Veterans’ Mental Health Precinct Names and biographies Vivian Bullwinkel AO MBE ARRC FNM Vivian Bullwinkel was born in Kapunda, South Australia, and trained as a nurse in Broken Hill, New South Wales. In 1941, aged 25, she enlisted in the Australian Army Nursing Service. She was posted to the 13th Australian General Hospital and sailed for Malaya. She was the only survivor of the infamous Bangka Massacre after fleeing Singapore on the SS Vyner Brooke in 1942. After the war Bullwinkel was active in military and civilian nursing. She was involved in veterans’ affairs and with philanthropic committees. Phoebe Chapple MM Phoebe Chapple was born in Adelaide. She graduated from the University of Adelaide in 1904 with a degree in medicine. Her attempts to enlist in the AIF at the outbreak of World War I were denied because the Australian Army wasn’t appointing female doctors. Dr Chapple travelled to England, enlisted in the British Army and served in a variety of posts gaining strong recognition for her work as a surgeon. During an inspection tour in France of a Queen Mary’s Army Auxiliary Corps camp on 29 May 1918, German aircraft attacked the base dropping three bombs, killing eight and wounding another eight from a total of 40 women. Working her way through trenches, Dr Chapple tended the wounded ‘regardless of her own safety’ as her Military Medal citation states. Dr Chapple returned to Adelaide in 1919 and resumed her civilian practice working until she was 85. Patricia Deal Patricia Deal was born in New South Wales and worked in various repatriation hospitals across Australia, becoming Director of Nursing at the Daw Park Repatriation General Hospital. Deal served as a nurse in Vietnam as part of the Australian Army Nursing Corps and remained an active member for 25 years, retiring with the rank of Major in 1986. Deal was awarded the Florence Nightingale Medal and the Queen’s Jubilee Medal. George Gosse GC George Gosse was born in Western Australia and educated in Adelaide and served in the Royal Australian Navy before and during the Second World War. Gosse remained in the Royal Australian Navy Reserve until 1958. He was awarded the George Cross for disarming underwater sea mines in Bremmen Harbour, Germany, in May 1945. A ward at the former Repatriation General Hospital, Hollywood WA is named after Gosse. Jamie Larcombe Jamie Ronald Larcombe was born in Kingscote on Kangaroo Island. He enlisted in the ARA in 2008 as a combat engineer and was deployed to Afghanistan in 2010. Larcombe was killed in action in 2011 having just passed his third anniversary of Army enlistment. Lionel Matthews GC MC Lionel Colin Matthews was born in Adelaide and served in the Second World War in Malaya. He was awarded the Military Cross before becoming a prisoner of war and being executed. In captivity he refused to make admissions to implicate or endanger the lives of his associates. He was awarded the George Cross posthumously. Geoffrey Ronald Matthews DSO Geoffrey Ronald Matthews was the brother of Lionel Matthews. Matthews served in the Second World War with the 9th Australian Infantry Battalion and was awarded the Distinguished Service Order. Errol Noack Errol Wayne Noack was born in Adelaide and served in Vietnam with the 5th Battalion Royal Australian Regiment. Noack was the first Australian National Serviceman killed in action during the Vietnam War after 10 days of service in Vietnam. Leonard Opie DCM Born in Snowtown South Australia, Opie served extensively in the Australian Army in the Second World War, Peacekeeping in India/ Pakistan, the Korean War and the Vietnam War. He was awarded nineteen medals including the Distinguished Conduct Medal and died in 2008. William Hurtle (Bill) Schmitt AM William Hurtle Schmitt was born in Cowell, South Australia. Schmitt fought during the Second World War and spent three and a half years as a prisoner of war under the Japanese. After retirement he became heavily involved with Veterans, their problems and well-being; in particular as President of the Ex-Prisoner of War Association SA. Schmitt was made a Member of the Order of Australia and received a Centenary Medal for service to the Veteran community in South Australia. Scott Smith Scott James Smith was born in the Barossa Valley, South Australia. He enlisted in the Army in 2006 as a combat engineer and was deployed to the Solomon Islands and Afghanistan. Smith was killed in action in 2012. Arthur Walker Arthur Thomas Walker was born in Wallaroo, South Australia. An Aboriginal Torres Strait Islander (Ngarrindjeri) he enlisted in 1915 with the 7th Reinforcements of the 10th Battalion. Walker landed at Gallipoli in September 1915 and remained there until evacuation in December 1915. Walker then transferred to the 50th Battalion and took part in the battle of Mouquet Farm in France, 1916 where he was reported as missing, and was later determined as killed in action on 16 August 1916. Sir George Hubert Wilkins MC (and Bar) Sir George Hubert Wilkins was born at Mount Bryan East, South Australia. He worked as Australia’s official photographer towards the end of the First World War and joined Charles Bean’s mission to reconstruct Australia’s part in the Gallipoli campaign in 1919. Wilkins was wounded several times, and awarded the Military Cross twice. He became the first man to fly across the Arctic. For more information Email: [email protected] Visit: www.transforminghealth.sa.gov.au © Department for Health and Ageing, Government of South Australia. All rights reserved. Confidentiality-Ix-Ax .