other prisoners aft on the poop, at that time some two hundred of
them. Over half of them had no shoes, socks or overshirts, and fully
one-fifth of them wore no undershirt. I asked a couple of them why they
did not wear a shirt in that blazing tropical sun. They told me that
they had only one shirt apiece and that the sweat rotted them so fast,
that they were going without shirts at present and saving them till
the weather got cold. Three times a day each squad flunkey (a squad
consisted of fourteen prisoners) would troop up to the galley amidships
and get their rations for the meal--a kettle of alleged tea or coffee,
black bread, and at noon a kettle of goulash, resembling a soft stew.
I had been on board the _Wolf_ for some time before I finally got the
chance to sneak down below aft and see what the prisoners' quarters
were like and have a talk with some of the men.
The prisoners' quarters on the _Wolf_ were located aft in the cargo
hold, and had their only entrance under the poop, on the main deck. The
quarters themselves were reached by means of a narrow ladder only, and
this ladder was built in such a manner that not more than two persons
could pass up or down at the same time, or one person up and one down
simultaneously, thereby guarding against a concerted rush in event of
an escape being planned.
Over the entrance or hole in the deck leading to these stairs was
slung a heavy iron hatch or cover, in such a manner that it could be
dropped into place instantaneously by one of the guards. This hatch
would effectually close the only exit from the quarters where there
were over two hundred prisoners confined. Also the closing of this
hatch would cut off nearly one-half the air supply; during the times
when this hatch was closed, when the _Wolf_ was passing through some
danger, the suffering in the hold from lack of air was often intense.
Even under normal conditions the air supply was inadequate. It was
probably 8:30 P.M. when I was there, and I would judge the temperature
to have been between 118 and 120 degrees Fahrenheit, and the reek of
feet, breath and bodies was something awful. On this particular night,
I should judge from one-quarter to three-eighths of an inch of sweat
was on the floor, and when the vessel rolled there would be a thin
scum of liquid running from side to side. The walls and ceiling were
literally running water, which was caused by moisture drawn from
the bodies of the men by the hot iron sides of the ship and the deck
overhead. Combine stale tobacco smoke with this atmosphere, and it was
a wonder to me that a human being could exist in it.
At this time everybody was herded into the one compartment--captains,
mates, engineers, firemen, sailors, cooks and flunkies, all
together--white men, niggers, Turks, Greeks and Japanese. At night
everybody slept in hammocks and during the day these hammocks were
"made up" and piled away in one corner, thus leaving enough room for
several rough plank tables and benches to be set up. There were no
lockers or any compartments where a man could put his spare clothing
or shaving gear, therefore no man's gear was safe from theft. A man
who didn't have a shirt would steal one from a man who had two; this
made it impossible for a man to have any more clothes than just what he
stood in. Later on many of the men were given empty cases or boxes and
fixed them up to keep their spare gear in.
The sanitary arrangements at this time were very poor, there being
only three toilets for all hands. Certain squads of men would take
turns in keeping these quarters clean, the whole place being thoroughly
scrubbed out three times a week. I mean thoroughly in the full sense
of the word. Everything moveable, excepting the clothing boxes, was
taken on deck, then the room scrubbed with heavy brushes and sand. Next
the tables and benches were scoured with sand and canvas, the hammocks
scrubbed and the various tin dishes used for food were scoured bright.
After everything was dry it was put back in place and the prisoner
officer made an inspection. It was very seldom that he found anything
to complain of, as the men seemed to welcome this house-cleaning as it
gave them something to do to occupy their time. Reading material was
very scarce, so the time passed very slowly.
There was supposed to be a regular daily routine; but owing to the
many interruptions, such as gun practice, fire drill, boarding drill
and drills with small arms, this routine was not always carried out.
At 5:30 A.M. all the prisoners were waked up and by six o'clock all
the hammocks were made up and stowed away. Then the tables were set up
in place and the table laid for breakfast. At seven o'clock the squad
flunkies would get their gear ready, and promptly at 7:20 breakfast
would be ready. Immediately after breakfast the dishes were cleaned
and the quarters given their regular daily clean up. Usually during
the forenoon, after their work was done, the prisoners were allowed to
go up on deck and enjoy the fresh air. Dinner at 12:30 noon, coffee
at 3:30 P.M., and supper at 6:30. Very seldom was anybody allowed on
deck after coffee. At 8:00 P.M. all lights were extinguished excepting
three, one over the steps at the exit and two at the back of the
quarters.
The distribution of the fresh water was also very poor. Each prisoner
was allowed half a gallon per day for washing, drinking and bathing
purposes. This amount, properly conserved, will answer the purpose,
but unfortunately the method of distribution was so poor that not all
got their regular allowance; and the loss of this water caused the
unfortunate ones great inconvenience, especially during the time that
the _Wolf_ was in the tropics. Many of the men used tea to brush their
teeth in; and I have heard of cases where tea had been used for shaving
purposes, but imagine these cases to be rare.
While there, a Captain of a big British oil tank steamer that had been
captured and sunk told me the following piece of history. I afterwards
verified this and can vouch for its truth. While the _Wolf_ was lying
at Sunday Island undergoing repairs to her boilers, the prisoners were
furnished with fish hooks and line and a couple of jolly boats and
allowed to row into the rocks and catch fish. Each boat, of course, was
in charge of an armed sentry. After fishing they would return to the
_Wolf_ each night. On the night before the _Wolf_ was to sail two men,
the chief mate and first assistant engineer of the S.S. _Turitella_,
dropped overboard and swam for the shore. Before leaving the vessel
these men had secreted on their persons a supply of fish hooks and
lines, a small hunter's hatchet, two large sheath knives each, matches
and a good supply of tobacco. The matches and tobacco were securely
wrapped in waterproof oilcloth. Just at dusk, as the prisoners were
being ordered below, these two men slipped over the side, sliding down
a rope into the water. They then swam under the stern and climbed up on
the rudder and sat there in such a manner that they could not be seen
from on deck. A confederate in the meantime had taken care of the line
hanging over the side. About nine o'clock, when it was good and dark,
they again slipped into the water and swam for the shore some half a
mile distant. There is a strong current setting parallel with the shore
in this particular locality and, as the water is infested with sharks,
the betting among the men was two to one that neither of them would
make it.
Later on, from some of the officers that had been on shore at Sunday
Island, I found out there had formerly been a family living there,
but at this particular time they were away on a visit, probably to
New Zealand, as they had left their house fully furnished and with
quite a supply of provisions on hand. Everything indicated that they
intended returning at a later date. A calendar hanging on the wall
indicated that this family had left there between April 17th and 23d.
When the loss of the prisoners was finally discovered there was a
great rumpus, and as a punishment all the prisoners were kept below
for twenty-eight days, being allowed on deck for only one hour each
day, weather permitting, for exercise. The British captain said that
those were the most awful days he ever experienced in his life and that
each day he and the rest were getting perceptibly thinner. Just about
this time I got the sign from the sentry that the prisoner officer
was coming and I had to beat a retreat. Afterwards I found out that it
was not the prisoner officer but the mine officer, Lieutenant Dedrick,
who proved to be a humane officer and a champion of the prisoners.
Dedrick came down below into the hell hole and got one good lungful
of the rotten atmosphere and went immediately to the Commander and
reported conditions. Commander Nerger at once called both doctors and
accompanied them aft on a tour of inspection. The next day everybody
was chased on deck and the "Hell Hole" below was cleaned out and better
ventilation arranged for; it was also painted; also the captured
captains and ships' officers were given quarters to themselves, while
the whites and blacks were separated. On the whole the conditions
for these two hundred men were improved one hundred per cent. The
prisoner officer was confined to his room for five days for allowing
such conditions to exist. Nerger had inspected these quarters before,
but only when the men were on deck and the place freshly cleaned out.
Personally I do not think he knew how bad conditions were.
Along in the first part of January I learned by wireless that of
the two men who swam for shore at Sunday Island the first assistant
engineer was drowned, while the other reached shore in an exhausted
condition. He and his companion while swimming ashore became separated
in the dark and the mate did not know for a certainty whether his chum
was taken by a shark or drowned from exhaustion. He stayed on the
island for somewhat over two months, living on the provisions that were
left in the house and on fruit, of which there was a great abundance.
He was finally taken off by a Japanese cruiser whose attention was
attracted by his signal fire, which he kept burning day and night. The
cruiser finally landed him in New Zealand.
All this time we were steaming in a northerly and westerly direction.
When we arrived at the southernmost end of New Guinea we stopped and
lay to for a couple of days. I soon learned that we were waiting
for a steamer and expected her any minute. During these days the
_Wolf's_ hydroplane would go up to reconnoitre three times a day. It
would travel fifty or sixty miles on clear days, and from a height of
three thousand metres it had a vision of ninety miles, so the Germans
claimed. One of the German sailors told me that in another day or so
we should have plenty of beer--that they had picked up a wireless
message stating that the Australian steamer _Matunga_ would soon arrive
in Rabul with five hundred tons of coal and three hundred tons of
foodstuffs, so many hundred cases of beer, etc., for the Government.
Sure enough, on the morning of August 4th I was awakened by my
orderly with the usual supply of cotton batting for our ears. Shortly
thereafter there was a bang from one of the cannons and the _Matunga_
stopped. Lieut. Rose and the prize crew went on board and took charge.
In about an hour the launch came back with the _Matunga's_ captain,
Donaldson, and his officers and crew, also sixteen Australian soldiers
who were en route to the Islands. Both steamers then proceeded north,
arriving on August 10th at a place in northern New Guinea that we named
Pirate Cove.
[Illustration:
SHOWING 4.7 "ORDINARY" PORTSIDE GUN FORWARD ON "WOLF."
LIEUT. ROSE WITH BINOCULARS.]
On the way to Pirate Cove Commander Nerger practised all kinds of naval
manoeuvres with the _Wolf_ and the _Matunga_. At one time he would
engage her in battle and finally after a fierce encounter, by superior
manoeuvring he would destroy her. The next time the _Matunga_ would
be an enemy's merchant vessel and the _Wolf_ would sneak up to her,
suddenly dropping her ports, and make the capture. This manoeuvre was
carried out quite realistically, the boarding crew supposedly meeting
resistance and finally taking charge of her after a fight on deck, in
which the boarding crew's bayonet drill would come in handy. At another
time the _Matunga_ would be a German cruiser and Nerger would direct
her attack against the enemy. At this time he was probably anticipating
being made an Admiral on his return to Germany and was getting what
practice he could.
At Pirate Cove naked New Guineans, men, women and children, came out to
the _Wolf_ in thirty feet long canoes for tobacco, which was the only
understandable word they could say. They offered to swap parrots, pigs,
cocoanuts, sugar cane, bits of coral, woven mats of garish colours and
queer pattern, showing whales, birds and primitive human figures. The
_Wolf's_ officers got first whack at the bargains and went in strong
for the fancy mattings, but when they got them aboard found them full
of native vermin. These souvenirs for their wives and sweethearts were
promptly turned over to the antiseptic department and cleaned, for the
_Wolf_ had on board a complete dis-lousing plant through which all new
prisoners were put, whether they needed it or not. The German sailors
had second choice after their officers and went in strong for parrots
and cocoanuts. The prisoners, who could buy tobacco at the _Wolf's_
canteen, if they had any money, had last choice of the New Guinea
merchandise. I had no money on the _Beluga_, having sent mine by draft
to Sydney, but I had stacks of clothes, and to get a little ready
"canteen" money I sold some of them, the _Wolf's_ officers paying me
$25.00 for second-hand suits and $3.00 for second-hand shoes.
The natives were cleaned out by the _Wolf_. Among the purchases was an
alleged New Guinea pig, which had the legs and body of a deer and the
head of a porker--and it had fur, too. God! I never saw anything like
it. It didn't have an orthodox corkscrew tail but a compromise between
a pig's and a deer's tail. The pig mascot was given the freedom of the
_Wolf_ and dashed if it didn't lick every dog on the ship. We had seven
dogs on board, taken from sunken ships--dachshunds, fox terriers, all
sorts--and the pugnacious deer-pig cleaned them all up. But the Germans
were too much for it. After two months in German company the pig
couldn't stand it any longer and, after the slaughter of the _Hitachi
Maru_, of which it was an eyewitness, it committed suicide by leaping
down an open hatch to its death fifty feet below. The Germans buried
the pig at sea with military honours.
While we were lying in Pirate Cove the cargo and coal of the _Matunga_
were transferred to the _Wolf_; also nine of the _Matunga's_ passengers
and the balance of her crew. Quarters were provided for these prisoners
on the same deck where I was. There was a Colonel and a Major with
his wife, belonging to the Australian medical corps; three Australian
military captains; three civilian planters, who were en route for the
plantations on the Island, and the stewardess of the _Matunga_. This
addition of prisoners to the top side was a welcome change to myself
and family, as it gave us somebody else to talk to, and I was also
able to get news of the war from another source than the German. I was
anxious to learn what steps America had taken or contemplated taking.
To hear those Australian chaps talk you would have thought that the war
was a high lark, and that just as soon as Great Britain got around to
it she, ably assisted by the Australian forces, would chase Fritzy off
the map.
The addition of these passengers to the top deck squad made it
necessary for Commander Nerger to make certain rules and regulations
to be observed regarding the distance we could go from our rooms. We
were allowed a seventy-foot run-way. Also when anything was going on,
such as gun practice, boarding drill, fire and boat drill, we were
chased into our rooms. This caused a lot of grumbling but no doubt it
was justified. I may add that there was nearly always something doing
on the _Wolf_. They drilled and practised almost continually--practised
sinking imaginary ships, indulged in "battle practice," and even
practised abandoning the _Wolf_ in boats and sinking their own ship.
While lying at Pirate Cove we had an exciting experience. It seems
that some of the Germans had a suspicion that some of the prisoners
were going to try to escape by swimming ashore. They doubled the
guards both below and on deck and in addition had twenty-four Marines
sleep on the afterdeck with their muskets alongside of them. On this
particular night the German sailors had stolen a couple of cases of
whiskey from the cargo of the _Matunga_ and many of them were pretty
badly intoxicated. At 11:30 P.M. one of the guards down below aft
imagined that he saw someone making a sneak for the stairs leading
on deck. Next moment he shouted "Help! Help!" and blazed away with
his revolver in the general direction of the stairway. Naturally the
prisoners sleeping on the far side of the stairs made a rush to get out
of the line of fire. The guard saw this crowd rushing his way and ran
on deck immediately. A general alarm was sounded and men and officers
poured on deck from all directions. Just then a shoal of fish some
little distance away in the water made a disturbance and the German
crew, thinking that somebody was attempting to swim ashore, opened fire
on the fish with two machine guns. Also everybody who had a rifle or
a revolver opened fire at something. One officer, who stood in front
of my room, emptied his revolver into the air, just shooting because
everybody else was doing it. Meanwhile, Chief Officer Schmell and three
sailors had jumped into the launch and also mistaking the shoal of
fish for prisoners trying to swim ashore, made for the spot--and were
enthusiastically fired upon by the German machine guns in the dark.
It sure was bum team work and a miracle that Schmell and his men were
not killed. The launch was punctured in several places. As soon as
the big searchlight was put into commission, it became apparent that
there was nobody in the water. All the prisoners were then mustered
out and counted, and as there were none missing, the Germans decided
that it must have been a false alarm and everybody blamed everybody
else. When Schmell got back on the _Wolf_ he was raving mad at having
been fired at by the machine guns. He wasn't red, but green with anger,
and he talked so fast that I couldn't make out what he said, but I
heard afterwards that he wanted to court-martial everybody, including
the cook. It always will remain a miracle to me that some of our own
fellows weren't shot as the frenzied guard emptied his gun before
running on deck.
On account of the high hills surrounding our anchorage the _Wolf's_
wireless was not of much account, so the members of the wireless squad
erected a station on the top of one of the highest hills. Here they
would pick up any news that was flying around and transfer it to the
_Wolf_ by means of an ordinary flash light. This was easily readable
with a pair of glasses, but unfortunately there was nothing of interest
excepting the "press"; however, it gave me an insight of just how much
reliance to put into the press reports that the Germans would let us
see from time to time. This, of course, was all British press and
reports were given as to advances and repulses on the various fronts
and also the weekly sinkings. Should the Allied forces advance or the
Germans lose a position, their press did not note it, but on the other
hand, if the Germans had a victory or there were any political reports
in their favour, the news was given us in full detail.
From one of the officers who had been ashore I learned that the native
settlement, which at one time evidently had been quite large, must have
been visited by some dreadful plague, as the houses in the village were
deserted, not a single native living on that side of the bay. He also
said that in many of the houses the skeletons of the dead still lay,
some inside and some outside of the huts, leading a person to believe
that this sickness struck them down suddenly and that they died nearly
instantly, as on the porch of one of these huts there was a skeleton
with some kind of a dish alongside of it, making it appear that death
had come suddenly.
Here at Pirate Cove the doctors were greatly worried on account of
fever and malaria and dosed us vigorously with quinine. Lord! I ate
enough quinine to last me the rest of my life. There were no capsules
on board and we had to eat the raw article, and there was no way of
dodging it. Each morning and evening all hands, officers, crew and
prisoners, were marched past the hospital steward's office and each
was handed his little bit on a spoon, with a glass of water to wash it
down. The only satisfaction I had was that it tasted just as rotten to
the Germans as it did to me. Strangely my little girl did not dislike
it a great deal and I was greatly pleased as I anticipated a riot when
she got a taste of the first dose. My wife's share, she being still
confined to her room, I used to throw overboard, giving her only an
occasional small dose. The quinine used to cause a drumming in my ear
and make me halfway deaf.
Undoubtedly it had the same effect on the German sailors yet they
were forced to work transferring coal from one vessel to the other.
They usually worked three shifts in the twenty-four hours. They would
go down in the hold with nothing but a breech cloth on and when they
came up they would resemble negroes and their bare bodies would be
just running in sweat. At these times I used to feel sorry for them;
then they would sink one of our vessels and I would wish them doomed to
eternal labour of this kind.
Among the _Matunga's_ heterogeneous cargo were two large horses and
one small pony. These were taken care of by the butcher department and
I suppose I ate my share. I afterwards told my wife about her eating
horse flesh and nearly lost a handful of hair for my information.
On August 26th both _Wolf_ and _Matunga_ proceeded to sea and at 1:20
P.M. the _Matunga_ was sunk by three bombs. From the time of the first
explosion until she disappeared beneath the waves was just six and a
half minutes. She sank stern first, and as she made the final dive the
rush of air below decks blew out the forecastle bulkhead, making it
appear as if there had been a fourth bomb concealed there.
Here I am convinced was the only time during the eight months that
I was a prisoner on the _Wolf_ that there was ever any serious
thought on Nerger's part regarding landing the women, children and
medical officers. Before taking the _Matunga_ to sea to sink her,
they transferred one of her large life-boats to the _Wolf_, also a
small gasoline launch. These were hoisted on deck and placed in such a
manner that they could be put overboard again easily, also they were
in such a position that it interfered with the movements of the gun
crew, thus proving that they were there only temporarily. One of the
officers asked me if I had ever had any experience with gas engines
and was familiar with this particular make. I told him I was, having
owned at one time an engine of this make. After giving the officer this
information he was overheard by one of the womenfolk repeating it to
the Chief Officer. We top side prisoners were some worked up, believe
me. We had it all "doped out" that after sinking the _Matunga_ we
should proceed off some island that was inhabited but had no wireless
or cable connections, there the women, children and medicos would
be put in the life-boat and I would tow them with the launch to some
nearby harbour.