Australian nurses, winners of bravery award
In February 1942, these two Australian nurses, Vera Torney and Margaret Anderson were aboard the Empire Star, a ship evacuating wounded soldiers from Singapore. The ship came under attack from Japanese fighter aircraft, which strafed the decks of the ship. Torney and Anderson shielded their patients with their own bodies against the incoming fire. Fortunately neither was hit. For their extraordinary heroism, they were awarded some of the highest honours.
Photographer unknown, 1942
Accession number: H99.206/3457
From the State Library of Victoria's Pictures collection. Gift of The Age (Melbourne, Vic.), 1976.
