Clarice Halligan: The Australian Nurse Killed in the Bangka Island Massacre

Clarice Halligan: The Australian Nurse Killed in the Bangka Island Massacre

I have been learning about some of the amazing people who served during the world wars. Today I want to tell you a little about Clarice Halligan. She was born on the 17th of September 1904 in Ballarat, Victoria, in Australia. She grew up in a large family with seven siblings. She trained as a nurse in Melbourne and worked at the Royal Melbourne Hospital. In 1934, she travelled to Papua New Guinea as a missionary.

With the outbreak of the Second World War, she enlisted in the Australian Army Nursing Service in July 1940. She went on to serve with the 2/13th Australian General Hospital in Malacca, Malaysia, and Singapore as Japanese forces were advancing. In February 1942, she was evacuated on board the SS Vyner Brooke, but the ship was bombed and sunk. The injured survivors reached Bangka Island, where Halligan and other nurses were captured. On the 16th of February 1942, they were forced into the sea and tragically shot. She was only 37 years old.