BRISBANE WATER (NSW) LEGACY CLUB MONTHLY BULLETIN APRIL 2020 PRESIDENTS REPORT As everyone appreciates, our Club activities have been turned upside down over the last month. We have had many restrictions imposed upon us as individuals, groups and as an organisation. As a consequence, the Board, committees and working groups have been very limited in what they could do for our Beneficiaries and for our Legatees. Our planned social activities were cancelled by necessity and visits to our Beneficiaries have been somewhat restricted. Having said that, our CEO and staff have continually gone the extra mile to fill the gap as best they have been able; I know you will all want to thank them for that and I have done so on your behalf. April 20 Board Meeting The traditional board meeting was held remotely using email conversations. The agenda was of course limited but the essentials were covered. The Finance Director satisfied the Board that we are well positioned financially and while our investments have taken a bit of a hit we are in very good shape. Tony has provided an overview in his Bulletin. Crisis Management During the pandemic crisis period, our CEO, Peter Lawley, has been driving the ship like the experienced Captain he is. Unlike the Ruby Princess our ship remains Coronavirus free with staff being very careful and very professional in carrying out their duties and responsibilities. Together they came up with alternative ways of doing things without losing sight of their number one priority: the welfare of our Beneficiaries. This included: Preparation and dispatch of food and household essentials hampers to those most in need. These were very well received as you might imagine. A more active telephone contact regime with our Beneficiaries. The staff enlisted support from Legatees with this programme and it was very successful. We have probably contacted more of our Beneficiaries than would be normal in such a short time. The feedback has been very positive. Arranging transport for our Beneficiaries to ensure they were able to get to critical appointments. Ensuring our Beneficiaries had a shoulder on which lean; reassuring them that the crisis would pass and things will get back normal. Page 1 of 18 I would like, on your behalf, to once again thank our dedicated staff for their untiring commitment, initiative and resolve in placing our Beneficiaries ahead of their own needs in times of crisis that affects us all. I am conscious that some of our staff have young children of their own, and perhaps even ageing parents yet, to them, Legacy always comes first. We could not wish for a better Team. Village Redevelopment During the month I attended, as a member of the Village Redevelopment Committee chaired by Legatee Max Davis, a series of interviews with builders who had expressed an interest in working with us through the next phase of the development project. Legatee Max has provided a separate report on these interviews. Suffice for me to say I thought Peter Lawley did an outstanding job identifying these organisations. We witnessed some very professional and encouraging presentations. The interesting thing was that the members of the Committee were unanimous in their assessments and in selecting the preferred contractor. This continues to be an exciting Project. There is little doubt the National economic position will impact across the wider community and we are not exempt. However, the Board is convinced we must continue with the current phase of the Project which takes us up to Development Approval. This has been funded and approved by the Club membership and there is no valid fiscal or economic reason to step back from this at this time. The Board accepts, however, that we will need to review our position before proceeding to the next phase and to justify to members funding for the next phase. This was always intended and is 12 months away. By this time we hope things are pretty much back to the pre-pandemic norm, including our fiscal situation. Right now, it’s business as usual with the Project. Getting Back to Normal When will we get back to normal; when will the Coronavirus crisis end? I wish I could give us the answer but as you might expect, I can’t. My guess is though, it will start easing off with a lifting of restrictions within a month after Easter; that seems to be the popular feeling about town. Let’s hope its turns out that way. As far as legacy activities go, we will just have to wait and see. Peter is monitoring the situation very closely. He is in close contact with the relevant authorities and will give the Board a heads- up once he thinks it’s safe for us to start ramping up again. Rest assured we want to get back to doing the things we normally do as quickly as possible. We will certainly have some sort of function for our beneficiaries and our Family Dependents as soon as we possibly can. In the meantime we soldier (sorry sailors and airmen) on as best we can. Our Very Own Ruby Princess ‘Ambassadors’ It seems we have our very own Ruby Princess ‘Ambassadors’ here in BWLC. Long serving Legatees Denis and Jean Foster decided to have one of those ‘holidays of a lifetime’ and sailed on the good Ship’s most recent cruise. The rest is history: here they are in recovery mode at home having both tested positive to the virus. They are both recovering well I understand so hopefully when all is normal again, they will join us and give us a brief on their trip, plus their experience with the dreaded ‘made in China’ virus. In the meantime we wish them well in their recovery. Legatee John George President Page 2 of 18 ARTICLE OF INTEREST Lieutenant Colonel Vivian Bullwinkel Service number F31029, VFX61330 Ranks Held Captain, Lieutenant, Lieutenant Colonel Birth Date 18 December 1915 Birth Place Australia: South Australia, Kapunda Death Date 03 July 2000 Death Place Australia: Western Australia, Perth Final Rank Lieutenant Colonel Service Australian Army Units Australian Army 2/13 Australian General Hospital Places Perth, Banka Island, Kapunda Conflict/Operation Army organisation period 1961- Gazettes Published in Commonwealth Gazette in 1947- 03-06 Published in London Gazette in 1947-03-06 Description Vivian Bullwinkel, sole survivor of the 1942 Banka Island massacre, was born on 18 December 1915 at Kapunda, South Australia. She trained as a nurse and midwife at Broken Hill, New South Wales, and began her nursing career in Hamilton, Victoria, before moving to the Jessie McPherson Hospital in Melbourne in 1940. In 1941, wanting to enlist, Bullwinkel volunteered as a nurse with the RAAF but was rejected for having flat feet. She was, however, able to join the Australian Army Nursing Service; assigned to the 2/13th Australian General Hospital (2/13th AGH), in September 1941 she sailed for Singapore. After a few weeks with the 2/10th AGH, Bullwinkel rejoined the 13th AGH in Johor Baharu. Japanese troops invaded Malaya in December 1941 and began to advance southwards, winning a series of victories and, in late January 1942, forcing the 13th AGH to evacuate to Singapore. But the short-lived defence of the island ended in defeat, and, on 12 February, Bullwinkel and 65 other nurses boarded the SS Vyner Brooke to escape the island. Two days later, the ship was sunk by Japanese aircraft. Bullwinkel, 21 other nurses and a large group of men, women, and children made it ashore at Radji Beach on Banka Island; they were joined the next day by about 100 British soldiers. The group elected to surrender to the Japanese, and while the civilian women and children left in search of someone to whom they might surrender, the nurses, soldiers, and wounded waited. Page 3 of 18 Some Japanese soldiers came and killed the men, then motioned the nurses to wade into the sea. They then machine-gunned the nurses from behind. Bullwinkel was struck by a bullet and pretended to be dead until the Japanese left. She hid with a wounded British private for 12 days before deciding once again to surrender. They were taken into captivity, but the private died soon after. Bullwinkel was reunited with survivors of the Vyner Brooke. She told them of the massacre, but none spoke of it again until after the war lest it put Bullwinkel, as witness to the massacre, in danger. Bullwinkel spent three and half years in captivity; she was one of just 24 of the 65 nurses who had been on the Vyner Brooke to survive the war. Bullwinkel retired from the army in 1947 and became Director of Nursing at Melbourne's Fairfield Hospital. She devoted herself to the nursing profession and to honouring those killed on Banka Island, raising funds for a nurses' memorial and serving on numerous committees, including a period as a member of the Council of the Australian War Memorial, and later president of the Australian College of Nursing. In the decades following the war, Bullwinkel received many honours and awards, including the Florence Nightingale Medal, an MBE and the AM. She married in 1977 and returned to Banka Island in 1992 to unveil a shrine to the nurses who had not survived the war. Vivian Bullwinkel died on 3 July 2000. AUSTRALIANS IN THE KOREAN WAR (Extract from Wikepedia) The military history of Australia during the Korean War was very eventful. Japan's defeat in World War II heralded the end to 35 years of Japanese occupation of the Korean Peninsula. The surrender of Japan to the Allied forces on 2 September 1945 led to the peninsula being subsequently divided into North and South Koreas, with the North being occupied by troops from the Soviet Union, and the South, below the 38th Parallel, being occupied by troops from the United States.