The team at Billman’s Foundry have done it again – creating an enormous statue of nurse Lieutenant Colonel Vivian Bullwinkel to be placed in the grounds of the Australian War Memorial in Canberra in recognition of her exceptional military service and her contribution to the development of Australian nursing. 

Born in Kapunda, South Australia, Vivian trained as a nurse in Broken Hill. At the age of 25 she enlisted in the Australian Army Nursing Service and was posted to the 13th Australian General Hospital in Malaya which was then moved to Singapore Island. After the evacuation of nursing staff, patients, women and children Vivian found herself onboard the SS Vyner Brooke which was sunk by Japanese aircraft. 

Vivian drifted for hours, clinging to a lifeboat, before coming ashore on Banka Island. Japanese troops arrived on the island and ordered 22 nurses into the sea where they fired on them. Vivian, struck by a bullet and feigning her death was the only survivor. 

Upon returning to the beach she found a wounded British soldier who she hid with and cared for until he died 12 days later after which Vivian surrendered and was held captive for three and a half years. 

After retiring from the army in 1947 Vivian went on to become the Director of Nursing at Melbourne’s Fairfield Hospital. She devoted herself to nursing and honouring those killed on Banka Island, raising funds for a nurses’ memorial, and serving as a member of the Council of the Australian War Memorial, and later President of the Royal College of Nursing, Australia. 

The three metre tall sculpture in honour of Vivian designed by Dr Charles Robb will be the first depiction of an individual woman or nurse on the grounds. 

The team at Billman’s Foundry spent more than 340 hours completing and putting together 18 sections of the statue which has been sent to the Australian War Memorial to be unveiled on August 2. 

Production Manager Travis Billman said their foundry is the only one in Australia able to work on such large scale. 

“Dad started the business 40 years ago and it’s a bit of a lost trade really. He’s passed the skills down to us, whereas most places stopped training young people to work on loose moulds,” said Daniel who bought the foundry with his brother Travis earlier this year. 

“We make the moulds from sand and then burn it to harden before pouring molten bronze of 1250 degrees,” explained Daniel. 

The list of jobs the foundry has worked on since its inception in the late 70s is enormous and statues and fountains produced right here in Castlemaine can be found right across Australia. 

According to Daniel and Travis the first big job their dad completed was a pair of gates for the President of Singapore back in the late 80s. Since then, the foundry has produced numerous Chaffey Fountains, giant whales, flamingos, Rocky and Bullwinkle, and Daniel’s favourite – a Peter Brock Memorial.