On May 8, 2025, the 80th anniversary of Victory in Europe Day (VE Day), award-winning commemorative podcast maker Megan Spencer will deliver a talk on two pivotal events that shaped South Australia’s WWII legacy.
Including the stories of service people featured in her podcasts When The War Comes Home: Beachport Mine Tragedy and The Sudden Storm: The Bangka Island Massacre – both commissioned by Australia’s largest online memorial, Virtual War Memorial Australia – Megan will focus on the women of the Australian Army Nursing Service who were killed in a shocking war crime in 1942 on Bangka Island by members of the Imperial Japanese Army.
Six of the nurses were South Australian, with another, Sister Vivian Bullwinkel, the sole survivor who returned after years as a prisoner-of-war to tell the tale.
Megan will also explore the little-known story of the Beachport Mine Tragedy where the first two service fatalities on Australian soil during WWII took place at the hands of the German war machine.
Both were Navy personnel stationed at Birkenhead Naval Base near Port Adelaide.
She will also discuss From A Whisper To A Bang!, the first podcast series to be commissioned by the Australian War Memorial, which she began recording while living in Berlin.
In the six-part immersive audio series, Megan not only walks in the footsteps of her POW grandfather in war torn WWII Europe, but asks the question, “What is remembrance now?”, and whether we might be forgetting the lessons of war in a post-truth, fact-truant world.
She will also make the case that listening to these narratives is a meaningful way to commemorate not only those who served but the lasting impact on their families and communities.
And why it is especially important, now, to keep the flame of remembrance alive and front of mind, 80 years after the fact, through powerful acts of audio storytelling and deep listening.
This event is part of the South Australian History Festival.
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WHERE: Noarlunga Library, Hannah Road, Noarlunga Centre, 5168, View Map
