General News
7 September, 2024
Veteran's Voice - Mona Margaret Wilton
- Sally Bertram, RSL Military History Library. Contact Sally at sj.bertram@hotmail.com or call 0409 351 940.
Mona Margaret Wilton was born at Hamilton Hospital on August 8 1914.
She was the daughter of Frederick Richard Wilton of Allansford and Christina Margaret (née Stewart) Wilton.
Mona had an older sister, Susan Elizabeth Amy Wilton (known as Amy), and later a younger brother, Thomas Frederick Osbourne Wilton (Tom).
The family lived at Willaura.
She was schooled at Willaura and Naringal state schools, Mordialloc and Carrum high school, and Warrnambool Hospital.
In 1924 the family moved to Naringal near Warrnambool, where Frederick purchased a farm.
In 1928 Mona went to stay with an aunt, Mrs George Meyers, in Brighton for a year, then she returned to the farm at Naringal and worked as the sewing mistress at Naringal State School until 1933.
Mona joined her sister Amy in 1933 as a nurse at Warrnambool Hospital, completing her training in general nursing after three years and obtaining her midwifery certificate.
While training, she befriended Wilma Oram.
After training, Mona did private nursing around Warrnambool and Daylesford as head sister.
She stayed connected with Wilma during this time.
In 1941 Mona joined the Australian Army Nursing Service, enlisting on August 6 in Melbourne.
Her occupation was listed as nursing sister and her hometown was Warrnambool.
Mona’s service numbers were VX61225 and VFX61225.
She began training at Darley near Bacchus Marsh.
Mona persuaded Wilma Oram to join up as well and eventually they found themselves attached to the 13th Australian General Hospital (AGH).
After final leave the two nurses boarded Wanganella in 1941, expecting to go to the Middle East.
Instead, they arrived in Singapore on September 15, where they initially set up a hospital at St Patrick’s School.
They transferred to Johore Bahru on the southern tip of the Malay mainland, where they set up the 13th Australian General Hospital.
However, soon after the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbour, the invaders approached overland from the north and the nurses and their patients had to retreat across the causeway to Singapore.
Mona said “tent hospital had to be erected as there were many wounded soldiers coming in to be looked after” and “Japanese planes directing their bombs at the hospital”.
After retreating to Singapore 13th AGH again set up at St Patrick’s School.
With the worsening situation, nurses of all units were extremely unwilling to leave wounded soldiers behind when ordered to evacuate by sea in various requisitioned ships.
Mona was one of a group that boarded Vyner Brooke on February 12 1942 - one of the last ships to leave carrying evacuees from Singapore.
Although the ship usually carried only 12 passengers in addition to her 47 crew, Vyner Brooke sailed south with 181 passengers embarked, most of them women and children.
Among the passengers were the last 65 Australian nurses from Singapore.
On February 14 1942 Vyner Brooke was attacked by several Japanese aircraft.
Despite taking evasive action, the ship was crippled by several bombs and within half an hour rolled over and sank bow first.
Mona and her friend Wilma were in the water together as the ship went down.
Mona was not seen again after the ship listed onto them and sank.
Approximately 150 survivors eventually made it ashore at Banka Island after periods of between eight and 65 hours in the water.
The island was occupied by the Japanese and most of the survivors were taken captive.
Of the 65 servicewomen who embarked on Vyner Brooke, only 24 - including Vivian Bullwinkel and Betty Jeffrey - returned to Australia.
Of the 32 taken prisoner of war, eight died in captivity.
Another 22 who survived the sinking were washed ashore on Radji Beach, Banka Island, where they surrendered to the Japanese, along with 25 British soldiers.
On February 16 the group was massacred: the soldiers were bayoneted and the nurses were ordered to march into the sea, where they were shot.
Only Sister Vivian Bullwinkel and a British soldier survived the massacre, the soldier later dying as a POW.
Sister Mona Margaret Wilton was one of 12 nurses lost at sea off Banka Island, Netherlands East Indies, on Valentine's Day 1942. She was aged 28 and has no known grave.
Mona is commemorated at the Singapore Memorial to the Missing within the grounds of Kranji War Cemetery, where her official commemoration is on Memorial Location Column 142.
Her last rank was lieutenant and her unit was 2/13 AGH, Australian Army Nursing Service.
She is commemorated on 14 monuments and memorials, including Bicton Vyner Brooke Tragedy Memorial, the West Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour Panel 96, the Singapore Memorial in Kranji War Cemetery and a plaque on Banka Island, east of Sumatra in present-day Indonesia.
The Warrnambool Base Hospital Memorial Window is dedicated to Mona.
It was unveiled on March 28 1953 by Wilma Young (née Oram).
The Wimmera Mallee remembers its nurses Olive Dorothy Panske of Dimboola (who was lost at sea), Florence Rebecca Casson of Warracknabeal (massacred on Radji beach), Wilma Elizabeth Forster Oram of Glenorchy (POW), Mona Margaret Wilton of Willaura (lost at sea) and all the other nurses and soldiers who died in this tragedy or in POW camps.
Lest we Forget.
With thanks: Sally Bertram, RSL Military History Library. Contact Sally at sj.bertram@hotmail.com or call 0409 351 940.