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WWII Nurse Vivian Bullwinkle

Updated Mar 10, 2025

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Gaye Thomas

7 followers 274 favorites

03/21/2019

WWII Nurse Vivian Bullwinkle

A photo of WWII Nurse Vivian Bullwinkle. Escaping Singapore on 12th Feb 1942 with 65 other Australian war nurses on the SS Vyner Brooke along with hundreds of other men, women and children, she found herself and 21 other nurses on Radji Beach, Banka Island.

When Japanese troops arrived, they killed all the men, then they gathered 22 nurses together at the beach.

Vivian said nothing aloud. None of the nurses did. Except for the sound of the water hitting their thighs, the beach was silent. Vivian, sad to think her mother would never learn what happened to her, suddenly felt peaceful when she realized she would soon see her deceased father. She wanted to communicate her new emotion to the other nurses. She turned and smiled at them. They returned her smile 'in a strange and beautiful way.'The Japanese and ordered them into the sea, where they machine gunned them.

Nurse Bullwinkel, badly wounded and feigning death, was the only survivor..

Date & Place: 1942 at Bangka Island in Bangka Belitung Islands Indonesia

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AncientFaces

380k+ followers 411 favorites

05/26/2019

On this Memorial Day weekend, also honoring the women who served. This WW2 nurse's story is horrifying - and courageous.

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Fha Ny Trujllo

via Facebook

05/26/2019

Respect.

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Melissa Lowman

via Facebook

05/26/2019

[external link]

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Ree Young

1 follower 234 favorites

05/26/2019

Stories like this need to be told and people reminded of what so many before them went through.

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Vivian Bullwinkle Dec 18, 1915 - Jul 3, 2000

Vivian Bullwinkle was born on December 18, 1915, and died at age 84 years old on July 3, 2000. Family, friend, or fan, this family history biography is for you to remember Vivian Bullwinkle.

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