<div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>An Australian military nurse, lying on a blood-washed beach, feigned death in a notorious World War II massacre on February 16, 1942.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Sister Vivian Bullwinkel was one of the few survivors when Japanese soldiers shot dead civilians and prisoners of war on Banka Island during the battle for Singapore.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The death toll included 21 Australian nurses from Bullwinkel's unit.</span></div></div><div><div id="adspot-mobile-medium"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/north-ryde-kidnapping-sydney-chris-baghsarian-police/3cb2fb83-2b2b-4eda-b451-4bcb90ef4480" rel="" target="_blank" title="Fears grow for elderly man kidnapped in case of mistaken identity"><strong><span>Fears grow for elderly man kidnapped in case of mistaken identity</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The tragic events began when 65 Australian nurses were evacuated from Singapore by sea just days before it was seized by the Japanese army in February, 1942.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Travelling in an overloaded merchant ship, the vessel was bombed and sank as it sailed off Sumatra.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The nurses and other survivors managed to reach a beach on Banka island, held by Japanese troops.</span></div></div><div><div class="OUTBRAIN" data-reactroot="" data-src="//www.9news.com.au/world/today-in-history-february-16-what-happened-on-this-day-banka-island-massacre/666351cb-4ae3-4a6f-920d-417d2de4ce7c" data-widget-id="AR_5"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>When they failed to find enough food and water, or medical treatment for the wounded, the group decided to surrender to the Japanese, expecting to be treated humanely.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Japanese soldiers quickly arrived on the beach and marched the nurses and other female prisoners into the sea, prodded by bayonets, before gunning them down.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE: </span></strong><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/camden-crash-emergency-services-called-to-twocar-crash-on-the-old-hume-highway-at-camden-bypass/72a82da6-fdee-4d22-99c9-fbdaef482bae" target="_blank" title=""><strong><span>Man charged after two women killed in crash with allegedly stolen car</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Bullwinkel was hit by a bullet but survived.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>After the war, she told a war crimes investigation, she had been shot in the waist, but the bullet passed through her into the water.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The waves washed her back on the sands, and she remained there appearing dead for about 10 minutes before the Japanese soldiers marched off.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Bullwinkel then fled into the jungle where she met a wounded British soldier, and gave him basic first aid.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The pair later surrendered to Japanese troops, and was reunited with other Australian nurses held in a prisoner of war camp.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>But realising she was the only witness to the massacre, she hid her wound from her captives, and the other nurses kept quiet about the killings during their captivity.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Following their liberation by Allied soldiers in August 1945, the Banka Island massacre was made public and caused outrage in Australia.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Bullwinkel testified at the Tokyo war crimes trials in 1946, but the soldiers behind it were unknown and no one was punished.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>She went on to a successful military and civilian nursing career and died in 2000.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span> </span><em><strong><span>NEVER MISS A STORY: Get your breaking news and exclusive stories first by following us across all platforms.</span></strong></em></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><ul><li><p><em><strong><span>Download the 9NEWS App here via</span></strong></em><span> </span><a href="https://apps.apple.com/au/app/9news/id1010533727"><em><strong><span>Apple</span></strong></em></a><span> </span><em><strong><span>and</span></strong></em><span> </span><a 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