Back to Bangka

Searching for the Truth About a Wartime Massacre

De: Georgina Banks

Narrado por: Georgina Banks, Jane Harber

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 great-aunt 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.

Seventy-five years on, Georgina receives an invitation to a memorial service for her great-aunt. She knows little of the national history buried in her family but as she retraces Bud's steps in Indonesia, and then deep in archives back in Australia, she is left making sense of half-truths 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.

©2023 Georgina Banks (P)2023 Penguin Random House Australia

Excellent!

I learned about Back to Bangka from Jane Harber’s post on Instagram. She is a favorite actress of mine and I really love her voice. Some books are meant to be listened to and that is 100% true about Back to Bangka. I never knew what the Bangka Island Massacre was until now - thank you to Georgina Banks for writing this book and educating me as you also learned of sweet Bud. I particularly liked how Jane narrated Bud’s story and Georgina narrated the bits about her journey/discovery about Bud, the others on Radji Beach and their loved ones. It was beautifully written and truly honors the legacy of the victims that were lost. I appreciated how Georgina didn’t stop searching for the truth until she found it - even though it was painful to discover.