Wilma Oram Explained

Wilma Oram
Birth Name:Wilma Elizabeth Forster Oram
Birth Date:1916 8, df=yes
Birth Place:Glenorchy, Victoria
Death Place:Richmond, Victoria
Placeofburial:Pakenham Cemetery
Allegiance:Australia
Branch:Second Australian Imperial Force
Serviceyears:1941–1946
Rank:Captain
Servicenumber:VFX58783
Unit:Royal Australian Army Nursing Corps
Battles:Second World War
Awards:Member of the Order of Australia

Wilma Elizabeth Forster Young, (Oram; 17 August 1916 – 28 May 2001) was an Australian Army nurse during the Second World War.

Second World War

Oram was evacuated from Singapore in February 1942 and was aboard the Vyner Brooke when the ship was sunk in Bangka Strait by Japanese aircraft. After surviving in the water for many hours she came ashore at Bangka Island and became a prisoner of war until 1945. Vivian Bullwinkel and Betty Jeffrey were captives together with Oram.

Jeffrey and Bullwinkel visited every sizable hospital in Victoria to raise money that created the Australian Nurses Memorial Centre. Oram is noted as a founder of the centre, together with Edith Hughes-Jones and Annie Sage.[1]

Post-war life

Following the war, Oram married Alan Livingstone Young, who had also been a prisoner of war. They settled on a dairy farm at Cardinia, Victoria, and had four children. She was an active member of the Returned and Services League of Australia, serving as the treasurer and later president of its Pakenham branch. She worked for causes including greater recognition for Vietnam War veterans and to raise money for the Australian Service Nurses National Memorial, unveiled in Canberra on 2 October 1999.

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Notes and References

  1. Web site: About ANMC . 2023-11-01 . en-AU.