Twenty-one nurses walked into the sea
Sea opens its arms to accept their blood
Blood from nurses machine-gunned by enemy
Enemy satisfied they were all dead
Dead, all but one, wounded badly
Badly wounded she swam to shore
Shore that held one allied soldier
Soldier from her army side
Side that was losing in Sumatra
Sumatra, Banka Island hell
Hell for the Aussies and more
More to come for these two
Two of them were captured, tortured
Tortured and called prisoners of war
War in the Pacific, Japanese cruel
Cruel and starving any prisoners
Prisoners kept for over three years
Years of starvation and beatings
Beatings for the survivor nurse
Nurse who survived the bullets
Bullets went through her body
Body wounded but spirit whole
Whole in mind and love for all
All the days she was a prisoner
Prisoner Vivian Bullwinkle is tall
Tall and proud she beat the enemy
Enemy failed to break her spirit
Spirit of love for all mankind
Mankind could learn a lesson
Lesson of love and serenity
Serenity lives in us all today
Today we remember Nurse Vivian.
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Author Notes
Sister Vivian Bullwinkle was born in a country town in 1915. Onboard ship she was nursing wounded soldiers before it was sunk. She and her nurses made their way to the shore of Banka Island in Sumatra. The Japanese found them, lined them up, and made them walk into the sea. Holding hands, Viv told them to be strong and look at the sunrise. The women were weeping and then the Japanese opened fire. The allied soldier she found died in the camp.
The machine guns killed them all, or so they thought. This brave team leader Viv played dead in the water whilst the bodies of her friends bumped into each other in a sea of blood. Viv went on to be the most highly decorated woman in WW11.
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