Pictures of Auntie Jean

At last I have scanned two pictures of our Auntie, Carrie Jean Ashton (Jean).

This is the best photo we have of her. She gave this copy to me.

She is arriving back at Adelaide railway station. This was on the 27th of October 1945, months after the surviving nurses were released. They had had time in Singapore and Sydney, to put on some weight, before reuniting with their families.

In the photo is our Grandmother, Auntie Jean, our father and our Grandfather.

This one is of how we remember Auntie Jean (on the left). She is with life long friend, and fellow survivor, Wilma.

Cheers..............Brian

on Radji Beach, a fisherman whose grandparents                    witnessed the massacre and helped bury the dead

British Army and Parade Ground Singapore

A plaque at the Parade Ground Singapore

I also enjoyed spending time with my brother and sisters on Bangka Island.  Since leaving Indonesia I travelled in Cambodia for a month  and have just recently returned home.  Now I have time to look at the photos again and tell our story to family and friends.

Although our visit to Muntok  was only one week we were able to glimpse an important  time in our aunt’s life.   We reread segments of her diary as we stood on the very ground that she stood on as a captive.    I have come away with a much greater respect for her and her stoic and determined fellow POW’s.

 The last day of my holiday was spent in Singapore and as I wandered  about on Sentosa Island, which is now a huge fun park, I discovered the old British Army Barracks and parade grounds.   The gurkkas were based here so it is quite probable that Australian officers were also here.   I am sure that our aunt  would have socialised with many of them,  perhaps even nursed some. 

If only their defences had been superior, the rest of the story may have been quite different.  

Some of the special historical sites, Muntok

Auntie Jean (Carrie Jean Ashton) wrote in her diary:
"We could see land in the distance, about 8-10 miles away when we were bombed. Late in the afternoon we left the boat and linked up with a passing raft. 23 of us around this raft. 2 young children and another sitting on it. Swam, pushing and pulling raft all night. We could see a fire on shore between 2 lighthouses in the distance."
This is one of the lighthouses, at a place called Tanjung Kelian Beach and this is where the memorial is located.

This is the location of the jetty where Auntie Jean and many others landed at Muntok.
She wrote, " We then realized we had fallen in to enemy hands".

This is the back view of the old customs house where Auntie Jean and others spent the first night, after leaving the jetty.
She wrote, "After sitting about 1 and a half hours on end of jetty, guards came and matched us to a large customs house off end of jetty. What a sight we must have looked, wet clothes hanging and two girls without uniforms (used for sails in boat). We were put in a small room with a roll of carpet to lie on. We all collapsed on to floor."

The second day they moved to the cinema.
"About dark we were marched a short way across road to a cinema hall. Found many more men, all ranks, must have been over 1000. Settled down on floor for night - didn't sleep."

The old cinema is now used for bird nests for bird nest soup.

This is the well in the Women's camp at Muntok. It is still used by the people living around and is called the Japanese well. We met a woman who remembered when some of the nurses came back to visit in 1993 and we have a photo of Auntie Jean standing by this well in1993.

We enjoyed meeting the people (especially the kids) who live there.

This is the spring at Radji beach, where we think Vivian Bullwinkel found drinking water for herself and Pat Kingsley (after they survived the massacre).

This is Radji Beach, known as English Bay by local people.
From the book, On Radji Beach by Ian Shaw, Vivian Bullwinkel thought, as she and the others were walking into the sea before they were shot

"How can something as dirty and evil as this be happening in a place that is so beautiful?"

We placed this in the sea in memory of what happened on Radji beach.

The Memorial to the Vyner Brooke nurses at Tanjung Kelian Beach.
From left: Brian, Rose, Sue and Maxie.

This is the building where the Muntok historical and cultural community are hoping to make into a museum with a room dedicated to the memory of all the Prisoners of War

fishers at Radji Beach, Maxie & memorial

women's playing fields memorial today

Today Maxie and I went to the Women's Memorial Playing Fields annual service for the AANS nurses, especially those massacred on Radji Beach 70 years ago.  There were at least 300 people - ex-POWS, relatives of the nurses, current army nurses, sportswomen who use the playing fields, and others.  It was a moving service, with Ian Shaw, author of On Radji Beach, as guest speaker.  The president of the SAWMPF Trust, Bruce Parker, mentioned that we were there and wanted support for a new museum in Muntok.  Over 20 people left their contact details with us.

I am posting a couple of photos also of Muntok.

Thanks everyone for your support and interest. We are very glad we made the journey. Not only do we have more appreciation of Aunty Jean's experiences in WW2, but Maxie, Brian, Sue & I have shared a memorable time which we will never forget.

Back home

It's now time to review what we did and fix up our Blog! I tried to get onto Macca's "Australia all over" this morning as they were talking about it but no luck. Here are a few pictures we tried to post while over there. One shows the one of the two lighthouses Auntie Jean could see as they floated in. It has the memorial below it. The beach is Radji Beach (or English Bay as the locals now call it) where the massacre happened. We got there by boat. Describing our experience is difficult; we were only away a week but it seems like we packed in many very enjoyable and amazing experiences. Cheers.............Brian

Day 5

Sorry. We are having trouble posting pictures. We will add lots more in the next few days. We met with the Mentok Heritage Community and have made a speech. We made a donation to support their great work. It went very well. We are now in Jakarta on our way home. We have loved our time in Mentok. Love to all. Brian, Rose, Max and Sue

Day 4

WOW we have had a great time. Too busy to post the Blog!

We caught local motor bikes to the Memorial near the light house. Very moving.

We met a man who speaks English and is very intersted in the story. He arranged for us to visit all the key sites;

The jetty (where Auntie Jean landed), the Customs house (where she spent the first night), the cinema hall (where she spent the second night with 1000 others), the Coolie Barracks, the men's prison, the second women's camp (only ruins and a well remaining. However, a woman who lives there remembered the visit Jean and Vivian and others made in 1993) and finally, by boat, to Radji beach ( where the massacre occurred).

We met a man who lived here and was 8 years old in 1942 when it happened. He was very wise and charming. He remembered lots and had valuable experience.

We met a local fisherman on Raji Beach. His grandfather helped bury the nurses and others.

We have enjoyed Mentok. It is very friendly place as tourists are rare.

We have had a fantastic time. Love to everyone.

Rose, Maxie and Brian Ashton and Sue Akeroyd

 

Day one

Great fligh hotel, etc. Now in Jakarta airport waiting for the flight to Banka Island. It's great to be back in Asia - smells, vegetation, chooks, people,trafic and the adventure. Love to every one Brian Max Rose and Sue

Nearly ready

I'm nearly ready for our trip to Bangka Island at last. It will be very poignant to be at a place we have heard about all our lives. To think of our Aunty Jean there, coping as best she could, nursing the sick even when she was sick and hungry too.  It is really a wonder that any of them survived the POW camps.

We fly to Jakarta via Singapore on Saturday. Then on Sunday we fly to Pangkal Pinang, the main city on Bangka Island. We will then try to catch a bus or taxi to Muntok (or Mentok), on the west of the island, facing Bangka Strait. That will take 3 - 4 hours we think.  It's the wet season now, so it will be sauna-hot. I hope the delicious tropical fruits are in season!

A week to go

I am pretty well packed. My pack weighs 6 kg. That's OK.

If you want to read more about the history of the nurses who were on the Vyner Brooke, go to this web site (copy and paste in into Google);

www.anzacday.org.au/history/ww2/anecdotes/bangka.html

I have been reading books and searching web sites. A lot of them focus on the massacre on Radji beach and Vivian Bullwinkel's survival. But this is only a fraction of the story. The nurses who survived the next 3 1/2 years as prisoners and those who died of starvation, some only weeks before the end of the war, also suffered greatly.

However, for me the real story is the sense of duty, and pride, these nurses had. They always "did their best" in extreme adversity. They even held concerts and sang at times of difficulty.
I am in awe of them and I wish I'd told my Auntie. They are true legends in our Australian history.

Our Auntie, Jean Ashton, was one of the group but she survived. She actually lived to 97! She did a trip back to the island in 1993 with Vivian and others.

We hope to find the places where it happened. However, we don't know what we will find or how it will affect us.

Cheers...........Brian

Our trip is happening

Yes we are going.

My three sisters, Rose, Max and Sue and I are travelling to Banka Island Indonesia.
It is 70 years since 65 nurses boarded the Vyner Brooke at the fall of Singapore. The ship was bombed by the Japanese. Some drowned but most ended up on Banka Island.

Our Auntie was one who survived the next 3 1/2 years. It is an incredible, but tragic, story.

We plan to go to the place where the nurses landed, where some were massacred, and where the rest were held as prisoners of war.

We are not sure how we will go. It may be emotional and upsetting for us. It is the rainy season and so will also be hard travelling.

We are not sure what we are taking on but we will see.