The Bangka Island massacre is notorious in Australian wartime history.
It was there that shortly after the outbreak of World War II in the Pacific troops of the Imperial Japanese Army murdered 22 Australian Army nurses, 60 Australian and British soldiers, and crew members from the Vyner Brooke.
The group were the only survivors from their steamship which had been sunk by Japanese bombers just after the defeat of Singapore.
Only South Australian nurse Sister Lieutenant Vivian Bullwinkel, American Eric Germann and Royal Navy Stoker Ernest Lloyd survived.
And now Georgina Banks searches for the truth of what happened to her great-aunt 'Bud', killed in the World War II in her book Back to Bangka (Penguin, $34.99, June 20).
In Bangka Strait, Indonesia in 1942 Allied ships are evacuating thousands in flight from Singapore, the island having fallen to Japanese Imperial forces.
Facing terrifying assaults by fighter planes, one ship, the Vyner Brooke, is badly bombed and sinks. Its survivors swim or paddle for hours to the nearest land, a beach on Bangka Island, parched, many dreadfully injured.
One of the survivors is Georgina's great-aunt Australian Army nurse Dorothy 'Bud' Elmes.
By the time I read the telegram sent to Bud's parents by the Red Cross, it was one in the morning. On 23 June 1944 the director of the Red Cross Bureau for Wounded, Missing and Prisoners of War wrote: 'It is with deepest regret that we heard that your daughter, Nurse G. Elmes, is now officially believed to have been killed on or after the 11th of February 1942.' I clutched the edges of the oak table. It was enough to stop your heart beating
- Georgina Banks
Bud makes it to the island, where she, colleagues and a matron tend to the wounded as a plan is formulated. But it is soon discovered the place is occupied by Japanese forces, and two days later they arrive on the beach.
Seventy-five years on, Georgina receives an invitation to a memorial service for her great-aunt.
She knows little of the national history buried in her family but as she retraces Bud's steps in Indonesia, and then deep in archives back in Australia, she is left making sense of half-truths and confronting the likelihood that she may never know exactly what unfolded on the beach on that devastating day.
Back to Bangka is a deeply moving intergenerational family story; a gripping retelling and investigation of events that throw a spotlight on women in wartime in their vulnerability and profound strength.
First time writer, long time storyteller
Born in Sydney, Georgina left at 19 to study acting in New York at the Neighbourhood Playhouse and then worked as a performer throughout her twenties.
Following her interest in what makes people tick, she changed direction and went back to university to study Applied Psychology.
In her consulting business, Changeable, Georgina combines her psychology background and facilitation skills to enable meaningful change for individuals, teams and organisations.
As a performer, Georgina worked mainly in theatre for companies such as Sydney Theatre Company, Playbox and Theatre South, and in television for shows like A Country Practice and Outback.
Now Melbourne based, she has two daughters in their early twenties.
When she has time she likes to escape with her husband to their block of land near Kyneton.
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Therese Murray
Wordsmith. Senior journalist. Editor. I have a proven track record in helping people and communities solve their problems. My career is all about telling stories.
Wordsmith. Senior journalist. Editor. I have a proven track record in helping people and communities solve their problems. My career is all about telling stories.
