Ellenor Calnan Bangka Island Massacre WW2 #Anzacday

As today is Anzac Day, I thought it appropriate that I post about my second cousin once removed, who was a casualty of WW11, when she died in the waters off Singapore in 1842. I have posted previously about the Bangka Island Massacre. This is a combination of three previous posts.

Ellenor Calnan known as Ellen or Nell, was born at Culcairn NSW, Australia  in 1912, to parents, William CALNAN and Mary O’BRIEN. In 1941, at age 28 years, Ellenor enlisted into the Australian Army, as a military nurse, and served on the 2/10 Australian Nursing hospital ship, HMS Vyner Brooke. The ship had on board, military personnel and 62 nurses, who were being evacuated, when it was bombed by the Japanese, and sank in Banka Strait, on 14 February 1942. Two nurses died in the bombing, twelve were lost at sea, and the remainder safely reached the shore, off Indonesia, along with other passengers who survived. Ellen Calnan was one of the nine nurses who was lost at sea.

Ellen Calnan

On land, under the sign of the Red Cross, the nurses began to tend to the injured passengers from the ship. On discovering that the island was occupied by the Japanese, one of the officers from the ship surrendered the survivors.

A group of 20 Japanese soldiers, then arrived at the makeshift hospital, and ordered all injured men who could walk, to walk a short distance away out of sight of the hospital. Immediately the nurses heard gunfire. The Japanese soldiers then returned, and ordered the nurses to walk into the sea, where they were shot in the back, by a barrage of machine gun fire.

Sister Vivian Bullwinkell survived the gunfire, and and was washed up unconscious, onto the shore. She was eventually captured and became a POW of the Japanese for two years. She survived this, and told her story of the massacre at War Crimes Trials. This tragedy was unknown to anyone in Australia, until Vivien Bullwinkell arrived home in 1945 and was able to tell the story.

There were newspaper articles in newspapers all over Australia. Following are just a couple.

From: Army News, Darwin NT (1941-46) Tuesday 18 September 1945, page 1

OUR NURSES AND SOLDIERS MASSACRED

Worst Atrocities In History, Says Forde
SWPA, Monday: Shocking revelations of the massacre by the Japanese, of Australian Army nurses in the Sumatra area, and the survival of only six of 2500 Australian and British prisoners-of-war, at Sandakan, in North Borneo, were reported today. The Minister for the Army, Mr. Forde, described these atrocities as among the worst in world history. “These reports,” he declared, “will make us realise even more, what we owe to the fighting men, for saving Australia from the Japanese.”

The Sumatra horror was perpetrated, after survivors reached the shore from HMS Vyner Brooke, which sank in 30 minutes, in February, 1942, after being attacked by nine Japanese aircraft, while carrying 200 passengers, including 65 nurses from Singapore. Twenty one nurses were murdered in cold blood, 12 others are believed to have drowned, and eight died later, in a foul prisoner-of-war camp in the heart of Sumatra, from which the remaining 24 have been flown to Singapore.

Male survivors of the Vyner Brooke, on reaching Bangka Island, off Sumatra, were either bayoneted or mown down, by machine-gun fire, while the nurses were machine gunned after being ordered to stand facing the sea. Sole sister to survive machine gunning, was Sister Vivienne Bullwinkle, of Adelaide, now in Singapore. Before the shooting occurred she ran towards the water, into which she fell, when a bullet penetrated one thigh. The Japs left her for dead. Washed ashore 10 minutes later, she penetrated into the jungle, where she remained for a fortnight until lack of food compelled her to surrender.

A male survivor of the massacre, was a British sailor, who later returned to the scene, and discovered the Japanese had bayoneted those about whose death they were uncertain. Sister Bullwinkle paid tribute to the memory of her dead comrades. ‘We all knew we were going to die, but there was not one protest.” she declared. “The sisters died bravely.”

When she arrived in Singapore, Nurse Bullwinkle was still wearing the same uniform in which she had been shot. There were heartrending scenes when the 24 nurses, barely able to walk, shuffled up some stairs after reaching Singapore. Ailing AIF men of the Eighth Division, just released from prisoner of war camps, became hysterical at the sight, and had to be controlled. Mr. Forde said tonight that the Japanese responsible, must be forced to pay full penalty, for their crime.

A Sydney solicitor, Major W. H. Tebbutt, who was another survivor, has compiled a comprehensive report of the episode. It is now in the hands of the Allied authorities in Singapore.

*Please note:  Punctuation and paragraphs have been added to the above transcription for ease and speed of reading

The Australian nurses including Ellen Calnan who left Australia in January 1941 to staff the 2/10th Australian General Hospital. Photo was taken in the grounds of the hospital, just before they left. Ellenor Calnan is in the second row, eight from the left

Augusta Australian Army Nursing Sisters Monument

Memorials to the Bangka Island Massacre:

Augusta Australian Army Nursing Sisters
Heidelberg Repatriation Hospital Memorial Rose Garden
Singapore Memorial Kranji War Cemetery,
Vyner Brooke Tragedy Memorial, W.A.,

For anyone who is interested in learning more about this atrocity, I can recommend the book below as being very well researched.

sources:
https://vwma.org.au/
https://www.awm.gov.au/
OUR NURSES AND SOLDIERS MASSACRED (1945, September 18). Army News (Darwin, NT : 1941 – 1946), p. 1. Retrieved March 19, 2021, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article47725185

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