20 Cents - Elizabeth II 4th Portrait - Sinking of the S.S. Vyner Brooke

The S.S. Vyner Brooke was sunk by Japanese aircraft in the Bangka Strait on 14 February 1942 while evacuating civilians and nurses from Singapore. Of the 65 Australian Army nurses aboard, 21 were massacred on Radji Beach after surviving the sinking — one of the most documented war crimes committed against Australian personnel in the Pacific. Vivian Bullwinkel, the sole nurse survivor of the beach massacre, carried the account for decades before testifying formally at the 1993 International War Crimes Tribunal.

This coin was issued as part of Australia's broader 75th anniversary commemorations of the fall of Singapore.