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

I — Forebears

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I
Forebears

Unlike the mule, which has neither pride of ancestry nor hope of posterity, the 4th NZ General Hospital can boast of two lusty and honourable parents, though the question as to which can be more rightly referred to as the alma mater must be answered only by the reader according to his affections. It was on 1 September, 1942, that the Tamavua and Namaka Hospitals of Fijian fame gave birth to that then somewhat disjointed child, 4th NZ General Hospital, and, in so doing, sounded their own death knells and ceased to exist. Elsewhere in this volume there appears an account of how, in March, 1942, these two units seceded from our original forebear, the 7th Field Ambulance. Let us therefore confine ourselves to a brief resume of the lives of our immediate parents only.

Tamavua Hospital was housed in a modern and well appointed 200-bed hospital on the heights of Tamavua, with a magnificent outlook to sea. Commanded by Major E. Y. Comrie, NZMC, with Miss D. M. Hall, NZANS, as matron, we carried on much as before in the tradition of the 7th Field Ambulance. Work on the underground shelter for hospital patients continued until finally completed by the engineers and field working parties. It had been an ambitious project and, though fortunately never required for use, the completion of the shelter made those who would be responsible for the care of sick and injured in the event of an attack a good deal easier in mind.

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A typical New Caledonian scene which shows the first site of the 4th General Hospital in the Boguen River valley. Mosquitoes were really famous in this desolate stretch of niaouli-growing country Right: The 7th Field Ambulance camp at Fencourt, Cambridge, where the unit underwent some hard training on its return from Fiji. Here is the camp after a rain storm. This hospital in the tented Namaka Camp, originally run by B company, 7th Field Ambulance, later served as a base hospital for 14th Brigade in the western area

A typical New Caledonian scene which shows the first site of the 4th General Hospital in the Boguen River valley. Mosquitoes were really famous in this desolate stretch of niaouli-growing country
Right: The 7th Field Ambulance camp at Fencourt, Cambridge, where the unit underwent some hard training on its return from Fiji. Here is the camp after a rain storm. This hospital in the tented Namaka Camp, originally run by B company, 7th Field Ambulance, later served as a base hospital for 14th Brigade in the western area

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An aerial photograph of the 7th Field Ambulance hospital at Tamavua, taken in June 1941. two months before the buildings were occupied. Situated high on a ridge beside one of the main roads the hospital claimed a magnificent outlook to sea and caught every breath of wind. On the opposite page is a small picture of the hospital taken after it had become the base hospital for the eastern area. The square building on the right of the picture is the nurses' home. Below is a section of a 250-bed hospital shelter tunnelled in the soap-stone below the Tamavua Hospital. This was started by the unskilled labour of field ambulance men and was completed under the supervision of engineers as a major project in the defence scheme

An aerial photograph of the 7th Field Ambulance hospital at Tamavua, taken in June 1941. two months before the buildings were occupied. Situated high on a ridge beside one of the main roads the hospital claimed a magnificent outlook to sea and caught every breath of wind. On the opposite page is a small picture of the hospital taken after it had become the base hospital for the eastern area. The square building on the right of the picture is the nurses' home. Below is a section of a 250-bed hospital shelter tunnelled in the soap-stone below the Tamavua Hospital. This was started by the unskilled labour of field ambulance men and was completed under the supervision of engineers as a major project in the defence scheme

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Once airstrips became available, air transport was invariably used to evacuate sick and wounded from the forward areas to the CCS at Guadalcanal. During the first days of combat, however, returning ships of the early echelons were pressed into service. In the above photograph wounded from the Treasuries are seen on the lift of an LST. Below: Stretcher bearers unloading wounded from a barge during the Treasury action

Once airstrips became available, air transport was invariably used to evacuate sick and wounded from the forward areas to the CCS at Guadalcanal. During the first days of combat, however, returning ships of the early echelons were pressed into service. In the above photograph wounded from the Treasuries are seen on the lift of an LST. Below: Stretcher bearers unloading wounded from a barge during the Treasury action

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For the next three months life proceeded smoothly enough, though we were constantly keyed up by the threat that Fiji would be the next objective in the seemingly irresistible Japanese drive south. Preparations for defence were pushed ahead at a great rate, and the smiling, peaceful Suva now looked grim in its war paint. Underground shelters, beach defences, tank traps, road blocks, a complete blackout, and even, latterly, a curfew were all part of Suva's grim determination to do all possible to avoid the fates of other similar Pacific towns. Reinforcements continued to arrive, and the New Zealanders now comprised a considerable force. Americans came on the scene, and their air force, in particular, was a source of great comfort to us all. The increased numbers of service personnel on the island kept the hospital fully occupied, and we were often required to hold patients far in excess of our official capacity.

Meanwhile the Namaka Hospital, commanded by Major P. C. Brunette, NZMC, was also experiencing accommodation difficulties. By the middle of March, 1942, an overtaxed hospital accommodated 150 patients in what was originally intended to be a 60-bed camp hospital. Several marquees were erected to house the overflow, and these remained fully occupied during the unit's brief but eventful life at Namaka.

The hospital had been built in the palmy days of peace in the Pacific when Fiji was looked upon as an advanced training ground for New Zealand troops who would subsequently serve in the Middle East. But, with the Japanese invasion possible, defence preparations sprang up overnight. The hospital found itself between the second and third lines of trench defence, surrounded by concealed gun emplacements, anti-aircraft posts and ammunition dumps. A new site was an urgent necessity, and it was finally decided that a 200-bed hospital should be built some ten miles up the Sambeto Valley. Pending the erection of the new buildings under civilian contract, temporary additions to the old hospital were made. The adjoining officers' and sergeants' messes of the Namaka Camp were taken over and set up as skin wards, the laundry was extended and natives employed as laundrymen and for most of the general duties around the hospital. By early April, and since the arrival of nursing sisters under Miss G. L. Thwaites, NZANS, as matron, the hospital was running fairly smoothly and could handle any sudden influx of patients.

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With an increase in the number of post-operative cases, the need for a convalescent depot became more and more pressing. The Civil Construction Unit had completed its work on the Nandi aerodrome by late May, and, with the departure of the workmen, the small CCU hospital at Lautoka was leased to the New Zealand authorities to serve as a depot for convalescing hospital patients. Captain J. Rule was in charge, and the depot was staffed by orderlies of the Namaka Hospital, Ideally situated some half a mile from Lautoka and with free access to the tennis courts and golf links nearby, the convalescent depot, though it only operated for two and a-half months, handled many patients and was worthwhile in every way.

By June, 1942, it was apparent that the American forces would be taking over the defence of the Fiji Islands, and in July, with the majority of other New Zealand troops in Fiji, the Tamavua and Namaka Hospitals embarked on one of the several trips made by the President Coolidge and set sail for the 'promised land.'

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