The massacre of 21 Australian nurses on a beach on Bangka Island, following the sinking of the SS Vyner Brooke, had everyone outraged. But the sinking of the Vyner Brooke was not an isolated incident. In an operation that would be described as Singapore’s ‘Dunkirk’, the incompetence of the British led Allied High Command in Singapore was evident and many people died as a result.

In September 1941, the 2/13th Australian General Hospital (2/13th AGH) arrived in Singapore with a staff of 211, including 44 nurses. Initially, the nurses were attached to other units treating very few patients and spending their time learning about tropical diseases and training in modern military surgical practices. It was a carefree and happy life for them. But this would change.