HOSPITAL SHIP ARRIVES

Press, Volume LXXXII, Issue 24800, 14 February 1946, Page 4

HOSPITAL SHIP ARRIVES

Evacuees From East Indies RECUPERATION IN N.Z.

(P.A.) " AUCKLAND, Feb. 13. With 426 Dutch evacuees from the Netherlands East Indies the hospital ship Tasman arrived at Auckland from Batavia, via Brisbane, this afternoon. All will disembark in the morning for registration at “Oranje,” the Netherlands East Indies welfare organisation transit centre at Remuera, but only 146 evacuees, seven nurses, and one doctor will remain in Auckland. The remainder will leave when the ship sails on Saturday for Wellington, Lyttelton and Sydney. At Wellington 169 and eight medical personnel will disembark, and the rest are destined for Christchurch. In her white paint, and with the usual Red Cross markings, the Tasman appeared little different from the days before the war, when as a Dutch South Pacific Line passenger vessel she was on the run from New Zealand through the East Indies and Singapore to Saigon. Her master, Captain William Eleveld, was in command of the ship before the war. and said he had been able to inform his passengers of the good things they could expect in New Zealand. He has held command of the ship throughout the war, first as a troopship which took part in the first landings at New. Guinea, and later as a hospital ship. Travelling with Captain Eleveld are his wife and two sons, William aged 16, and John aged 13, who were separated and interned at Bandoeng by the Japanese. They had some months in hospital before travelling, all suffering from malnutrition. Mrs Eleveld was particularly ill. An unusual touch of domesticity in the captain’s cabin was a sewing machine. William and John had the unenviable task of digging a grave for one of their companions, who was shot by Indonesian snipers when he wandered from the camp some time after the Japanese surrender. Captain Eleveld expressed his personal opinion that the Indonesian leaders were pimply collaborateurs of the Japanese. In his opinion the wrong policy was being followed. A strong hand should be used. The Indonesians respected being treated strongly, but fairly. All the evacuees were taken on at Batavia, most of them being from th*e camps there and at Bandoeng, said the captain. They were a pitiable sight when the ship left Batavia on January 26, but soon recuperated. Many came aboard with nothing more than the clothes they stood in, and those usually consisted of dirty worn shorts, slacks, shirts and blouses. The best of food and medical attention was given them during the voyage. At Brisbane 150 disembarked, and clothes were bought for the remainder. A Red Cross team of 14 nurses and a doctor joined the ship at Brisbane. Crew Left Ship The Tasman was held up in Sydney for five months at the end of last year by the actions of Australian Communists, said the captain. All his Indonesian crew left the ship, some apologising for their actions which, they said, were forced on them. The Lascar crew engaged were so intimidated that none would sail, four of them being kidnapped. He managed to sign on 20 "good” Australians in his crew, and obtained some Chinese at Batavia. Eight large wards accommodated the evacuees on the shin, which was well equipped with refrigerators, cooking, and washing appliances, air conditioning, a fine operating theatre, and an X-ray examination room. Ward commanders were appointed from among the evacuees, and three doctors held sick parades daily. Fresh fruit formed a large proportion of the menu. An eminent. Sourabaya gynaecologist, Dr. de Guese. who had beep interned in one df the most notorious Japanese camps at Bakanbaroe. in Sumatra, was the senior doctor on the ship. He said the food’ in the camn was bad. All had to do heavy work on railways, and out of 1590 more than 400 died of starvation and dysentery. Eighty per cent, suffered from malaria, and there was no -quinine or other medicine. With other medical officers he had to treat men out of doors, and also had to perform his share of heavy work. There were innumerable beatings. Captain Eleveld said that Dr. de Guese had performed a gargantuan task at the camp. Few of the evacuees showed signs of the hardships they had endured, so excellent had been the food and treatment they received on the ship. All snoke anxiously of the thousands of other Dutch who were still starving and in danger from terrorist elements of the Indonesian National movement. Many of them had not been sent to camp until late in the war. when they were interned by the Japanese. Fed on Pig Fodder A teacher of English and history at Bandoeng, Mr S. Barug, said they were fed on tapioca porridge, which used to be pig fodder. When the meat ration was reduced to almost nothing they caught mice and lizards to eat. When they complained, what might be termed good Japanese came with a dog for the sick people to eat. If the war had lasted three months longer none of them would have survived. Dr. Leopold Kirschner and his wife, who visited New Zealand in 1937, were among the evacuees. Dr. Kirschner was head of the bacteriological department at the Pasteur Institute at Bandoeng. They said they were separated by the Japanese, but for one and a half years were, allowed to live in houses. Later they were sent to a coolies’ gaol at Batavia. In the houses many were crowded into small rooms. The beds consisted of wooden planks 22 inches wide. If anyone turned over all had to. The hospitals were overcrowded, and for breakfast they were given starch. Whenever they shifted camps the evacuees had to carry heavy luggage over long distances. The children seemed to have the greatest recuperative powers, ana eagerly ran about the shin looking at the new land, which will be their home for about four months. Some ot these children were born in internment camps, the youngest bein* aged three vears. a son of Dr. and Mrs J. A Baak. There was no official welcome, but Mr H. F. van Eck. Vice-Consul for the Netherlands at Auckland, said that a reception would be held in the morning on the wharf before thev went to “Oranie” for lunch, and wou'd be attended bv representatives o* the Auckland Harbour Board, the Mayor 'Mr J. A. C. A-Hum) a Government representative. and Mr van HoM Pellekaan. r the Australian representative of the welfare organisation.