Description
A moving tale of friendship, survival, and the remarkable strength and resilience of women during World War II.
Sister Vivian Bullwinkel was the only survivor of the Bangka Island massacre during World War II. Her evocative story is told through the eyes of fifteen-year-old Edith 'Edie' Kenneison.
Sister Bullwinkel enlisted in the Australian Army Nurse Service at the outbreak of World War II and was posted to Singapore. In February 1942, she and hundreds of others attempted to escape the advancing Japanese army but was captured and held as a prisoner of war. Vivian spent the next three years in captivity, working tirelessly to help her fellow prisoners. One of those prisoners was young Edie. Their remarkable friendship would help them survive and became the basis of a lifelong bond.
Review
Courage Be My Friend is a semi-autobiographical account of the amazing survival story of nurse Vivian Bullwinkel during World War II.
With war raging, country girl Vivian Bullwinkel wanted to help. After being rejected by the Air Force, she was accepted as a member of the Australian Army Nursing Service. Things were okay while she was posted to Singapore, but with the Japanese invading the nurses had to board a ship for Indonesia.
Edie was a young girl growing up with her British family in Malaya, but they too had to be evacuated and she ended up losing her grandfather and was stuck existing with her bitter mother.
Vivian survived a brutal attack by the Japanese on Bangka Island - where the men were bayoneted, and the nurses told to stand at the waters edge while they were shot. Luckily, she survived the shooting.
Vivian and Edie both ended up in Muntok camp in Indonesia in 1942. They had met before and so a friendship formed. They were lucky to survive the harsh conditions that had to endure as prisoners. But endure they did - as did their friendship back in Australia for many years after the war ended.
This is a terrific story depicting the important role of the nurses in war time and the sacrifices they made. From Vivian’s group of nurses 24 survived, 8 died as prisoners of war, 12 died when their ship was sunk, and 21 were massacred on the shores of Bangka Island. A gripping story of survival, friendship, the brutality of war, and the important and mostly unreported role that many women have played during wartime. A gripping tale of survival and friendship, best suited to readers in lower secondary and upper primary.
Reviewed by Rob
