PETTY SNOBBISHNESS

Grey River Argus, 16 January 1941, Page 10

PETTY SNOBBISHNESS

On Emirau Island SEAMEN’S COMPLAINT. SYDNEY, January 11. Some members of the crew of vessels which were shelled by Nazi raiders in the Pacific complain that there was unpleasant class consciousness on Emirau Island and on the rescue ship. One man said that while officers were allowed to enter the garden of the home of Mr. and Mrs. Cook on the island to obtain a drink of water, members of the crew were not. Certain first-class passengers on the ■Rangitane had refused to be associated with second-class passengers and members of the crew.

“One man and his wife asked the captain of the raider to be separated from the others,” the member of the crew said. “The captain of the raider did not grant the request. “When we arrived on the island a high Government official, who was one of the survivors announced that we would take orders from him and our superior officers, just as if we were on board ship. He announced that if there were any breaches of the Britsih law he would hold a court and deal with the offenders. The men strongly resented his bullying manner and told him they would not take orders from him.

“On the rescue ship the young and able-bodied officers occupied comfortable bunks, while older men of the crew, who were suffering from injuries and shock, were made to sleep on the hard deck. It is extraordinary to think that among people who have escaped death so narrowly there should have been this ridiculous class feeling. You would have thought their ordeal would have made them regard their fellows as their equals. “The men of the crews were so sick of class feeling that by the time the rescue ship reached port we decided that we would stand no more of it. We were determined not to go on board the train that brought us south unless we were given sleepers. The strike was called off because we got the sleepers,” he added.

“Holmwood” Survivors CHILDREN UNPERTURBED. AUCKLAND, January 13. Sound asleep aboard the Holmwood when she came under the menace of the raiders’ guns, two little girls, daughters of Mr. and Mrs. R. C. Idiens, of the Chatham Islands, went happily through an ordeal that proved a heavy strain on their parents and other adults, and returned to Auckland to-day on the Mariposa a picture of childish health. Te Miria, aged 11, romped gaily with Wendy, aged two interrupted her play for a moment to confess that she had learned a few words of German aboard the Tokyo Maru, and obligingly posed to have her photograph taken.

“They treated the whole thing as a big joke, and are certainly none the worse for their adventures,” said Mr. Idiens, who was returning to settle in New Zealand with his wife and family when the Holmwood was intercepted. “I think they actually enjoyed the experience, although the food supply on the Tokyo Maru was not suitable for women or children. The kiddies fortunately saw no harrowing sights, although we were aboard the raider when the Rangitane was attacked,” he continued. “We were all sent below and shut

in when the Rangitane was attacked, and although the children were frightened by the gunfire, they soon forgot it and settled down to enjoy themselves.

“When the Holmwood was stopped we were first of all taken aboard the Manyo Maru, and on her the children went with their mother, and I was with the men passengers. I had access to the children, however, and later when we were transferred to the Tokyo Maru we were togethr.

“The Germans were kind to the children, and neither of the girls seemed at all afraid. The sailors played games with them and gave them books and dolls, of which they had a good supply aboard.” “A steward told us that we had been stopped by three raiders; but I was too seasick to be bothered.” said Miss C. E. Hough, of the Chatham Islands, one of the Holmwod’s passengers, who returned by the Mariposa. Miss Hough, whose parents live at the Chathams, was making her second trip to New Zealand when the raiders caught the Holmwood, and was delighted to have reached the Dominion after several weeks unexpected travel.

“I was taken over in a boat to one of the raiders, and later was joined by the rest of the women and children from the Holmwood,” Miss Hough continued. “We did not see the Holmwood sunk, although we heard gunfire. We were well treated aboard; but at first we had little fresh air, being allowed on deck only two hours a day. The food was very good, however, even if some of the meat we had did probably come from the Holmwood which was carrying sheep. In addition, we sometimes had tinned meats and good bread and butter. We were taken later ot the Tokyo Maru, and had much more freedom aboard her. We were allowed on deck freely, being sent down below only when the third ship which we called the Narvik, was round. On these occasions we were sent dwon promptly, and shutters were put up to prevent us seeing her. The food on the Tokyo Maru was not as good as on the Manyo Maru,” she said. “We often had rice for breakfast, macaroni for dinner in the middle of the day, and two tiny sandwiches, one of white bread and one of black, for tea. The Germans, some of whom spoke broken English, were mostly fairly young men. They behaved quite well toward us during the four weeks we were on the two ships. In that time we saw land often, but never knew what it was, though the Germans had told us on the first ship that we would be put ashore in three or four weeks’ time.”

OFFICERS’ EXPERIENCE. The third engineer of the Holmwood, Mr. G. R. Clayton, said 26 officers were kept in a room 15 feet by 10 feet. On the days when the raiders “made a kill” the captives were not allowed on deck. The women folk were treated very well, he said. When they were first taken aboard they were given a room to themselves, and fresh milk and white bread were provided for the children. They were afterwards, with their husbands transferred to a supply ship so that they would be out of any fighting that might take place. Mr. Clayton, who is a married man with his wife in Dunedin, said the raider took plenty of time to ransack the Holmwood. From the Rangitane, on the other hand, they got away in great haste, because they knew she had sent out a wireless signal. There was sufficient food on the Manyo Maru, on which he had been a prisoner, but it was all of one class, consisting mostly of beans and compressed foodstuffs. “We struck a decent skipper,” said Mr. Clayton, speaking of conditions on board the Manyo Maru, “who tried to act the gentleman after he had got us on board, and he made things much more pleasant than they might have been. Two or three of the offipers spoke English, one perfectly, and we had no difficulty in making ourselves understood. We had only to ask for something—a toothbrush or toothpaste—and it was given us. In the tropics they gave us sunhats and singlets. There was a shortage of provisions on Emirau Island for the first two days' after they landed Mr. Clayton said, but they were able to get immediately tea with tinned milk in it, which was a great treat. They also had fresh meat and ship’s biscuits. After the secod day there was plenty for a mission launch which had taken to a neighbouring island news-of the landing of the captives, brought back with it live tons of foodstuffs.

PENSIONS PAID. AUCKLAND, J’anuary 13. Among the most welcome visitors aboard the Mariposa to-day to members of the crew of the Holmwood were representatives of the War Pensions Department, well supplied with money. Acting under the provisions of the War Pensions and Allowances (Mercantile Marine) Act, 1940, which was invoked for the first time, they handed over accumulated allowances to the men, adding substantially to the joy of their homecoming.

The Holmwood was the first ship on New Zealand articles to fall a victim to the raider, and members of her crew, a total of 17 men, thus became eligible for benefits under the act, which provides for payment of pensions in the event of death disablement or detention by an enemy. Officially presuming that the ship’s personnel were detained aboard the raider, the Government had already instructed that detention allowances should be paid to the wives and other dependants of the crew. Part of the allowance had been withheld, however, for payment to the men themselves on their return. Arrangements were also made to provide for a further period pending the men being reengaged in suitable employment.

RANGITANE SURVIVORS. AUCKLAND, January 13. Of the survivors of the Rangitane, which was destroyed by German raiders, two returned by the Mariposa, Miss F. Macdonald and Miss R. M. Black, of Christchurch, who were cabin mates at the time of the disaster. Miss Black went on by the Mariposa to Los Angeles, but Miss Macdonald, who is a visitor from England, is remaining in New Zealand.

The first she knew of the shelling of the Rangitane, Miss Macdonald said, was when she was awakened about 4 a.m. by the sound of a bang like £he clanging of an iron door. It was not until several more shots had landed that Miss Black realised that the vessel was being shelled. They both jumped up and made a dash and just as they got

outside the cabin it was struck and fell in, bursting into flame. She made her way to the purser’s office, where she had shrapnel wounds in the right arm and right leg dressed. Miss Macdonald was taken in a stretcher from a lifeboat aboard the raider, and for three days she and the other women prisoners were confined below. It was the vessel known as the Narvik on which they were, but lhey were transferred three days later to the supply ship Tokyo Maru, where conditions were much more comfortable. “The Germans 'were very kind,” Miss Macdonald said. “The only trouble was the shortage of food. The doctors were excellent, and treated us most respectfuly. No one could say otherwise.” One of the doctors was amazed at the courage and discipline shown by the women and complimented them upon it. “Dd English ladies never cry?” he asked.