Dorothy was born on 27.4.1914, the daughter of Robert Maynard Elmes and Dorothy Jean Elmes nee Howard, of Cheshunt, Victoria, Australia.
Parents:
Robert Maynard – Born 1877 Berwick – Died 25.2.1956 Wangaratta
Parents: Thomas Howard and Sarah Turner - Married 7.5.1866
Married in 1909 to
Dorothy Jean – Born 1877 Kew – Died 30.6.1965 Wangaratta
Parents: Frederick William Howard and Kate Harrison Alsop
Sibling:
Beatrice Jean Howard – Born 1911 Armadale North – Died 3.11.1986 East Melbourne
(Married Arthur Roland Banks in 1937)
A Sister with the Australian Army Nursing Service, A.I.F. 10 Gen. Hospital.
Service Number: NFX70526. Country of Service Australian.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Military Service Records~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Service Numbers:--- NX70526, NFX70526
Enlisted:--- 1st January 1940, at Victoria Barracks, Sydney, NSW, Australia
Last Rank:--- Sister
Last Unit:--- 10th Australian General Hospital, AANC, 2nd AIF.
Born:--- Armadale, Stonnington, Victoria, Australia, on 27 April 1914.
Home Town:--- Armadale, Stonnington, Victoria
Next of Kin:--- Mother, Mrs Dorothy Elmes.
Civilian Employment:--- Trained Nurse
Fate:--- Murdered as a POW of Japan in the Banka Island massacre, Banka Island, 16 February 1942, aged 27 years.
Burial:--- No known grave - "Known Unto God"
Parents:--- Robert Maynard Elmes and Dorothy Jean Howard married 1909, Victoria.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Description of Cover Photo~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Studio portrait of NFX70526 Sister Dorothy Gwendoline (Buddy) Elmes, 2/10th Australian General Hospital (2/10th AGH), Australian Army Nursing Service. She was one of sixty five Australian nurses and over 250 civilian men, women and children evacuated on the Vyner Brook from Singapore, three days before the fall of Malaya. The Vyner Brooke was bombed by Japanese aircraft and sunk in Banka Strait on 14 February 1942. Of the sixty five nurses, thirty two survived the sinking and were taken Prisoner of War (POW) of which eight later died in captivity. Sister Elmes was one of the remaining twenty two nurses who were washed ashore on Radji Beach, Banka Island, where they surrendered to the Japanese, along with twenty five British soldiers. On 16 February 1942 the group was massacred, the soldiers were bayoneted and the nurses were order to march into the sea where they were shot. Only Sister Vivian Bullwinkel and a British soldier survived the massacre. Both were taken POW, but only Sister Bullwinkel survived the war. (Donor C. Neal)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Description of Group Photo~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Malacca, Malaya. 1941. Staff of 2/10th Australian General Hospital (AGH). From left to right, back row: Sisters Joy Bell, NFX 70526 Sister Dorothy Gwendoline (Buddy) Elmes, Pat Gunther. Front row: Sisters Beryl Woodbridge, Betty Pyman, Nell Keats. All are holding air raid equipment including steel helmets and respirators. (Donor C. Neal)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Biography by Faithe Jones~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
My Darling little Bud, Oh dear, I wish I knew where you are in the world......"
wrote Dorothy's mother on 2 March 1942. (1) But Dorothy had already died on Radji Beach.
Sister Dorothy Gwendoline Howard Elmes, NFX 70526, 2/10th Australian Hospital Group, was born in Armadale Melbourne on 27 April 1914 to Robert Maynard and Dorothy Jean Elmes (nee Howard). She had one elder sister Beatrice Jean Howard Banks and was known as Benda or Bud to her family and Buddy to her friends.
She spent most of her life in Melbourne and Cheshunt in Victoria's King Valley. She was the personality of the family, an outgoing, attractive confident young woman with a quirky sense of humour. Her friend Jean Smithenbaker (Smithy??) noted
"Buddy was a most exceptional person….hair worn in a bun….hazel eyes, an infectious laugh and a long striding walk……on the rare occasions she wore high heels she was decidedly awkward. Buddy was tolerant and kind to both humans and animals. She was tune deaf and an avid reader…her expression of endearment was to address one as "old hound' or "old tripe hound"."
She trained as a nurse at Corowa Community Hospital on the banks of the Murray River for 4 years, graduating in May 1939. In 1940 she was described by her matron as "one of our best trainees". The local vicar opined she was a "young woman of excellent character and lady like training with a cheery disposition".
Dorothy was appointed to the Australian Army Nursing Service in November unaware of her destination. She disembarked at Singapore on 18th February 1941. She says in a letter to her aunt in March 1941 "our quarters here are very comfortable…the climate is not frightfully hot but rather sticky. The country is very pretty here, rice seems to be the main thing that is grown. The English people living about here are awfully good to us, inviting us out to tennis and swimming and afternoon tea etc. It must be a bit of a strain to them to have large numbers of plain, unattached females parked on them".
Her last letter to her parents was on 8 February 1942 from "Abroad". "We have been fairly busy, not so much busy but on duty over 12 hours a day….all we have for a light is a lantern with blue paper wrapped around. Sorry this is so short but there is nothing to write about these days".
Bud was evacuated from Singapore on 12 February 1942 on the 'SS Vyner Brooke' and following the sinking of the ship, somehow made her way to land. Two days later on 16th February 1942 she was marched into the water at Radji Beach and executed by the Japanese soldiers with the other nurses, civilians and military personnel.
The one survivor of the massacre, Sister (then Captain) Vivien Strachan Bullwinkel advised Bud's niece that Buddy "was wonderfully brave like her colleagues when they were ordered into the sea. None cried out or called for mercy."
A letter sent to Bud by her mother on 2 March 1942 showed her anguish, "My Darling little Bud, Oh dear, I wish I knew where you are in the world."
This letter was written after Bud had died and was marked 'Returned to Sender'.
Her parents searched frantically for information, but it was not until June 1944 that the Red Cross advised that "S/Nurse G Elmes is now officially listed as missing believed to have been killed on or after 11/2/42". Her mother never gave up hope and for many years, even though she had by then been advised of the details of her daughter's death, thought Bud would turn up at their cottage in Cheshunt. (Sara Alsop (nee Banks) niece, by email dated 29 November 2016 to Michael Pether).
Little is known about Bud's last voyage on the "SS. Vyner Brooke" apart from the fact that, after somehow attaching herself to either a raft or lifeboat she made it to land and then two days later, this lovely caring young woman in her late 20's was brutally murdered by the Japanese Army on Radji Beach with twenty other Australian Army nurses on 16 February 1942, 75 years ago next month.
Bud will be one of the many Nurses and others who will be remembered next February at the Annual Commemorative Service on Radji Beach.
Principal sources
https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=2008116842581926&id=983774011682886&__tn__=K-R
(1) letter written on 2/3/42 by Dorothy's mother
(2) Michael Pether Auckland New Zealand
(3) Public records
Memorials: Augusta Australian Army Nursing Sisters Monument, Australian Military Nurses Memorial, Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Ballarat Australian Ex-Prisoners of War Memorial, Bicton Vyner Brooke Tragedy Memorial, W.A., Corowa War Memorial, Kapunda Dutton Park Memorial Gardens Nurses Plaques, Launceston Banka Island Massacre, Oxley War Memorial, Singapore Memorial Kranji War Cemetery
Cenotaph here
Parents:
Robert Maynard – Born 1877 Berwick – Died 25.2.1956 Wangaratta
Parents: Thomas Howard and Sarah Turner - Married 7.5.1866
Married in 1909 to
Dorothy Jean – Born 1877 Kew – Died 30.6.1965 Wangaratta
Parents: Frederick William Howard and Kate Harrison Alsop
Sibling:
Beatrice Jean Howard – Born 1911 Armadale North – Died 3.11.1986 East Melbourne
(Married Arthur Roland Banks in 1937)
A Sister with the Australian Army Nursing Service, A.I.F. 10 Gen. Hospital.
Service Number: NFX70526. Country of Service Australian.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Military Service Records~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Service Numbers:--- NX70526, NFX70526
Enlisted:--- 1st January 1940, at Victoria Barracks, Sydney, NSW, Australia
Last Rank:--- Sister
Last Unit:--- 10th Australian General Hospital, AANC, 2nd AIF.
Born:--- Armadale, Stonnington, Victoria, Australia, on 27 April 1914.
Home Town:--- Armadale, Stonnington, Victoria
Next of Kin:--- Mother, Mrs Dorothy Elmes.
Civilian Employment:--- Trained Nurse
Fate:--- Murdered as a POW of Japan in the Banka Island massacre, Banka Island, 16 February 1942, aged 27 years.
Burial:--- No known grave - "Known Unto God"
Parents:--- Robert Maynard Elmes and Dorothy Jean Howard married 1909, Victoria.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Description of Cover Photo~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Studio portrait of NFX70526 Sister Dorothy Gwendoline (Buddy) Elmes, 2/10th Australian General Hospital (2/10th AGH), Australian Army Nursing Service. She was one of sixty five Australian nurses and over 250 civilian men, women and children evacuated on the Vyner Brook from Singapore, three days before the fall of Malaya. The Vyner Brooke was bombed by Japanese aircraft and sunk in Banka Strait on 14 February 1942. Of the sixty five nurses, thirty two survived the sinking and were taken Prisoner of War (POW) of which eight later died in captivity. Sister Elmes was one of the remaining twenty two nurses who were washed ashore on Radji Beach, Banka Island, where they surrendered to the Japanese, along with twenty five British soldiers. On 16 February 1942 the group was massacred, the soldiers were bayoneted and the nurses were order to march into the sea where they were shot. Only Sister Vivian Bullwinkel and a British soldier survived the massacre. Both were taken POW, but only Sister Bullwinkel survived the war. (Donor C. Neal)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Description of Group Photo~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Malacca, Malaya. 1941. Staff of 2/10th Australian General Hospital (AGH). From left to right, back row: Sisters Joy Bell, NFX 70526 Sister Dorothy Gwendoline (Buddy) Elmes, Pat Gunther. Front row: Sisters Beryl Woodbridge, Betty Pyman, Nell Keats. All are holding air raid equipment including steel helmets and respirators. (Donor C. Neal)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Biography by Faithe Jones~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
My Darling little Bud, Oh dear, I wish I knew where you are in the world......"
wrote Dorothy's mother on 2 March 1942. (1) But Dorothy had already died on Radji Beach.
Sister Dorothy Gwendoline Howard Elmes, NFX 70526, 2/10th Australian Hospital Group, was born in Armadale Melbourne on 27 April 1914 to Robert Maynard and Dorothy Jean Elmes (nee Howard). She had one elder sister Beatrice Jean Howard Banks and was known as Benda or Bud to her family and Buddy to her friends.
She spent most of her life in Melbourne and Cheshunt in Victoria's King Valley. She was the personality of the family, an outgoing, attractive confident young woman with a quirky sense of humour. Her friend Jean Smithenbaker (Smithy??) noted
"Buddy was a most exceptional person….hair worn in a bun….hazel eyes, an infectious laugh and a long striding walk……on the rare occasions she wore high heels she was decidedly awkward. Buddy was tolerant and kind to both humans and animals. She was tune deaf and an avid reader…her expression of endearment was to address one as "old hound' or "old tripe hound"."
She trained as a nurse at Corowa Community Hospital on the banks of the Murray River for 4 years, graduating in May 1939. In 1940 she was described by her matron as "one of our best trainees". The local vicar opined she was a "young woman of excellent character and lady like training with a cheery disposition".
Dorothy was appointed to the Australian Army Nursing Service in November unaware of her destination. She disembarked at Singapore on 18th February 1941. She says in a letter to her aunt in March 1941 "our quarters here are very comfortable…the climate is not frightfully hot but rather sticky. The country is very pretty here, rice seems to be the main thing that is grown. The English people living about here are awfully good to us, inviting us out to tennis and swimming and afternoon tea etc. It must be a bit of a strain to them to have large numbers of plain, unattached females parked on them".
Her last letter to her parents was on 8 February 1942 from "Abroad". "We have been fairly busy, not so much busy but on duty over 12 hours a day….all we have for a light is a lantern with blue paper wrapped around. Sorry this is so short but there is nothing to write about these days".
Bud was evacuated from Singapore on 12 February 1942 on the 'SS Vyner Brooke' and following the sinking of the ship, somehow made her way to land. Two days later on 16th February 1942 she was marched into the water at Radji Beach and executed by the Japanese soldiers with the other nurses, civilians and military personnel.
The one survivor of the massacre, Sister (then Captain) Vivien Strachan Bullwinkel advised Bud's niece that Buddy "was wonderfully brave like her colleagues when they were ordered into the sea. None cried out or called for mercy."
A letter sent to Bud by her mother on 2 March 1942 showed her anguish, "My Darling little Bud, Oh dear, I wish I knew where you are in the world."
This letter was written after Bud had died and was marked 'Returned to Sender'.
Her parents searched frantically for information, but it was not until June 1944 that the Red Cross advised that "S/Nurse G Elmes is now officially listed as missing believed to have been killed on or after 11/2/42". Her mother never gave up hope and for many years, even though she had by then been advised of the details of her daughter's death, thought Bud would turn up at their cottage in Cheshunt. (Sara Alsop (nee Banks) niece, by email dated 29 November 2016 to Michael Pether).
Little is known about Bud's last voyage on the "SS. Vyner Brooke" apart from the fact that, after somehow attaching herself to either a raft or lifeboat she made it to land and then two days later, this lovely caring young woman in her late 20's was brutally murdered by the Japanese Army on Radji Beach with twenty other Australian Army nurses on 16 February 1942, 75 years ago next month.
Bud will be one of the many Nurses and others who will be remembered next February at the Annual Commemorative Service on Radji Beach.
Principal sources
https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=2008116842581926&id=983774011682886&__tn__=K-R
(1) letter written on 2/3/42 by Dorothy's mother
(2) Michael Pether Auckland New Zealand
(3) Public records
Memorials: Augusta Australian Army Nursing Sisters Monument, Australian Military Nurses Memorial, Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Ballarat Australian Ex-Prisoners of War Memorial, Bicton Vyner Brooke Tragedy Memorial, W.A., Corowa War Memorial, Kapunda Dutton Park Memorial Gardens Nurses Plaques, Launceston Banka Island Massacre, Oxley War Memorial, Singapore Memorial Kranji War Cemetery
Cenotaph here
Dorothy was born on 27.4.1914, the daughter of Robert Maynard Elmes and Dorothy Jean Elmes nee Howard, of Cheshunt, Victoria, Australia.
Parents:
Robert Maynard – Born 1877 Berwick – Died 25.2.1956 Wangaratta
Parents: Thomas Howard and Sarah Turner - Married 7.5.1866
Married in 1909 to
Dorothy Jean – Born 1877 Kew – Died 30.6.1965 Wangaratta
Parents: Frederick William Howard and Kate Harrison Alsop
Sibling:
Beatrice Jean Howard – Born 1911 Armadale North – Died 3.11.1986 East Melbourne
(Married Arthur Roland Banks in 1937)
A Sister with the Australian Army Nursing Service, A.I.F. 10 Gen. Hospital.
Service Number: NFX70526. Country of Service Australian.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Military Service Records~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Service Numbers:--- NX70526, NFX70526
Enlisted:--- 1st January 1940, at Victoria Barracks, Sydney, NSW, Australia
Last Rank:--- Sister
Last Unit:--- 10th Australian General Hospital, AANC, 2nd AIF.
Born:--- Armadale, Stonnington, Victoria, Australia, on 27 April 1914.
Home Town:--- Armadale, Stonnington, Victoria
Next of Kin:--- Mother, Mrs Dorothy Elmes.
Civilian Employment:--- Trained Nurse
Fate:--- Murdered as a POW of Japan in the Banka Island massacre, Banka Island, 16 February 1942, aged 27 years.
Burial:--- No known grave - "Known Unto God"
Parents:--- Robert Maynard Elmes and Dorothy Jean Howard married 1909, Victoria.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Description of Cover Photo~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Studio portrait of NFX70526 Sister Dorothy Gwendoline (Buddy) Elmes, 2/10th Australian General Hospital (2/10th AGH), Australian Army Nursing Service. She was one of sixty five Australian nurses and over 250 civilian men, women and children evacuated on the Vyner Brook from Singapore, three days before the fall of Malaya. The Vyner Brooke was bombed by Japanese aircraft and sunk in Banka Strait on 14 February 1942. Of the sixty five nurses, thirty two survived the sinking and were taken Prisoner of War (POW) of which eight later died in captivity. Sister Elmes was one of the remaining twenty two nurses who were washed ashore on Radji Beach, Banka Island, where they surrendered to the Japanese, along with twenty five British soldiers. On 16 February 1942 the group was massacred, the soldiers were bayoneted and the nurses were order to march into the sea where they were shot. Only Sister Vivian Bullwinkel and a British soldier survived the massacre. Both were taken POW, but only Sister Bullwinkel survived the war. (Donor C. Neal)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Description of Group Photo~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Malacca, Malaya. 1941. Staff of 2/10th Australian General Hospital (AGH). From left to right, back row: Sisters Joy Bell, NFX 70526 Sister Dorothy Gwendoline (Buddy) Elmes, Pat Gunther. Front row: Sisters Beryl Woodbridge, Betty Pyman, Nell Keats. All are holding air raid equipment including steel helmets and respirators. (Donor C. Neal)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Biography by Faithe Jones~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
My Darling little Bud, Oh dear, I wish I knew where you are in the world......"
wrote Dorothy's mother on 2 March 1942. (1) But Dorothy had already died on Radji Beach.
Sister Dorothy Gwendoline Howard Elmes, NFX 70526, 2/10th Australian Hospital Group, was born in Armadale Melbourne on 27 April 1914 to Robert Maynard and Dorothy Jean Elmes (nee Howard). She had one elder sister Beatrice Jean Howard Banks and was known as Benda or Bud to her family and Buddy to her friends.
She spent most of her life in Melbourne and Cheshunt in Victoria's King Valley. She was the personality of the family, an outgoing, attractive confident young woman with a quirky sense of humour. Her friend Jean Smithenbaker (Smithy??) noted
"Buddy was a most exceptional person….hair worn in a bun….hazel eyes, an infectious laugh and a long striding walk……on the rare occasions she wore high heels she was decidedly awkward. Buddy was tolerant and kind to both humans and animals. She was tune deaf and an avid reader…her expression of endearment was to address one as "old hound' or "old tripe hound"."
She trained as a nurse at Corowa Community Hospital on the banks of the Murray River for 4 years, graduating in May 1939. In 1940 she was described by her matron as "one of our best trainees". The local vicar opined she was a "young woman of excellent character and lady like training with a cheery disposition".
Dorothy was appointed to the Australian Army Nursing Service in November unaware of her destination. She disembarked at Singapore on 18th February 1941. She says in a letter to her aunt in March 1941 "our quarters here are very comfortable…the climate is not frightfully hot but rather sticky. The country is very pretty here, rice seems to be the main thing that is grown. The English people living about here are awfully good to us, inviting us out to tennis and swimming and afternoon tea etc. It must be a bit of a strain to them to have large numbers of plain, unattached females parked on them".
Her last letter to her parents was on 8 February 1942 from "Abroad". "We have been fairly busy, not so much busy but on duty over 12 hours a day….all we have for a light is a lantern with blue paper wrapped around. Sorry this is so short but there is nothing to write about these days".
Bud was evacuated from Singapore on 12 February 1942 on the 'SS Vyner Brooke' and following the sinking of the ship, somehow made her way to land. Two days later on 16th February 1942 she was marched into the water at Radji Beach and executed by the Japanese soldiers with the other nurses, civilians and military personnel.
The one survivor of the massacre, Sister (then Captain) Vivien Strachan Bullwinkel advised Bud's niece that Buddy "was wonderfully brave like her colleagues when they were ordered into the sea. None cried out or called for mercy."
A letter sent to Bud by her mother on 2 March 1942 showed her anguish, "My Darling little Bud, Oh dear, I wish I knew where you are in the world."
This letter was written after Bud had died and was marked 'Returned to Sender'.
Her parents searched frantically for information, but it was not until June 1944 that the Red Cross advised that "S/Nurse G Elmes is now officially listed as missing believed to have been killed on or after 11/2/42". Her mother never gave up hope and for many years, even though she had by then been advised of the details of her daughter's death, thought Bud would turn up at their cottage in Cheshunt. (Sara Alsop (nee Banks) niece, by email dated 29 November 2016 to Michael Pether).
Little is known about Bud's last voyage on the "SS. Vyner Brooke" apart from the fact that, after somehow attaching herself to either a raft or lifeboat she made it to land and then two days later, this lovely caring young woman in her late 20's was brutally murdered by the Japanese Army on Radji Beach with twenty other Australian Army nurses on 16 February 1942, 75 years ago next month.
Bud will be one of the many Nurses and others who will be remembered next February at the Annual Commemorative Service on Radji Beach.
Principal sources
https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=2008116842581926&id=983774011682886&__tn__=K-R
(1) letter written on 2/3/42 by Dorothy's mother
(2) Michael Pether Auckland New Zealand
(3) Public records
Memorials: Augusta Australian Army Nursing Sisters Monument, Australian Military Nurses Memorial, Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Ballarat Australian Ex-Prisoners of War Memorial, Bicton Vyner Brooke Tragedy Memorial, W.A., Corowa War Memorial, Kapunda Dutton Park Memorial Gardens Nurses Plaques, Launceston Banka Island Massacre, Oxley War Memorial, Singapore Memorial Kranji War Cemetery
Cenotaph here
Parents:
Robert Maynard – Born 1877 Berwick – Died 25.2.1956 Wangaratta
Parents: Thomas Howard and Sarah Turner - Married 7.5.1866
Married in 1909 to
Dorothy Jean – Born 1877 Kew – Died 30.6.1965 Wangaratta
Parents: Frederick William Howard and Kate Harrison Alsop
Sibling:
Beatrice Jean Howard – Born 1911 Armadale North – Died 3.11.1986 East Melbourne
(Married Arthur Roland Banks in 1937)
A Sister with the Australian Army Nursing Service, A.I.F. 10 Gen. Hospital.
Service Number: NFX70526. Country of Service Australian.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Military Service Records~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Service Numbers:--- NX70526, NFX70526
Enlisted:--- 1st January 1940, at Victoria Barracks, Sydney, NSW, Australia
Last Rank:--- Sister
Last Unit:--- 10th Australian General Hospital, AANC, 2nd AIF.
Born:--- Armadale, Stonnington, Victoria, Australia, on 27 April 1914.
Home Town:--- Armadale, Stonnington, Victoria
Next of Kin:--- Mother, Mrs Dorothy Elmes.
Civilian Employment:--- Trained Nurse
Fate:--- Murdered as a POW of Japan in the Banka Island massacre, Banka Island, 16 February 1942, aged 27 years.
Burial:--- No known grave - "Known Unto God"
Parents:--- Robert Maynard Elmes and Dorothy Jean Howard married 1909, Victoria.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Description of Cover Photo~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Studio portrait of NFX70526 Sister Dorothy Gwendoline (Buddy) Elmes, 2/10th Australian General Hospital (2/10th AGH), Australian Army Nursing Service. She was one of sixty five Australian nurses and over 250 civilian men, women and children evacuated on the Vyner Brook from Singapore, three days before the fall of Malaya. The Vyner Brooke was bombed by Japanese aircraft and sunk in Banka Strait on 14 February 1942. Of the sixty five nurses, thirty two survived the sinking and were taken Prisoner of War (POW) of which eight later died in captivity. Sister Elmes was one of the remaining twenty two nurses who were washed ashore on Radji Beach, Banka Island, where they surrendered to the Japanese, along with twenty five British soldiers. On 16 February 1942 the group was massacred, the soldiers were bayoneted and the nurses were order to march into the sea where they were shot. Only Sister Vivian Bullwinkel and a British soldier survived the massacre. Both were taken POW, but only Sister Bullwinkel survived the war. (Donor C. Neal)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Description of Group Photo~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Malacca, Malaya. 1941. Staff of 2/10th Australian General Hospital (AGH). From left to right, back row: Sisters Joy Bell, NFX 70526 Sister Dorothy Gwendoline (Buddy) Elmes, Pat Gunther. Front row: Sisters Beryl Woodbridge, Betty Pyman, Nell Keats. All are holding air raid equipment including steel helmets and respirators. (Donor C. Neal)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Biography by Faithe Jones~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
My Darling little Bud, Oh dear, I wish I knew where you are in the world......"
wrote Dorothy's mother on 2 March 1942. (1) But Dorothy had already died on Radji Beach.
Sister Dorothy Gwendoline Howard Elmes, NFX 70526, 2/10th Australian Hospital Group, was born in Armadale Melbourne on 27 April 1914 to Robert Maynard and Dorothy Jean Elmes (nee Howard). She had one elder sister Beatrice Jean Howard Banks and was known as Benda or Bud to her family and Buddy to her friends.
She spent most of her life in Melbourne and Cheshunt in Victoria's King Valley. She was the personality of the family, an outgoing, attractive confident young woman with a quirky sense of humour. Her friend Jean Smithenbaker (Smithy??) noted
"Buddy was a most exceptional person….hair worn in a bun….hazel eyes, an infectious laugh and a long striding walk……on the rare occasions she wore high heels she was decidedly awkward. Buddy was tolerant and kind to both humans and animals. She was tune deaf and an avid reader…her expression of endearment was to address one as "old hound' or "old tripe hound"."
She trained as a nurse at Corowa Community Hospital on the banks of the Murray River for 4 years, graduating in May 1939. In 1940 she was described by her matron as "one of our best trainees". The local vicar opined she was a "young woman of excellent character and lady like training with a cheery disposition".
Dorothy was appointed to the Australian Army Nursing Service in November unaware of her destination. She disembarked at Singapore on 18th February 1941. She says in a letter to her aunt in March 1941 "our quarters here are very comfortable…the climate is not frightfully hot but rather sticky. The country is very pretty here, rice seems to be the main thing that is grown. The English people living about here are awfully good to us, inviting us out to tennis and swimming and afternoon tea etc. It must be a bit of a strain to them to have large numbers of plain, unattached females parked on them".
Her last letter to her parents was on 8 February 1942 from "Abroad". "We have been fairly busy, not so much busy but on duty over 12 hours a day….all we have for a light is a lantern with blue paper wrapped around. Sorry this is so short but there is nothing to write about these days".
Bud was evacuated from Singapore on 12 February 1942 on the 'SS Vyner Brooke' and following the sinking of the ship, somehow made her way to land. Two days later on 16th February 1942 she was marched into the water at Radji Beach and executed by the Japanese soldiers with the other nurses, civilians and military personnel.
The one survivor of the massacre, Sister (then Captain) Vivien Strachan Bullwinkel advised Bud's niece that Buddy "was wonderfully brave like her colleagues when they were ordered into the sea. None cried out or called for mercy."
A letter sent to Bud by her mother on 2 March 1942 showed her anguish, "My Darling little Bud, Oh dear, I wish I knew where you are in the world."
This letter was written after Bud had died and was marked 'Returned to Sender'.
Her parents searched frantically for information, but it was not until June 1944 that the Red Cross advised that "S/Nurse G Elmes is now officially listed as missing believed to have been killed on or after 11/2/42". Her mother never gave up hope and for many years, even though she had by then been advised of the details of her daughter's death, thought Bud would turn up at their cottage in Cheshunt. (Sara Alsop (nee Banks) niece, by email dated 29 November 2016 to Michael Pether).
Little is known about Bud's last voyage on the "SS. Vyner Brooke" apart from the fact that, after somehow attaching herself to either a raft or lifeboat she made it to land and then two days later, this lovely caring young woman in her late 20's was brutally murdered by the Japanese Army on Radji Beach with twenty other Australian Army nurses on 16 February 1942, 75 years ago next month.
Bud will be one of the many Nurses and others who will be remembered next February at the Annual Commemorative Service on Radji Beach.
Principal sources
https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=2008116842581926&id=983774011682886&__tn__=K-R
(1) letter written on 2/3/42 by Dorothy's mother
(2) Michael Pether Auckland New Zealand
(3) Public records
Memorials: Augusta Australian Army Nursing Sisters Monument, Australian Military Nurses Memorial, Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Ballarat Australian Ex-Prisoners of War Memorial, Bicton Vyner Brooke Tragedy Memorial, W.A., Corowa War Memorial, Kapunda Dutton Park Memorial Gardens Nurses Plaques, Launceston Banka Island Massacre, Oxley War Memorial, Singapore Memorial Kranji War Cemetery
Cenotaph here
Inscription
THE SINGAPORE MEMORIAL
AUSTRALIAN IMPERIAL FORCE (CONT'D)
AUSTRALIAN ARMY NURSING SERVICE (CONT'D)
SISTER (CONT'D)
ELMES DOROTHY G. H.
Gravesite Details
Sister, Australian Army Nursing Service. Age: 28.
Family Members
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