We can dodge bombs with the best of them

Sister Mona Margaret Wilton was one of twelve Australian Army nurses who died at sea after the bombing of the SS Vyner Brooke on 14 February 1942.

Mona was born on 8 September 1913 in Willaura, Victoria, to Christina Margaret Wilton (née Stewart) and Fredrick Richard Wilton. She had one older sister, Sarah, and a younger brother, Thomas. In 1924 the family moved to a farm in Naringal, Victoria, known as “Bellbraes”.

Following in the footsteps of her mother and sister, Mona decided to pursue a career in nursing. From 1934 to 1937, she trained at the Warrnambool and District Base Hospital, where she met Wilma Oram, who soon became a close friend. Wilma left Warrnambool hospital, aged 24, and enlisted in the Australian Army Nursing Service (AANS) on 12 March 1941. Mona followed suit, and on 6 August 1941, aged 27, she enlisted in the Australian Army Nursing Service (AANS). They were both posted to the 2/13th Australian General Hospital, and together boarded HMAS Wanganella on 2 September 1941, arriving in Singapore on 15 September.

Mona’s Private Records collection held by the Memorial contains her captivating and often amusing letters, providing a glimpse into a remarkable and courageous woman. On 29 October 1942, Mona wrote to her nieces, Christobel and Elaine, whom she lovingly calls “Darlings”, about her journey abroad and the extreme weather they encountered. Mona writes: “I’m just recovering from the very worstest thunderstorm I have ever, ever, had the misfortune to have anything to do with … Lightening like this … we must expect these … many times a day. ‘Praps I’ll get used to it, ‘praps I won’t.”

In the same letter, Mona goes on to write about some of her more exciting adventures. A serendipitous meeting with the Sultan of Johore while she and Wilma were on their way into the city. She writes: “We forgot the incident until a couple of days later when an invitation arrived to attend the Ball … What a night we had – we danced from 9pm until 3am … that night has gone down in my diary as “A night to be remembered – but not to be reported in the Warrnambool Standard.”

On 16 November 1941, Mona writes about two Majors she had met at the ball, who had taken Wilma and herself to a fancy swimming club for a day of swimming, indulging in all sorts of food, and more dancing. She writes: “It was a good thing I had a swim first or I couldn’t have managed it after the meal I had. I would have sunk. Then we danced, then we came back to camp.”

Mona sent more letters home in December 1941 and January 1942, detailing more of her experiences, including her disappointment in the authorities’ “strategic withdrawal”, which meant that they would be moving the hospital again, from Johor Bahru back to St Patrick’s School in Singapore.

By 31 January 1942, all Allied forces had withdrawn to Singapore Island. By 8 February, the Japanese had landed in the north-west of the island and were advancing towards Singapore city, which was now under air attack. On 10 February, as evacuations were underway, Mona sent a hurried message back home, asking her family not to worry about her. She writes: “Don’t worry will you? We can dodge bombs with the best of them.”  

Mona continued working under these precarious conditions, entrusting one of her last letters home with a patient, Corporal Ralph H. Parkes, before he was evacuated.

Two days later, on 12 February 1942, Mona was evacuated from Singapore aboard the SS Vyner Brooke, alongside many of her AANS Sisters. What followed was a series of disastrous events, including the Sinking of SS Vyner Brooke and the Banka Island Massacre. Those who survived were captured and interned by the Japanese.

On the 9 June 1944, Mona’s father, Frederick, received a heart-breaking letter from Lt Col M. Roper of the AMF Records office, reporting Mona’s fate. He wrote: “It is with very much regret I have to advise you that the records of Lieut. Wilton will now be endorsed “Previously reported Missing now posted Missing believed killed on or after 11th February 1942.”

Mona’s friend, Wilma, however, survived the war, and in 1983 she recalled in an interview: “Mona and I were very close … we shared the same room, we shared everything, and then when the ship was sunk, we were in a boat which was rapidly sinking and Mona couldn’t swim at all … we jumped out to try get away from the ship, but the ship tipped over on top of us … as it was coming I said to Mona, “Oh we’re sunk this time”… when I came to the surface, Mona was nowhere about and that was it, I never saw her again.”

When Corporal Ralph H. Parkes made it to Australia he wrote a letter to Mona’s mother, Christina, and this letter is also held in the Memorial’s collection. Speaking highly of her character he wrote: “Before the fall of the island she was in the best of health and seemed to be enjoying the show immensely … Her total disregard for danger used to worry us considerably at times. There is little more that I can say except that we all consider it an honour to be nursed by your daughter and women like her.”

The Private Records Collection PR89/092 has recently been digitised and until it is available online, the collection can be viewed in the Charles Bean Research Centre.