PRISONERS OF WAR

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 2, Issue 144, 8 April 1940, Page 7

PRISONERS OF WAR

CREWS OF RAIDER'S VICTIMS LIFE IN THE "ALTMARCK" ' The following account of his experience from the time he joined the "Doris Star" in New Zealand until he and 29S other seamen were rescued from the "Altmarck' 5, was ; ; given by Gunner William Wheeler ><of Dunedin (aged 21 years). "After leaving Auckland our ship, ""which was stacked to the hatches "with produce for England, ran into 'what was called not too good weather. At Sydney, our first port of -call., we loaded wool, which filled •our 'tween decks and was loaded •also on the deck hatches. After leav ing Sydney we proceeded across the Indian Ocean towards Capetown. We were 'on our own', without a ►convoy. Arriving at Capetown we fuelled for a day and a half; and a ifew days out from Capetown, as we w<jjV' sitting on the poop, there was a terrific explosion on. the poit quar fter. Swinging round Ave were just In time to see the water gush up :~iia the air. Knowing at once that : something of enemy nature was in the vicinity we rushed to the gun and loaded it. By that time the officer had arrived and ring ,'ini> up the bridge from the after platform he asked the Captain whether there was any message as to what it was. Just then there Avas .■another explosion and a shell buvst .on the starboard side of the ship. We received word with the rest of the crew to make our way towards the boats. At 'abandon ship' everyone went down into the boats and waited for the officers to take over. There was no panic or confusion, : and the men behaved with very, very great coolness, 'German Boarding Party. About half-an-hour afterwards a "German motorboat came alongside and we were ordered back to our ship. When we were back on our ship a German officer took our names, and told us that we had ten minutes to get a blanket, plate and knife and fork as we were going on , board the 'Graf Spee.' The funny , part about the boarding i>arty was ( that, though the officer said the ; Graf Spee, the men had 'DeutschJand' on their hatbands. But the Graf Spee was not disguised. When j we were taken on board the war- ; ship we were received very well, < surprisingly so seeing it was an enemy craft. After wc had. sorted i out the wee bits of luggage most of ; us had, the Germans told us we ] would have to go through a medical 1 examination, so we had to go below decks and bath. Then we were tak- i en in ones and twos to the German < medical officer, who was very polite <

While Ave were waiting to go into the doctor's rcom, I counted seven shells fired at the 'Doris Star' to sink her, and I am sure they were from the 11-inch guns.. Also we found out later that one torpedo had been fired.

The "Tairoa" Sunk. The next morning Ave were awakened about half past five by gunlire and AA T e thought for the moment that a British Avarship had picked up' the message that our Avireless ■operator had tapped out the day before. But one of the German officers told us a steamer called the 'Tairoa' had been captured and was being sunk. Then after the 'Tairoa' crew had been brought aboard (there Avere 83 of them) Ave receiA r ed an extra ten of them in our mess,, which brought our quota in the fore deck Up to 69. We Avere now worse for accommodation than before. Then the 'Graf Spee" made aAvay at a high speed, bending into the A Vest. About a" day later Ave Avere allowed to go up on deck; and the Germans (they must have been so confident) had Avireless going for us, and the railings (which are always doAvn on board a Avarship Avhen she is expecting action) Avere put up and the crew Avere sun-bathing.

On the Wednesday afternoon avc Were informed Ave were being transferred to a tanker, but her nationality Avas not given. About two in the afternoon Ave Avere transferred from the 'Graf Spec' to the tanker, leaving behind us all holding a master's ticket and a chief officer's ticket. I was placed. Avith 25 others from the 'Doris Star' in a deep tank "25 feet beloAV Avater leA'cl, Avith the

'Trevanion's' crew, Avho Avcrc already captives. There Averc 19 of them, Avliich brought our quota in the tank up to about 45. We then learned that the ship avss definitely a German supply ship disguised

as a Norwegian tanker. We were tiold it was the 'Sogne' and it was painted neutral colours and ilew the Norwegian (lag. Life in Prison Ship. The I'ood consisted of German black bread lor breakfast and a small mug of tea in a tin; and for dinner we had some soup, and lor tea bread and cheese. 1 suppose it | was ordinary German prison fare. A few days later we headed south ; at fast speed and wc kept on going south. The atmosphere became colder and colder. At that time we were informed by a German on board that the 'Graf Spec' had been sunk; and for telling us this he received a sentence of 21 days' bread and water. We made many games to amuse ourselves,, We used to wrestle and fight amongst ourselves to keep lit, but after we had been on there a while we felt so weak that it became an effort and a strain. So we made games out of bits of wood and also made small models of ships that we had been on, as well as shoes to wear. There were New Zealanders on board from the 'Ashlea,' a ship that had been captured. Noel Bevan of Wellington, was on the 'Altmarck.' Others from the 'Tairoa" and 'Doric Star' were-: Colin Watt (Wellington), R. Pittan (Auckland), P. G. Bowie (Wellington), G. C. Lynch (Onehunga), P. J. Craig (Auckland), David Nicholas (Auckland), Jack Blythe (Auckland) and N. Iv. Brown (Auckland). Sight of Land. j After we had been in southern latitudes the best part, of a month and a bit the 'Altmarck' one day turned north and began to race at full steam. W r e went from the cold into the tropics and out of the tropics into the Arctic. What course she followed no one can actually say, but it would be a safe surmise that we went almost up the centre of the Atlantic. No one knew where

sve "were or what was happening. □ wing to bad weather many were never on deck, and it wasn't until we bad been steaming full speed for a fortnight or three Aveeks that >ne morning a chap came down i'roin the deck, after getting the tea, :md told lis that there was land on jaeh side of lis. We were all excited and climbed the scuttleway one it a time to sec what it was and vhere we might be. That night the 'Altmarck' stop)ed and we did not know whether ;hc was in port or not; but the win•lies on the fo'c'sle and on the deck .vere running at high speed and we io\v know the noise was to drown my calls of the prisoners. T suppose avc might then have been at Jergen. Next morning we were all tilled vith thoughts of mutiny and escape, but we were watched far too dosely for any attempt to be made. The lid 011 top of the tank had been screwed down tight and a grating was placed over the top of the scuttleway. Unknown Lo lis. there hail been a mutiny in the fore part of the .ship and the prisoners there had nearly escaped. Next morning we were noti (ied by the captain that we were to be put on bread and water. Well, it was not bread, but biscuits that an average person would feed iio a dog. We lived on it for that day. with a pint of water.

In the afternoon the ship stopped and Ave neAer knew whether Ave were at anchor or tied up alongside a wharf owing to the fact that we were battened down. That night about 11 o'clock two of the chaps who Ave re holding Avatches (aac had been dividing watches between ten of us) Ave re playing cards when the ship suddenly Avent full speed ahead, and then after shaking and shiA'ering she Avent full speed astern There was another series of jars, and then a big jar., and we at noee knew that she had cither run aground or had banged into something or other. We were doAvn there in the tank ready and Availing to be called up by German officers in case she had begun to sink, when the tank top Avas dragged back and a Naval rating of some description yelled out, "Any British down there? It's the Navy up here." There Avas a Cockney on the top deck and he said, "Gosh! Blimey! It's the NaA'y!" A Beautiful Sight.

At first avc could not believe it and when we knew it to be true we at once made our way up on to the deck. It was a beautiful sight; there were mountains about twenty live yards away. We Ave re aground astern on the rocks, and Ave then saw a small ship and a few houses, and a Avarehouse" of some description. Lying over at the jetty was a Norwegian gunboat.

After avc were fill mustered on the deek a British Naviili officer spoke from the 'cat walk' and told us that the (annans had mined the ship and that she ;\vas timed to blow up in Jilly minutes. lie told us to go forward on to the fo'e'sle head and prepare to embark on board the Destroyer which was com ing up alongside with its searchlights showing. All the chaps on tiie I'o'c'sle head, as 1-1. M.S. Cossack ran alongside. threw their bags and what little gear they had, on board,, and then jumped on board themselves. Some were very eager and jumped the best part of seven feet. The Cossack was alongside for only a matter of minutes and the British captain then ordered her away; and we sailed out of the fiord in triumph. We were very happy, and Avere thinking of home and our people and of what Ave were going to see once avc got ashore. "When avc Avere transferred beioAV decks the crew of H.M.S. Cossack gaA*e us eA'erytliing possible. They brought cigarettes and chocolate from their canteens and ga\*e us n vcrj", a - cry cnjuyahle meal, so different from the German food avc had been eating. So avc made for Leith Avlicre at the Avliarf we Avere received by a croAvd such as greet few great, famous personages. "We were treated with, the utmost hospitality and care by the people of Leith and surrounding districts.