The National Film and Sound Archive (NFSA) publishes ‘A Remarkable Woman of Wartime’, an essay written by Megan Spencer.

In it she explores aspects of the NFSA collection around the life and times of Australia’s most well-known and and beloved Army and civilian nurse, LTCOL Vivian Bullwinkel AO, MBE, ARRC, ED.

The sole survivor of a shocking war crime that took place after the fall of Singapore in February 1942 – and a prisoner of war of the Japanese Imperial Army for 3.5 years thereafter – Vivian Bullwinkel, later Mrs Vivian Statham, established herself as one of Australia’s most dedicated service people, both within and without the Australian military.

In search of hidden gems, Megan digs through the NFSA’s historic audio visual collection, discovering amazing TV interviews, documentaries, radio plays and newsreels that reflect Vivian Bullwinkel’s remarkable life of service.

A highlight has to be a clip from the 1977 ANZAC-Day eve episode of biographic TV hit This Is Your Life, where “Matron Bullwinkel” reunites with surviving members from the POW camps, sharing memories that got them through their collective ordeal during the Second World War.

Hosted by a breathless Roger Climpson, there’s not a dry eye in the house.

  • Read Megan’s article here.
  • And listen to The Sudden Storm, the six-part podcast Megan made about Vivian’s story and that of the Bangka Island Massacre.

 

Still from Cinesound Review: “First Pictures: Massacre Survivors, 1945”. Vivian Bullwinkel is pictured right with other AANS nurses, recovering in Singapore after rescue from a POW camp in Sumatra. Credit: Cinesound Movietone Productions.