenport, and the Minister for Veterans' Affairs (member for Waite), along with many others this past Sunday—the annual Bangka Day Memorial Service at the Women's Memorial Playing Fields—to commemorate the 75^th anniversary. It was a very moving service. Ruth Hough also gave a reading; she is always a stalwart of that particular service.

The President of the Women's Memorial Playing Field Trust, Mr Bruce Parker OAM, and his team are definitely to be congratulated on the tireless work they do in coordinating the service every year and on their role in promoting women's sport in South Australia. Bruce is a passionate supporter of the Women's Memorial Playing Field Trust and has worked tirelessly over many years to create and care for an enduring memorial in honour of these brave Australian women. I am grateful that these women chose us, their fellow Australians, as they triumphed over fear and, inspired by love for their fellow humans, sacrificed themselves in an act that is above all acts—the sacrifice of their lives. I am sure we are all grateful to them.

In closing, I am grateful to see that there may be moves afoot to redevelop this whole playing field area in the near future, which is badly needed. I am aware that the trust is working closely with the Office for Recreation and Sport, Veterans SA and the state government to develop plans for an upgraded memorial plaza area at the playing fields as part of a broader upgrade of the facility. I wish them every success in their endeavour and I encourage this to become, in time, an upgraded area that is respectful to those who have passed and also honours women's sport.

Ms COOK (Fisher) (12:46): This year is the 75^th anniversary of the fall of Singapore and, as part of that, many people were evacuated from the country. This event actually changed Australians forever, with Singapore having played a vital role in buffering and protecting us from the insurgent forces. Until that point, it had been pretty much an impenetrable fortress of British strength, along with the allies. I believe that that stronghold was actually destroyed in a little over two months. Within this tragedy of war in the Pacific and the devastation, there was much torture and terrible loss of life, and included in that were nurses. Nurses play many roles in our society, one of the most vital being as part of the nursing corps of our defence forces.

Today is the 75^th anniversary of the 1942 Bangka Strait massacre, and I thank the member for Davenport for bringing this motion to the house on the actual anniversary. The Vyner Brooke evacuated a party of reluctant nurses. They did not wish to leave Singapore, but they were amongst more than 200 other people evacuated on that ship. The ship was bombed and sank only a very short distance from Singapore and the survivors bravely struggled ashore using pieces of wreckage. They found themselves on Radji Beach, Bangka Island, not far off the Sumatran coast. As the member for Elder, a fellow nurse, has mentioned, Sister Vivian Bullwinkel was amongst those women.

Some of the survivors who were able to walk found their way to the town of Muntok and surrendered to the Japanese. They sought help for the injured who were lying on the beach at Radji. Some of these survivors returned with a group of Japanese soldiers hoping to care for the wounded but in fact found the survivors on the beach with awful wounds. There were servicemen, civilians and nurses, and the Japanese soldiers split them into groups. The servicemen were made to tear strips of material from their shirts and blindfold themselves, and they were marched up the beach and gunned down.

There were two survivors from this group, who later became key witnesses to the atrocities. There were 22 Australian nurses. They had been on their way to care for wounded troops. They were unarmed and, when the Japanese soldiers returned and executed the surviving soldiers, they made the nurses march out into the water. These nurses were machine gunned from behind and the Japanese soldiers then came through and bayonetted those who had survived the initial onslaught.

Sister Vivian Bullwinkel managed to lie motionless in the water and survived. She did not put her head up until the Japanese soldiers had left, and her report is that she dragged herself up the beach and lay unconscious for several days. She eventually did surrender and, along with another soldier who had survived, became a prisoner of war. That soldier reportedly died within days.

They were held in appalling conditions, along with other prisoners of war, for over three years. After this, she told her story, she gave evidence against the perpetrator of the war crimes and she has become an inspiration to nurses worldwide. I believe she went to Prospect Primary School, and at the memorial the other day there were some children from the Prospect Primary School at the commemoration, and it was beautiful to see them there. Along with Florence Nightingale, her name is etched in the minds of nurses worldwide, and her bravery has become iconic.

Stories such as this must be shared: we must share the stories with our children because, if we want to move forward, we have to learn from our past. I salute the brave souls and thank them for taking their place in history, and I also take time today to thank the South Australian Women's Memorial Playing Field Trust for the wonderful work they have done to keep this memory alive. The attendance the other day was incredible: a number of members of parliament—federal and state—and also local government, as well as a friend of Vivian Bullwinkle (whose name has gone from my memory). It was incredible to see the support.

This group also supports the advancing cause of women's sport in South Australia and, as I was growing up, I was certainly become a beneficiary of that. I agree with the member for Elder and thank the Office for Sport and Recreation, and others, for the work they are doing in raising funds to improve the playing fields because the temporary toilets that went in about 25 years ago certainly need to be made more permanent. I commend the motion to the house.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Replaced, anyway.

Ms COOK: Yes, replaced; thank you, madam.

Mr PICTON (Kaurna) (12:52): I will add brief words in support of this motion from the member for Davenport. I also support the words of the member for Elder and the member for Fisher in supporting this motion.

All of us, along with you, Deputy Speaker, on the weekend were at the commemoration memorial service paying our respects for, first, what was one of the most tragic and horrific incidents of World War II; secondly, paying our respects and thanks and remembering all those women, in particular nurses, who served and many who made the ultimate sacrifice for their country at war; and, thirdly, thanking all the volunteers and people behind the women's memorial playing fields at St Mary's. They do a great job supporting that community and keeping the memories of these important yet horrific incidents alive. Hopefully, along with all other commemorations of war, they seek to remind us of the horror of war and why we must do everything to protect peace in the future.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Before I call the member for Davenport, who I am sure is going to close the debate, I remind everyone that Brendan Nelson's speech that day was exceptional. As he is an old Modbury boy, I was never more proud. The music from the Army band was again one of the highlights of the event, and I understand that the Catafalque Party was formed from serving nurses, a first as far as I can say, so it was an amazing event. Member for Davenport, you are going to close the debate?

Mr DULUK (Davenport) (12:54): I think Dr Nelson's speech was fantastic. His opening lines on his speech last Sunday were:

Australians all let us rejoice, for we are young and free. The first line of our national anthem. We sing it often. We will sing it today. Less often do we pause to reflect upon what it means. The great paradox of life is that it is often that which is most important to us we are tempted to take for granted—the magic vitality of youth; families who love and support us, giving meaning and context to our lives. So too Australian citizenship whether conferred by birth or by choice. A nation that gives us political, economic and religious freedoms; where faith coexists with reason, free academic inquiry, an independent judiciary and a free press. A nation reveals itself in certain subtle but powerful ways.

He continued to talk about the role the nursing sisters play in the Australian War Memorial in Canberra, and for the following 20 minutes he gave one of the most moving speeches I have heard in a very long time by any public official. Obviously, he talked about the Bangka Strait massacre and the role of service and sacrifice.

I thank the members for Elder, Fisher and Kaurna for their contribution on recognising this very important commemorative date. This week, of course, we also commemorated the fall of Singapore, and over the next two or three years we will commemorate 75 years of many of the great battles of the Second World War. It is really a time for us to reflect on those who went before us and the sacrifice they made for our nation.

As I always say in many speeches I give, especially around citizenship, we are the custodians as MPs of all that is good that has gone before us, and it is our role, as members of parliament, to remember that. We need to remember the reasons why we do what we do and to be great representatives. We can look back at people like Vivian Bullwinkel and the service she provided to this nation when she came back from war as a reminder of the work that we do.

We also need to continue to invest in our institutions, such as the Women's Memorial Playing Fields. They are in much need of an upgrade, and I know a lot of work is being done with the Office of Rec and Sport. I know the member for Boothby was on the record this week in parliament talking about the need for a deductible gift recipient nature for the trust as well so that people can publicly make donations to the trust to continue their good work. We also need to reinvigorate the playing fields themselves to encourage more women to participate in sport and community activities.

I thank those who made a contribution today, and I am sure we will honour those who made that sacrifice 75 years ago.

Motion carried.

Sitting suspended from 12:57 to 14:00.