Mary Elizabeth Cuthbertson

History

Sister Mary Elizabeth (Beth) Cuthbertson, daughter of William Melville Cuthbertson and Lilian Beatrice Cuthbertson (née Hooper), of Ballarat, Victoria. 2/13th Australian General Hospital, Australian Army Nursing Service. Sr Cuthbertson, along with 64 other Australian nurses and over 250 civilian men, women and children, was evacuated from Singapore, three days before the fall of Malaya, aboard the SS Vyner Brooke. On 14 February 1942 the Vyner Brooke was bombed by Japanese aircraft and sunk in Bangka Strait, off the coast of Sumatra. Twelve Australian nurses were killed, and 31 of the nurses who survived the sinking were captured as prisoners of war, eight of whom later died during captivity. The remaining 22 nurses, including Sr Cuthbertson, aged 31, were washed ashore on Radji Beach, Bangka Island, where they, along with 25 British soldiers, surrendered to the Japanese. On 16 February 1942 the Japanese bayoneted the soldiers and ordered the nurses to march into the sea, where they were shot. The only survivors of the massacre were Sister Vivian Bullwinkel and a British soldier. Both were taken as prisoners of war, but only Sr Bullwinkel survived the war.