'When Singapore fell dramatically to the Japanese on 15 February 1942, hundreds of people scrambled to leave. Amongst the evacuees were 65 Australian nurses. They boarded a coastal freighter named the Vyner Brooke, which was sunk by the Japanese. From a group of 60 shipwreck survivors including 22 nurses, Vivian Bullwinkel was the only survivor.' (Publisher's blurb)
