Other formats

    TEI XML file   ePub eBook file  

Connect

    mail icontwitter iconBlogspot iconrss icon

Shovel Sword and Scalpel: A record of service of medical units of the second New Zealand expeditionary force in the Pacific

I — Fijian Garrison

page 11

I
Fijian Garrison

When the 4th Reinforcements for the 2nd New Zealand Expeditionary Force marched into Trentham Military Camp in early October 1940, some 250 men were posted to a new medical unit—the 7th Field Ambulance—under Lieutenant-Colonel P. C. Davie, NZMC. Within two weeks the members of this unit had been despatched on final leave.

Returned to camp, we found ourselves faced with seemingly endless parades, where we were formed up in alphabetically-ordered queues to be blood-typed, vaccinated, inoculated, dentally examined and tropically outfitted in preparation for overseas service. Rumours as to our destination were of course plentiful. The 18th Army Troop had left New Zealand shortly before, bound for a 'hush-hush' destination as the advanced guard of B Force or the 8th Brigade Group, of which we discovered we formed a part.

On 28 October 1940, the 7th Field Ambulance advanced party, comprising the bulk of headquarters company, embarked on the ail-too-familiar Rangatira. This was a disappointment to most of us, partly because we were denied the luxury liners of previous echelons, but mainly because the use of the Rangatira as an army transport indicated that our destination would be somewhere in the Pacific—and the Pacific in 1940 was a long way from the fighting front. Our worst fears were confirmed when we saw that our sole escort was the Monowai. After only three days at sea we were met by the first faint odour of copra page 12mingled with the indefinable smell of the islands as we sailed into the harbour at Suva, the capital of Viti Levu, Fiji. We disembarked on a hot, steaming, misty day. The majority of the personnel marched from the wharf to a camp at Samambula, some three and a-half miles away—a camp which the rains had made a sea of mud but which boasted accommodation in the form of bell-tents with wooden floors upon which the troops slept. The remainder of our party stayed in Suva and went to the Girls' Grammar School hostel, which had been made available for use as a military hospital. The school was a large ami well ventilated stone building, situated on a hill in the European residential centre of the town, with a splendid outlook over the harbour. Marquees for accommodation of personnel were erected in the school grounds, while, in the building itself, three large dormitories were converted into wards and the smaller rooms were adapted to serve as hospital offices and departments.

The Rangatira made two more trips from New Zealand with the balance of the 8th Brigade Group. B" company of the 7th Field Ambulance, with the 30th Battalion, travelled on the second flight and, on disembarkation at Lautoka, on the western side of Fiji, moved to Namaka, some 30 miles from the port, where a camp was established. A small camp hospital was set up by the company, and the company commander, Captain J. M. Coutts, became senior medical officer of the western area. A company, with the balance of headquarters, travelled on the third and final flight. They disembarked at Suva and proceeded to Samambula, where the 29th and Reserve Battalions were encamped. Samambula, during these first few weeks, did much to dispel current ideas concerning the glamour of Pacific islands. In place of sun-baked beaches, graceful palms and an abundance of tropical fruit, we found a muddy camp, monotonously regular tropical showers, an enervating humidity and a staple diet of bread and jam.

The responsibilities of the 7th Field Ambulance in Fiji were far greater than is customary for such a unit. The commanding officer was also senior medical officer to the force and, with his adjutant, Lieutenant D. P. Kennedy, and a small administrative staff, he established a medical headquarters at Brigadier W. H. Cunningham's group headquarters at Tamavua. Headquarters company, under the command of Major J. R. Wells, besides staffing the hospital at Suva, was responsible for medical supplies page 13for the island and, later, was called upon to establish a convaiescent depot. A company, commanded first by Captain A. G. Couston and later by Captain M. Greville, was nominally a field company but it, too, was required for other duties. Initially it ran a small isolation hospital dealing with minor infectious cases, but later the establishment of a contagious disease hospital and the staffing of several RAP's (Regimental Aid Posts) were added to its duties. B company played a similar role in the tented Namaka Camp, but with the difference that it had to staff and maintain a 60-bed camp hospital.

Attached to the 7th Field Ambulance were 21 nursing sisters, under Matron G. L. Thwaites, NZANS. They lived at 'Chequers,' a private hotel near the hospital, and quickly settled down to the new conditions. As always, the members of the New Zealand Army Nursing Service did a grand job and were held in high regard by all. Our other attached personnel, the Army Service Corps, in charge of our transport, had their headquarters at Samambula with A company. Second-Lieutenant C. A. Churchill was in command, ably assisted by that forceful personality, Sergeant-Major N. C. Somerville.

Life in the field ambulance soon settled down to a routine as the erstwhile raw recruits became competent, if somewhat reluctant, nursing orderlies, stretcher bearers and the like. Recreation facilities were many and varied. Cricket, swimming, yachting and tennis were all very popular, and the unit played no small part in organised competitions. Sergeant Ian Matheson won acclaim for himself and headquarters company when he was victorious in the army singles tennis championship. Later, football, even in Fijian heat, was very popular, and our representatives, as the mainstay of the brigaded units team, captained by Sergeant-Major Jack Betteridge and with All Black Private Jack Hooper as centre three-quarters, won the local championship. Sightseeing also helped to pass away many hours, and we became interested tourists, visiting neighbouring islands, towns, native villages and Indian markets. On such excursions we discovered Fiji to be often quite as beautiful as depicted by tourist agencies, and it was then that we formed our high opinion of the cheerful, magnificently-proportioned native Fijian, whose exploits in the war against Japan have since won him well-deserved fame.

Perhaps the most noteworthy event in the unofficial early page 14life of the 7th Field Ambulance was the production, under the guidance of Privates Eric de Mauny, M. Gardner, Jack Chibnall and 'Kava' Brown, of a unit newspaper, The Blue Light. This was no cyclostyled amateurish effort, but a paper published by the local printer and publisher and reported as having for its tirst issue a wider distribution than any other paper in the South-west Pacific. Alas, The Blue Light, because of rather rigorous criticism in its second issue, fell foul of military authority and was summarily banned.

In January 1941, a convalescent depot was established on Nukulau Island. This island, which was no more than half a mile in diameter, was an outcrop on the coral reef a few miles from Suva. A former quarantine station for Indian indentured labour, Nukulau, with an excellent climate, delightful outlook and complete isolation from civilisation and affairs military, was admirably placed for a rest station. A launch flying the Red Cross plied daily between the mainland and the island carrying supplies and patients, and this was almost the sole contact with the outside world. Though complete rest and relaxation was the customary quest of the convalescent, riotous times were not unknown. On such occasions staff and patients cooperated with a will, and it was unfortunate that the later wellknown clause, 'Lost through the exigencies of the service;' was not then in vogue to explain the disappearance one night of a wharf trolley. Nukulau continued to flourish as a convalescent depot until, with the entry of Japan into the war, the tactical situation demanded its conversion to a more warlike role.

By this time personnel of Headquarters company had been required to vacate the marquees in the hospital grounds to make way for an increasing number of patients and now occupied part of the old Government Buildings in Suva. Life in this new home was as far removed as was possible to imagine from barrack life as it should be according to army regulations. Almost every night saw an impromptu party in progress, Private Alec Dwyer with his accordion or Private Don Morris at the piano providing the accompaniment for the oftribald songs composed by those redoubtables, Privates Whitlock and McDonald. Sailors from ships in port (notably our friends from the HMCS Prince Rupert and other servicemen passing through Suva seemed to find their way by instinct to the field ambulance barracks and bar. Many good times we had under the page break
The Suva Girls' Grammar School hostel was taken over by the 7th Field Ambulance in November. 1940, and served as the main military hospital until August, 1941 The hurricane of February, 1941, at its height Nukulan was a small island on the coral reef a few miles from Suva. Here the 7th Field Ambulance established a convalescent depot for all military patients

The Suva Girls' Grammar School hostel was taken over by the 7th Field Ambulance in November. 1940, and served as the main military hospital until August, 1941 The hurricane of February, 1941, at its height Nukulan was a small island on the coral reef a few miles from Suva. Here the 7th Field Ambulance established a convalescent depot for all military patients

page break
Joske's Thumb, a curious mountain feature some miles From Suva which was climbed by some enthusiastic 7th Field Ambulance personnel. The 'Battle of the Kaimais' was the first divisional manoeuvrc with newly acquired American transport. Here is a field ambulance jeep on a road hacked through bush by engineers Below is an aerial photograph of Samambula Camp, some miles from Suva. Huts built on the ridges

Joske's Thumb, a curious mountain feature some miles From Suva which was climbed by some enthusiastic 7th Field Ambulance personnel. The 'Battle of the Kaimais' was the first divisional manoeuvrc with newly acquired American transport. Here is a field ambulance jeep on a road hacked through bush by engineers
Below is an aerial photograph of Samambula Camp, some miles from Suva. Huts built on the ridges

page 15benignly watchful eye of the RSM, Sergeant-Major Martin Black, MM, who, on occasions, had to recall to our notice the fact of our proximity to Suva's civilian populace.
On 20 February 1941, a hurricane, with a wind force of 110 miles an hour, swept over Fiji. During the morning there was a refreshing breeze which, by ten o'clock, was rising to gale force. At the height of the blow heavily loaded trees were uprooted with ease, others snapped off like matchwood, many
The island of Viti Levu, Fiji, showing brigade areas in each of which a hospital was established

The island of Viti Levu, Fiji, showing brigade areas in each of which a hospital was established

civilian dwellings were unroofed and native bures and even whole villages flattened. Falling trees and flying timber, iron and coconuts were a constant source of danger, and several soldiers had reason to be thankful for their forethought in donning steel helmets. Our hospital was in a state of siege, sheltering patients and some civilian women and children who had been rendered temporarily homeless. Rain, driven almost horizontally by the page 16force of the hurricane, poured into the building from every direction, and the staff was employed continuously in a vain end eavour to keep the water inside the building under control. By noon the hurricane had reached its peak and by late evening the danger had passed, leaving a much battered Suva to assess the damage and begin the dreary task of tidying up. At Samambula Camp the damage was light and the new buildings came through this considerable testing remarkably well. However, several huts were demolished, others damaged and one store was destroyed by fire. At Namaka the worst of the hurricane was not felt. Tents were struck and personnel were required to spend a most uncomfortable night in the open. Nukulau felt the full force of the blow, and patients and staff were more than a little perturbed lest their tiny island, lying a few feet above sea level, should be completely inundated.

We now considered ourselves veterans of the Pacific, and already the majority of troops had wearied of the monotony of soldiering in the tropics and were becoming restive for a transfer to a more active theatre of war. In May, some six months after her first series of visits, the Rangatira again pulled into Suva, bringing with her the first relief for personnel of the 8th Brigade Group. The newcomers were warmly welcomed by those whose places they had come to take, while those less fortunate 'old hands,' whose time for relief had not yet come, consoled themselves with farewell parties to their comrades. The field ambulance relief personnel—the 'white leghorns '—looking and feeling untanned novices in their obviously new and seldom correctly fitting tropical issue, soon settled down and were absorbed into the three companies.

As our tenure of the Suva Girls' Grammar School hostel was only temporary a new hospital was built on the Tamavua heights, some five miles from Suva. The new hospital overlooked Lauthala Bay, with a view out to sea over the long white line of surf beating in over the reef. It was a magnificent site and had the advantage that, at its elevation, it seemed to catch each stirring breath of breeze. Early in August the transfer of patients and equipment from the old hospital took place on a day which will long be remembered by headquarters company and the ASC, but in particular by Major L. S. Talbot, who now commanded the hospital, Captain R. Copeland and his quartermaster's staff, page 17the adjutant, Lieutenant E. S. Thodey, and the RSM, Sergeant-Major R. G. G. Wilson. In the early hours of the morning of the shift a ship arrived with further relief personnel for the force, among whom were several patients requiring admission to hospital. The same morning some field ambulance personnel and many sick had to be embarked for return to New Zealand. Later, in the midst of the change-over, the rains came and continued unabated all day long, soaking the men and the equipment. At the new hospital, where only a few roads existed at the time, the area soon became a morass of mud which, despite the sisters' pleas, was tramped into the spick and span new building. However, the day ended, and by nightfall we were in possession of a modern, well-equipped hospital which was a credit to all who had been responsible for its construction. We had barely recovered from the disorganisation caused by the move when,. about the middle of August, a further relief draft arrived and all but certain key personnel of the original 7th Field Ambulance left Fiji for New Zealand. Members of the NZANS were also replaced by this and earlier drafts, and Miss D. M. Hall assumed the duties of matron when Miss Thwaites left.

Meanwhile our B company at Namaka was living an isolated but fairly enjoyable existence. By the end of May, 1941, they had occupied an up-to-date and well-equipped 60-bed camp-hospital. With few exceptions all the sick in the western area were treated at this hospital, including many serious cases for whom the long and dusty road trip to Suva would have been too much. Captain Coutts returned to New Zealand in August and his place as SMO area and company commander was taken by-Major E. N. S. D'Arcy. Lieutenant R. G. Macdonald was charged with training what personnel were available after the-claims for hospital staff had been satisfied. Besides routine field ambulance work, route marches and manoeuvres some RAPs were built in certain defensive areas.

A company, since Captain Greville's departure for New Zealand in October, was commanded by Lieutenant K. R. Archer. The threat of war in the Pacific was at this time becoming daily more ominous, and the attitude towards our work and probable future role was fast changing. Alarms and manoeuvres were becoming frequent and defensive works everywhere were under construction. A company had its full share of this latter work,, and its personnel are not likely to forget the tank trap from page 18Samambula to Tamavua. In. October 1941 our commanding officer returned to New Zealand. Lieutenant-Colonel Davie had been responsible for the initial organisation of the medical services in Fiji, and the fact that one field ambulance had successfully carried out the functions usually performed by several medical units was due in no small measure to his guiding hand. His appointment as SMO, B Force, was taken by Colonel A. C. McKillop, ED, who was appointed to the position as assistant director of medical services to an embryonic Third Division. Lieutenant-Colonel W. D, S. Johnston, ED, arrived towards the end of the month to become commanding officer of the 7th Field Ambulance, with his headquarters at the hospital at Tamavua.

For the next few weeks, until 7 December, 1941, preparations to meet a possible outbreak of war in the Pacific went ahead at an ever-increasing rate. After the attack on Pearl Harbour work on defences was tackled with renewed vigour. Headquarters company toiled long, weary hours over and above normal duties in digging shelters and slit-trenches for patients and staff. The site of the hospital, formerly our joy, was now cursed as we struggled to hide its conspicuous night lights behind black-out screens. A and B companies, too, were fully occupied with defence works—digging slit-trenches and preparing sites for RAPs and advanced dressing stations. A company came to the assistance of headquarters in the contruction of an underground hospital which was being tunnelled in the rock-like soap-stone at Tamavua. Lieutenant D. J. H. Meredith and a small party from B company were called upon to operate a second hospital at Lautoka to service the Civilian Construction Unit which had been sent from New Zealand to complete the airstrip at Nandi. Life at this stage was a good deal more exciting, and most of us were considerably happier as we realised at last the necessity for our garrison and our new importance in the cause we wefe serving.

January, 1942, saw the establishment of the Third Division. The same month a large medical reinforcement arrived at Lautoka and was absorbed into B company. In February this company was lost to the 7th Field Ambulance when, from it, two hew any distinct units were formed; the first, a light field ambulance, which became the 22nd Field Ambulance commanded by our former adjutant, Captain Thodey; the second, the Namaka Hospital, under the command of Major P. C. Brunette, the page 19former 7th Field Ambulance surgeon. These two units serviced the newly-formed 14th Brigade in the western area and passed entirely from the control of the 7th Field Ambulance, which now confined its attentions to the eastern area. In March, 1942, a further considerable reinforcement arrived in Suva to build up the newly organised medical services. The majority of these men were posted to headquarters and A companies of the 7th Field Ambulance—the former to become a new unit at Tamavua Hospital and the latter, the sole surviving company of the original 7th Field Ambulance, to retain its title and become a light field ambulance.

For the remainder of its stay in Fiji the 7th Field Ambulance, now a light field ambulance of approximately 180 all ranks commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Stoney Johnston, confined its functions to serving the newly constituted 8th Brigade, The old A company was retained as such, but was commanded by Major F. G. Barrowclough, who had till then been physician of the hospital at Tamavua. Recently arrived reinforcements formed B company, under Captain Archer, and our ASC company was commanded by our old friend, Sergeant-Major Somerville, now a second-lieutenant. Headquarters was no longer a company, but an administrative team under the former RSM of the old field ambulance, Sergeant-Major Graham Wilson who, as a lieutenant, became adjutant and quartermaster. Two of the 'old contemptibles' of B Force, Sergeant Bert Hart and Corporal Matt McCann, were promoted as senior NCOs of the unit—the former to become RSM and the latter senior NCO of B company, a position which he held with distinction from this time until the division was finally disbanded. Corporal Vic King became quartermaster-sergeant and an institution in the 7th Field Ambulance. A large, genial person, he knew all the answers and his sayings (including 'the old family motto') greeted our members on all their subsequent journeys.

We settled down in A camp, Samambula, and our time was fully occupied with training and seemingly endless work on defence projects. For many weeks we worked three eight-hour shifts a day completing the underground hospital at Tamavua. It was hard, dreary work in the stifling heat, but the finished job was a really fine effort. Then we had to construct shelters and the inevitable slit-trenches at our battle headquarters at Tamavua Village. RAPs round the area of Suva's defences were page 20also prepared, to be manned, in the event of attack, by our personnel and members of the Fiji Defence Force. From all this work we became expert (navvies.' skilled in handling pick, crowbar and shovel, and even now, from this distance, backs ache at the mere thought of soap-stone.

As interludes to all this digging we managed some training and manoeuvres and were called out for numerous alarms. Our manoeuvres were never undertaken without an accompaniment of really heavy rain, so that even if tactically the manoeuvre was not a success, it always achieved something in the toughening-up process by our having to spend long periods in wet clothes, sleeping in improvised shelters and pretending to be cheerful. There were several excellent alarms, some of which we thought were the real thing. The best remembered is the one in cooperation with recently arrived elements of the American Army Air Corps, who put up a realistic show of dive-bombing the town and army installations, creating a panic in Suva, where shelters were rushed and all exit roads jammed by fleeing and terrified natives. When army convoys, carrying troops and equipment to battle stations, reached the crowded roads confusion became chaos, and we had an excellent preview of the danger a panic-stricken and disorganised civilian crowd could be in the event of a real attack.

We had our share of ceremonial parades, with their concomitant frenzy of preparations and rehearsals. One such parade was in honour of the Governor-General of New Zealand, Sir Cyril Newall. For this occasion headquarters formed a company with personnel of a field ambulance section attached to Tamavua Hospital to build up its numbers. As the senior NCO, Staff-Sergeant King, whose knowledge of parade ground work was fairly limited, was in charge of the company. Not a whit abashed by the occasion, Vic, in moving the company off, issued his classic command, 'Right oh, you, shove off!' His personal prestige, however, was such that the company 'shoved off 'in a way with which even the RSM could find little fault. Sports still played a large part in our lives, and the rugby football competition was followed with avid interest, even though the hardness of the grounds caused many injuries. A successful brigade sports meeting was held on Albert Park, Suva, when the 7th Field Ambulance was the only unit to win an event from the Fijian Battalions (which now formed part of the brigade), when page 21Lieutenant D. A. Gordon's fifteen stone put the shot a good deal further than the best efforts of all other competitors.

By June many elements of America's armed forces were in Fiji and we were almost swamped by rumours as to the disposal of the Third Division. Speculation ceased when the giant President Coolidge pulled into the wharf at Suva and we received instructions to pack equipment in preparation for a move. On 17 July, 1942, the 7th Field Ambulance, after a sojourn of 21 months in Fiji, embarked on the third flight of the Coolidge.

Fiji will always be remembered with affection, for its people were kindly and treated us well. Many of us, however, had been in the garrison too long, and it was with unbounded relief that we pulled away from Suva wharf to the stirring strains of 'Bless 'em all.' Later, in different theatres of war, the wistful Fijian melody, 'Isa Lei,' has been heard wherever men of the Third Division served, and, since memories are notoriously short-lived, it was sung with a certain nostalgia as the happier moments of our first overseas station were recalled.