The hospital, situated high above Piraeus on the outskirts of Kokkinia, opened on 9 May 1941, being at first staffed by the remnant of 5 Australian Hospital, 6 officers and 160 men. They and their patients were moved from their old hospital site at Ekali, Athens. The senior administrative officer recognised by the Germans was Major Brooke-Moore, AAMC, and with him was Captain E. V. page 107 Barling, AAMC, as Adjutant. They organised and ran the hospital; and to them great credit is due for having accomplished a very difficult task at a time when all personnel, be they English, Australian or New Zealand, were naturally finding it difficult to settle down to a new and strange way of life in captivity, under new officers. In all their dealings with the Germans the OC and Adjutant were greatly helped by Lance-Corporal Lewis, AAMC, who, having previously lived in Munich for ten years, had a first-class knowledge of German and an acute understanding of the German mentality. They were fortunate in being so well served.

On 10 May 1941, 75 patients and 24 medical and dental staff were brought in a convoy from Corinth, and on 13 May they were joined by a remnant of 26 British General Hospital from Kifisia. The other officers and men from the staff of that hospital, after all their magnificent work at Kifisia, were transported to the overcrowded prisoner-of-war camp in Corinth, where there were also thirty New Zealand medical orderlies from the staff of the convalescent hospital at Voula, for whose transfer to Kokkinia Captain Slater made numerous unavailing requests to the German medical authorities.

Then followed the battle for Crete, from which wounded prisoners were admitted to the hospital from 25 May until 6 June, arriving by air or sea transport. Because of a great increase in casualties a walking wounded and convalescent hospital was opened on 29 May, half a mile away, as an annexe of the main hospital. Later, on 6 June, a subsidiary hospital, which functioned for one month, was opened in the Polytechnic Building, Athens, Major Thomson being senior British medical officer.

The admissions to the hospital at Kokkinia by early June totalled over 2000, made up as follows:

Thus the mixed hospital staff at Kokkinia performed a most valuable function in caring for large numbers of sick and wounded prisoners from their own forces. At the peak after the battle for Crete there were 850 occupied beds in the main hospital.

From Crete came captured New Zealand medical officers. Employment was quickly found for them.

When the Polytechnic hospital closed on 14 July 1941 the staff were brought to the ‘convalescent’ camp at Kokkinia, and those not absorbed into the hospital life there were soon transported by sea to Salonika, thence by rail to Germany.

The Kokkinia hospital was under the direct command of a young German captain, who, from the start, ran it on strict German military lines – with breakfast for all at 6.30 a.m., lunch at midday, tea at 6 p.m. There was a half-day free on Sunday for the staff, if they had worked well. Daily check parades for all were soon replaced by twice-weekly check parades for orderlies and patients, the former parading, the latter remaining in their beds.

The Kokkinia hospital was established in a very large ferroconcrete building of five blocks, all except one of four storeys. Large courtyards separated the blocks and no dwellings were within 300 yards of the hospital. The smaller block of three storeys was used for administration and special services, including operating theatres, and the kitchen. The other four blocks all housed patients in 60-bed wards. Male orderlies staffed the wards. The routine was strict and full records were kept both by the medical officers and the charge orderlies.

The operating theatres were well equipped from 5 Australian General Hospital and adequate British supplies of linen, sutures and anaesthetics were available. The Australians equipped and staffed a laboratory capable of carrying out all routine examinations. An X-ray plant was also installed from 5 Australian General Hospital, but the portable X-ray machine was commandeered by the Germans and fracture cases could not be screened in bed. A reasonable supply of films was provided by the Germans.

An excellent dental service was provided by the New Zealand Mobile Dental Unit, which recovered its equipment from Voula camp. Dentures were made and fractured jaws were splinted.

Medical supplies were available from Australian and British stores. There were some shortages, notably of sulphonamides and dressings, and the German plaster was of poor quality. Surgical instruments and syringes were in short supply.

Discharges

In the five months at Kokkinia 68 patients died, while 2334 were discharged as cured or relieved and 109 remained invalids. All parties going to Germany had medical personnel attached and carried emergency kits with dressings. The larger parties had medical officers attached as well.

Food

The German attitude to the British was reasonable, except as far as food was concerned. From the start rations were low, approximately 1500–1800 calories a day; and try as they might, the British authorities could never get the ration increased.

The daily ration consisted of three ounces of bread, lentils, broad beans, a little meat, dried ling, sugar, and dry mint for tea. The fat ration was a Dutch liquid cooking margarine. Hard biscuits, lard, rice, tomatoes and cucumbers were also included in the menu.

Everybody shared alike in the rations, except that the very ill had a little supplementary diet when available, for example, when for a time it was possible to buy milk from the Greeks. A canteen, stocked mainly with fruit purchased by the Greek Red Cross, was opened at the end of May. Through the good graces of the Greek Red Cross, and from local traders, milk, fresh fruit, onions, and even eggs could be bought. These were cooked in the wards or rooms on primus stoves, the property of 5 Australian General Hospital. Kerosene supplies were fortunately maintained throughout the period the hospital functioned. Ever abundant olive oil was used as the frying medium. By the end of September some forty British Red Cross food parcels had been delivered, but parcels were slow in reaching Greece in any quantity and most prisoners received no issue until they reached Germany.

The Greek Red Cross, ably organised by Mme Zannas, paid weekly visits to the hospital delivering mail and special articles required by prisoners, including a piano, and in all ways served to boost morale, as indeed did all the Greek people during the time of captivity in Greece.

Clothing

The basis of the clothing store was the stock of 5 Australian General Hospital. This was augmented by drill shirts, jackets and page 110 trousers from 26 British General Hospital. Another unexpected and welcome find was an enormous stock of washed British drill shirts and shorts which had been left dirty by the evacuating British in a large steam laundry in Athens. During the last days of freedom the Greek staff had systematically cleaned it. Some Greek civilian bedding was in the building when it was taken over as a prisoner-of-war hospital. The Greek Red Cross donated 400 pairs of socks and the Germans procured a number of Greek army boots. From this store all patients who came from Crete were able to get a small issue of clothing, and all except a dozen obtained boots. Winter wear was only to be found in Germany, and some whose entry to Germany was delayed until March 1942 spent a chilly winter at Salonika in light summer clothing.

Patients Treated and Types of Injury – Statistics

The patients in Kokkinia came from four chief sources:

Classes 2 and 3 were really very ill indeed, very hungry and thirsty and ill clad. Practically all their wounds were suppurating. They had had some preliminary treatment at the time of wounding.

Severe injuries of all kinds were dealt with, but most of the severe chest and abdominal cases did not survive to reach Athens. There were 13 deaths in 88 head cases. Some 349 compound fractures were treated, with 11 deaths and 27 amputations. Plaster splints were applied and sulphonamides administered. Lack of a portable X-ray machine led to deformity in many fractures of the femur, for which both Thomas and Braun splints were used with Kirschner wire traction. Secondary haemorrhage necessitated several amputations. Of 132 cases with joint injuries, 9 died and 9 had amputation performed.

Blood transfusions were given for haemorrhage and for secondary anaemia, orderlies being used as donors. Nerve injuries were not explored. Some aneurysms were operated on and excised.

Of 613 patients with major simple wounds 15 died, 4 from gas gangrene, 6 from sepsis, and 3 from secondary haemorrhage.

Bone grafting was carried out for some of the jaw injuries. Sixteen eyes had to be removed, and vulcanite artificial eyes were made by the dental department. Two cases of tetanus were recorded, one a Maori, and both died. Both had had prophylactic tetanus toxoid but not anti-tetanus serum after wounding.

Sixteen cases of gas gangrene were recorded and six died.

There were eight deaths from disease among 800 cases, 300 of which had some form of infectious disease.