Back to Bangka Audiobook Libro.fm

Bangka Strait Indonesia 1942 Allied ships are evacuating thousands in flight from Singapore the island having fallen to Japanese Imperial forces Facing terrifying assaults by fighter planes one ship the Vyner Brooke is badly bombed and sinks Its survivors swim or paddle for hours to the nearest land a beach on Bangka Island parched many dreadfully injured
One of the survivors is Australian Army nurse Dorothy Bud Elmes the greataunt of Georgina Banks Bud makes it to the island where she colleagues and a matron tend to the wounded as a plan is formulated But it is soon discovered the place is occupied by Japanese forces and two days later they arrive on the beach

Seventyfive years on Georgina receives an invitation to a memorial service for her greataunt She knows little of the national history buried in her family but as she retraces Buds steps in Indonesia and then deep in archives back in Australia she is left making sense of halftruths and confronting the likelihood that she may never know exactly what unfolded on the beach on that devastating day

Back to Bangka is a deeply moving intergenerational family story a gripping retelling and investigation of events that throw a spotlight on women in wartime in their vulnerability and profound strength