LIFE ON ALTMARK

Dominion, Volume 33, Issue 147, 16 March 1940, Page 17

LIFE ON ALTMARK

Experiences Of New Zealand Gunner TAKEN BY GRAF SPEE Poor Food And Cramped Accommodation The following account- of his e.cpcricnccs from the time he joined the .Doric Star in New Zealand till he and 298 other seamen were rescued from the Altmark, has been . given by Gunner William Wheeler, Dunedin, aged 24 years. “After leaving Auckland our ship, which was stacked to the lua-tches with produce for England, ran info what was called not too good -weather. At Sydney, our first'iport of call, we loaded wool, which filled our 'tiween decks, and was loaded also on the deck hatches. After leaving Sydney,- wo proceeded across the Indian Ocean toward Cape Town. We .were on our own without a convoy. Arriving at Cape Town we fuelled for a. day and a half; and a few days out from Cape Town, as we were sitting on the poop, there was a terrific explosion on the port quarter. Swinging round we were just in time to see the water gush up in the air. Knowing at once that something of enemy nature was in the vicinity, we rushed -to -the gun and loaded it. “By that time the fourth officer had arrived, -and ringing up the bridge from tlie after platform, ho asked the captain whether there was any message as to what it. was. Just -then there was another explosion, and a shell burst on the starboard side of the ship. We received word with the rest of the crew to make -our way -toward the boats. At 'abandon ship,’ everyone went dlown into the boats and waited for the officers to take over. There was no panic or confusion, and the men behaved with very, very great coolness. “About half an' hour afterward a German motor-boat came alongside and we were ordered back to our ship. When we were back on our ship a German officer took our names, and told us that we had 10 minutes to get a blanket, -plate, and knife and fork as we were going on board the Graf Spec. The funny part about the boarding party was that, though the officer said- the Graf Spee, the men had Deutschland on their hatbands. But the Graf Spee was not disguised.

“When we were taken on board the warship we were received very well, surprisingly so seeing it was an enemy craft. It, was about half-past three to four in the afternoon by the time all the crew had been transferred to the Graf Spee. After we had sorted out the wee bits of luggage most of us had, the Germans told us we would have to go through a medical examination, so we had to go below decks and bath. Then we were taken in ones and twos to the German medical officer, who was very polite. “While we were waiting to go into the doctor’s room, I counted seven shells fired at the Doric Star to sink her, and I am sure they wore from the 11-inch guns. Also, we found out later that one torpedo had been fired. Cramped Conditions. “After the medical examination we were marshalled into the fore dock of the ship. There were 'between 50 and 59 of us in there, and I can tell you it wasn’t what you’d call easy to move round. We were given plenty to eat as far as German foodstuffs were concerned, but the accommodation and atmosphere were very, very bad. After we had had tea we retired to bed in the fore deck, where we had had our meal. There were, roughly, 16 hammocks between us, so those who got there first were lucky. The rest laid their blankets out and slept on the floor. “The next morning we were awakened about half-past five by gunfire, and we thought for the moment that a British warship had picked up tlie message that our wireless operator had tapped out the day before. But one of the German officers told us a steamer called the Tairoa had -been captured and was being sunk. Thon after the Tairoa crew bad been brought aboard (there were S 3 of them), we received an extra 10 of them in our mess, which brought our quota in tlie fore deck up to 69. We were now worse for accommodation than before. Then the Graf Spee made away at a high speed, beading into tlie west. “About a day inter we wore allowed to go up on deck; and the Germans (they must, have been so confident) had wireless going for us, and the railings (which are always down on board a warship when she is expecting action) wore put up and the crew were sun-bathing. ■ “On the Wednesday afternoon we were informed we were being transferred to a tanker, but tier nationality was not given. About two in the after noon wo were transferred from the Graf Spee to t.-he tanker, leaving behind us all holding a master’s ticket and a chief officer's ticket. I was

placed, with 25 others from the Doric Star.' in a deep tank 35 feel below water level, with the Trevanmn s crew, who were already captives. There were 19 of them, which brought our quota in the tank up to about, -l-i. We then learned that the ship was definitely a German supply ship disguised as a. Norwegian tanker. ne wore told it was tlie Sognc, and It was painted neutral colours amt I'ew tinNorwegian ting. “That night we wore visited by tl |e Gorman prison officer and lie gave u> (lie ins-and-outs and till tin- rules that had to be obeyed on board thesliip. He spoke perfect. English: lie had been at Dartmouth Naval College ami " :IS evidently an educated man. “Conditions in Hie deck where ve were confined were extremely had. o sleep on, we had rugs taken trom Ihe Huntsman. Most of u.s only had the one blanket, and. believe me. when you wra'p yourself in one blanket you ' e not what you’d call warm, speciallj when you are in the Antarctic or the Arctic. The only ventilation camo from the fan-room, and in rough weather, when the fan was stopped, our deck used to swim witli water that dripped from tlie deck above, tlie atmosphere was .so leaden and heavy. 'There weie only 12 basins among the lot of us lor washing ourselves. “Tlie food consisted of German black bread for breakfast and a small mug of tetr in a tin: and for dinner we had some soup, and for tea bread Rtm cheese. I suppose it was ordinary Getman prison fare. Sinking of Graf Spec. “A few days later we headed south at fast speed and we kept on going south. The atmosphere became colder and colder. At that lime we were informed by a German on board that the Graf Spee had been slink: ami f° l ' *- e ' , ing us this he received ti sentence ot 21 days' bread and waler! • “W-iiile we wore steaming south every one of tlie German crew, those that' were off duty included, set to frork to paint tlie tanker a sihei grey, and they put up a name that we could not distinguish at the time. They put ‘New York’ as tlie port ot registration on her boats. After we had been on the ship about a nioitih we found that she was called Chiripo, or Chiriqui, or C-hiqui, but we eouldn t quite make out. (lie name. “Before (lie Graf 'Spee had been sunk we had been allowed to go on deck till together, amt we used to spend roughly an hour on deck each day, but once the Graf 'Spee was sunk this time was cut down. Ono day tlie German captain .mustered us- all on the fo’e’sle head of the ship and gave us a speech which was meant to impress us, but didn’t. He told us that Britain was trying to make Germany a slave State, and he also said that he had no sympathy whatsoever with the British people, and that he bated the British Government. He said that at present Germany had no colonies, "but soon would have, and he hoped to be able to land us in one of them soon. After that our ‘deck’ was cut down to 50 minutes every second day, and only 15 men were allowed on deck at one time. This continued till we were rescued.