ENNIS, Caroline Mary
| Service Number: | VFX38751 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 20 August 1940 |
| Last Rank: | Sister |
| Last Unit: | 10th Australian General Hospital |
| Born: | Swan Hill, Victoria, Australia, 13 August 1913 |
| Home Town: | Swan Hill, Swan Hill, Victoria |
| Schooling: | Swan Hill Public School, Victoria, Australia |
| Occupation: | Trained Nurse |
| Died: | Lost at sea (SS Vyner Brooke), Banka Island, Netherlands East Indies, 14 February 1942, aged 28 years |
| Cemetery: |
No known grave - "Known Unto God" Column 141, Singapore Memorial (within Kranji War Cemetery) |
| Memorials: | Augusta Australian Army Nursing Sisters Monument, Australian Military Nurses Memorial, Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Bicton Vyner Brooke Tragedy Memorial, W.A., Cheshunt Nurses Memorial Plaque and Trees, Heidelberg Repatriation Hospital Memorial Rose Garden, Kapunda Dutton Park Memorial Gardens Nurses Plaques, Oxley War Memorial, Singapore Memorial Kranji War Cemetery, Wangaratta Hospital Memorial Plaque |
World War 2 Service
| 20 Aug 1940: | Enlisted Australian Army Nursing Service (WW1), Sister, VFX38751, 10th Australian General Hospital | |
|---|---|---|
| 20 Aug 1940: | Enlisted VFX38751, General Hospitals - WW2 | |
| 7 Dec 1941: | Involvement Australian Army Nursing Service (WW1), Sister, VFX38751, 10th Australian General Hospital , Malaya/Singapore | |
| 12 Feb 1942: | Embarked Australian Army Nursing Service (WW1), Sister, VFX38751, 10th Australian General Hospital , 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 |
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
Biography contributed by Steve Larkins
Sister Caroline Mary Ennis was one of sixty five Australian nurses and over 250 civilian men, women and children evacuated on the SS 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. Of the others was one of twelve nurses who were lost at sea. She was washed out to sea on a raft along with Matron Paschke and Sisters Clark, Trennery, McDonald, and Dorsch. They were never seen again. Those who made it to shore on Banka Island were taken Prisoner of War (POW) of whom 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. (www.awm.gov.au)
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