TROOPS ARRIVE HOME

Timaru Herald, Volume CL, Issue 22064, 10 September 1941, Page 6

TROOPS ARRIVE HOME

Veterans Of Greece And Crete

Luxurious Hospital Ship

Praise For Medical Staff And Crew

Sick and wounded soldiers of the 2nd N.Z.E.F.. most of whom had served their country in the fighting in Greece, Crete and at Tobruk, returned to New Zealand by the hospital ship, Oranje. This luxurious ship is the fastest motor liner in the world and is the wartime gift to Australia and New Zealand of the Queen of the Netherlands and her Government.

The returning soldiers had little to say of their experiences that had not already been told by those who came back previously. Instead, they preferred to speak of the wonderful kindness of the Oranje's medical officers, nurses, ship’s officers and personnel and the Javanese of the crew. After the indescribably trying times in Greece and Crete, they felt that aboard the Oranje they had come into another world where everyone concerned with their care and welfare strived to the utmost to make them well and happy On the other hand, the spirit of all in the Oranje was expressed by the captain, Commodore Potjer, when he said on arrival that his people felt, the New Zealand soldiers to be those of the Netherlands as well as of the British Empire. Appropriate to this sentiment, there is inscribed on a plaque in the main lounge of the ship, these words of Mr Churchill:—“lf it is a case of the whole nation fighting and suffering together, that ought to suit us because we are the most united of all the nations.”

The Oranje was an unforgettable sight as she entered the harbour. Tire sea was dead calm and the sunshine brilliant, making the setting perfect for this graceful white liner. The Royal Dutch Mail Line motorship, Oranje, is the most modern ship to visit New Zealand: She was completed at the end of 1939 for the Netherlands Steamship Company. Designed for a service speed of 21 knots she attained 26.3 knots on trial. She is 656 feet in length with a breadth of 83 feet six inches. She was built to accommodate 740 passengers and a crew of 390. She made her maiden passage from Amsterdam to Batavia where she was laid up owing to the war. A luxury liner for passengers, she is no less luxurious as a hospital ship. The air-conditioned cabins have been retained for seriously wounded men and there are special quarters provided for mental and contagious cases. There is an operating theatre with X-ray apparatus on the promenade deck, which is free of vibration. Hollander Nurses Aboard There are approximately 60 Hollander nurses, who speak English, in the ship, which is operated at the expense of the Netherland Indies Government. It is manned as much as possible by a Netherlands crew and hospital staff, and there is a liaison staff of New Zealanders and Australians, including nurses. The Oranje is specially intended for service between the. Middle East and Australia and New Zealand. The New Zealand staff comprises Lieut-Col. R. Wilson, N.Z.M.C., Rev. J. T. Holland, N.Z. Chaplains Dept., Sister E. A. Porteous, Staff Nurse V. B. Hutchison, N.Z. Army Nursing Service, and 10 n.c.o.'s and men for pay. records, stores and medical orderly duties. Among those who returned was wellknown professional wrestler, SergeantMajor “Lofty” Blomfield. He said he certainly was going to wrestle again if the trouble with varicosed legs which sent him home again allowed him to do so. Speaking of the Italian and German prisoners, Sergeant-Major Blomfield said they were glad to be out of it, specially the conscripted soldiers. The Blackshirts had to be kept separate from the other Italian prisoners. Alive to tell the tale after five months on a water barge at Tobruk, in one month of which alone 483 bombing raids occurred, one soldier thought he had experienced as much bombing as anyone in his theatre of war. He confirmed previous accounts of the effects of bombing being more moral—till those attacked became used to it—than material by stating that his section of 28 lost only one man on water barge duty. He recalled one day when there were 22 big daylight raids and 25 night raids. This was in Tobruk harbour, two miles long and 11 miles wide. Once, he said, the German aircraft ignored merchant and naval shipping to bomb

and machine-gun a hospital ship. Then he said what lie thought of them. Wakened by Prime Minister "I was just stepping aboard a ship In the evacuation of Crete when I was struck by a fragment from a trench mortar shell; the next thing I was conscious of was waking up in hospital in Alexandria with the Prime Minister, Mr Fraser, shaking my hand,” said Driver J. Egan, Southland. He was one of a supply column of 200 cu‘ off in Crete by a much larger enemy force Not normally a combatant unit, the men had to take to their rifles and fight their way out. some of them hand-to-hand. Driver Egan closed with his man using his rifle as a club. The outcome of the combat was indicated by his presence in New Zealand. After what he experienced and saw in this incident he was convinced that man to man. the Germans are not much good. They were trained on the idea of plenty of mechanised and air support; away from it and relying solely on the ordinary small arms, they wilted. The Tommy guns, he said, were only effective up to 40 yards; his supply column mates had proved this when they were fighting the crowd who cut them off. A member of the 21st Auckland Battalion was one of a party of six which escaped from Crete in a row boat, going from island to island with the Hun always just a jump behind, till they reached safety. “These girls will do me,” said an older soldier who acted as spokesman for a large number who wanted to show their appreciation through the press of the attention and care which had been given them by the Hollander nurses. This soldier said that if a pati-nt thanked a nurse for her kindness the usual reply was that "we are only trying to show our appreciation of your fighting for and with us in the same cause.” The men also had a good word for the Javanese crew and attendants who were always cheerful and willing helpers. They had the same spirit as the nurses, doctors, officers and other Hollander personnel. Reception on Ship At the reception aboard the ship on arrival, the chairman of the Wellington Harbour Board, Mr W. H. Price, said they in New Zealand were grateful to the whole staff of the Oranje for bringing their men safely home. It was a fine gesture by the Queen and the Netherlands Government to place such a fine ship at the disposal of the Australian and New Zealand Governments.

The Acting-Prime Minister. (Hon. W. Nash), said he had overheard a soldier say as the official party entered the lounge “make it snappy.” That was what he would do. The men would be glad to know that he had received a message from Major-General Freyberg, V.C.. that their comrades were in magnificent fettle and in better spirits than they had been in for a long time. It was the desire of the Government to see that those who returned got back to their normal life at the earliest possible time, that they had decent homes to come to and that the liberty for which they had fought was more secure than ever.

Tije Mayor of Wellington, Mr T. C. Hislop, and the president of the N. Z. Returned Soldiers' Association, (Hon. W. Perry, M.L.C.), also welcomed the men.

The Minister of Defence. (Hon. F. Jones), thanked the men on behalf of the people for their efforts in maintaining in the field and elsewhere the traditions of the New Zealand troops of the past. Commodore Potjer, captain of the ship, said that it was a great pleasure for his people to do anything for the soldiers who were fighting the same enemy as. them. In fighting that fight, they were the soldiers of the Netherlands as well as of their own Empire. He thanked Sergeant-Major "Lofty” Blomfield for his appreciative references on behalf of the New Zealanders at a gathering aboard ship the night previous. It had been the Oranje’s first trip as a hospital ship and everything had been a triumph for the cooperation of all concerned, especially the soldiers. Colonel Gerard. chief medical officer, said the doctors and nurses had an easy task because the men had been easy to handle. Matron Helena Drielsma, for whom cheers were given, also made a brief speech of acknowledgment. Sir Apirana Ngata spoke on behalf of the Maori people. “Welcome back to what used to be called ‘God’s Own Country.’ ”he said. After the dust and dirt of the Middle East he felt the men would believe they were back in the best country God had made. Hi continued in the Maori tongue, finishing with a haka which was taken up by the soldiers and created more interest with the Hollanders and Javanese than any - thing so far at the gathering. "Holland Shall Rise Again” When he had visited the Oranje, ne had learned three significant words of the Dutch language—"Nederland zal herrijzen” (Holland shall rise again), said the Acting-Prime Minister (Mr Nash) in proposing the toast “Our Guests” at a state luncheon in honour of the hospital ship. Holland would rise again, he said, because no one could hold the Dutch under. They would co-operate with other people but they could not be held down, because

they must be free. Germany could never defeat the British or the Dutch. Mr Nash expressed the warm appreciation of all New Zealanders for what was being done by the Dutch medical and nursing staffs for New Zealand troops. Commodore B. A. Potjer, commander of the Oranje, said both the Dutch and the Japanese were glad to help the New Zealanders who had fought against the Germans. Colonel J. C. Gerards, chief medical officer, said that the British - Empire and Holland had always stood for peace and nonaggression but now that they had been thrown into the war against Nazism they would go on to victory. In the presence of the guests, Mr M. F. Vigeveno, Consul for the Netherlands in New Zealand, presented the insignia of the Order of Knight of Orange-Nassau to Commodore Potjer. upon whom it had just been conferred by the Queen of the Netherlands.