DORSCH, Millicent Hulda Maria
World War 2 Service
| 3 Sep 1939: | Involvement SFX10597 | |
|---|---|---|
| 29 Nov 1940: | Enlisted Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Lieutenant, SFX10597 | |
| 29 Nov 1940: | Enlisted SFX10597, Australian Army Nursing Service (WW1), Adelaide, South Australia | |
| 29 Nov 1940: | Enlisted Lieutenant, SFX10597, Enlisted at Keswick South Australia | |
| 29 Nov 1940: | Involvement Lieutenant Colonel, SFX10597, 2nd/4th Casualty Clearing Station, Malaya/Singapore | |
| 2 Feb 1941: | Embarked Lieutenant, SFX10597, Embarked the Queen Mary for Singapore | |
| 12 Feb 1942: | Embarked Australian Army Nursing Service (WW1), Lieutenant, SFX10597, Australian Army Nursing Service (WW1), Evacuated - Embarked Ship: SS Vyner Brooke (with 65 other nurses, and 116 civilians) Date and Place of Departure: 12/02/1942, Singapore; to Banka Strait (by Banka Island) Attacked by Japanese Aircraft; Disaster - Sinking of SS Vyner Brooke - Date: 14/02/1942; (AWM) Sinking of the SS Vyner Brooke. | |
| 15 Feb 1942: | Imprisoned Malaya/Singapore | |
| Date unknown: | Involvement |
OUR SINGAPORE NURSES
Emotional Welcome As Gallant Women Return
Fremantle, Western Australia; The Australian Women's Weekly
Saturday; 3 November 1945, Page 19.
OUR SINGAPORE NURSES
BY: Josephine O'Neill
No legendary figures, but ordinary women, you, who died
Facing the water, last glance each to each
Along the beach, leaving your bodies to the accustomed surf
Your hearts to home
No legendary figures, but ordinary women, you, who lived
Holding the spirit, through the camps slow slime
Unsoiled by time ...
Bringing your laughter out of degraded toil
As a gift to home
As ordinary women, by your dying you fortify the mind
As ordinary women, by your living you honor all mankind.
TROVE: http://nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/55465571
Submitted 6 November 2018 by Daniel Bishop
Lost at Sea
Sister Millicent Dorsch of the 2nd 4th Casualty Clearing Station was lost at sea when the evacuation ship SS Vyner Brook was sunk by Japanese bombers. Sister Dorsch's body was never recovered.
Submitted 26 October 2017 by Tony Wege
Biography contributed by John Edwards
"...SFX10597 Sister Millicent Heulda (Millie) Dorsch, 2/4th Casualty Clearing Station, Australian Army Nursing Service (AANS). She was one of sixty five Australian nurses and over 250 civilian men, women and children evacuated on the Vyner Brooke from Singapore three days before the fall of Malaya. The Vyner Brooke was bombed by Japanese aircraft and sunk in Banka Strait on 14 February 1942. Of the sixty five nurses, thirty two survived the sinking and were taken Prisoner of War (POW) of which eight later died in captivity, another twenty two also survived the sinking and were washed ashore on Radji Beach, Banka Island, where they surrendered to the Japanese along with twenty five British soldiers. On 16 February 1942 the group was massacred, the soldiers were bayoneted and the nurses were ordered to march into the sea where they were shot. Only Sister Vivian Bullwinkel and a British soldier survived the massacre. Both were taken POW, but only Sister Bullwinkel survived the war. Sister Dorsch, aged 30, was one of twelve nurses who were lost at sea. She was washed out to sea on a raft along with Matron Paschke and Sister's Trenery, McDonald, Clarke and Ennis. They were never seen again. She was the daughter of Adolph Dorsch of Hove, SA." - SOURCE (www.awm.gov.au)
Biography contributed by Carol Foster
Daughter of Adolph John Walter Dorsch and Elsie Victoria (nee Downing) Dorsch of 137 Brighton Road, Hove SA; sister of Albert Walter Dorsch who served in the RAN until 1946 and Charles Ernest Dorsch who served in the RAN until 1951
Medals: 1939-45 Star, Pacific Star, War Medal
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