to conform to the articles of the Geneva Convention, which specifically
states that medical officers in event of capture shall be set free at
the first available opportunity. Nerger also told me and my wife that
he would land us in some safe place at the first opportunity, provided
he could do so without jeopardising his own safety. He also told the
medical officers and the rest of the women the same thing. I maintain
that at this time Nerger could have landed us with perfect safety to
himself and his ship--as the _Wolf_ was about to leave the Pacific
Ocean, having finished her activities in that locality. At that time
nobody had information regarding the _Wolf's_ previous movements nor
any knowledge of her mine-laying operations. However, at the last
minute he must have concluded that this was too "humane" a procedure
and ordered the boats over the side; they were fastened to the
_Matunga_ and went down with her. I claim this to have been the acme of
inhumanity. He might just as well have condemned the women and children
to death right there, because at that time there were ninety-nine and
a half chances to a hundred that they would be either killed in action
or drowned. I don't believe that there were five men in all the crew
of the _Wolf_, officers included, who ever expected the _Wolf_ to win
safely into Germany. There is another point to consider: why did Nerger
and his officers continually assure us that the womenfolk should be
landed shortly? If he had told the truth like an officer and a man
and said he had no intention to land us, then we would have had more
respect for him and would not have suffered the bitter disappointment
that we did.
PART TWO: A PRISONER ON A
PASSENGER STEAMER
PART TWO
A PRISONER ON A PASSENGER STEAMER
From New Guinea the _Wolf_ steamed southwest through the Malay
archipelago, then between Borneo and Java and Sumatra, thence through
the Java sea; and on the night of September 6th the _Wolf_ laid over
one hundred mines across the Northwest approach to the entrance of the
Singapore harbour.
Going up the Java sea, we were continually sighting vessels, and it was
only the barefaced gall of the _Wolf_ that saved her from destruction.
Less than a month previous to this the Australian Government had
sent wireless messages broadcast stating that there was a raider
somewhere in the South Pacific or Indian Oceans, and giving a complete
description of the _Wolf_. Yet here we were, steaming calmly along as
if bound for Singapore, meeting many merchantmen, and at one time one
of the officers said he could see the smoke from five torpedo boats
steaming along in squadron section. When the _Wolf_ would pass another
vessel close to, she would usually have only a couple of men about the
decks doing odd jobs of painting and repairing. I believe that it was
the innocent appearance of the _Wolf_ which led to her safety. She
ignored all signals (which is characteristic of the merchantman).
The night before the _Wolf_ mined Singapore harbour we had a narrow
escape from being discovered. At 11:30 P.M., just as I was dozing off
to sleep on my bed on the floor, I heard the call to stations and
sprang up to see what it was all about. I looked out-of-doors and saw
the two ship's surgeons passing aft, both with their first aid kits
strapped to their waists. Slipping to the rail I saw that all four
cannon were swung into position, clear for battle, and I could also see
that both of the _Wolf's_ torpedo tubes were protruding over the side.
Just on the port bow was a small cruiser or battleship. From where I
stood I could see her funnels and two masts, also the outline of her
hull. She was travelling without lights, the same as we were.
I slipped back into my room, closed the door and switched on the light.
I dressed my little girl while my wife got into her clothes. This did
not take long as we always slept with our clothes in such a position
that we could get into our "emergency outfit" in short order. Every
moment while dressing I expected to hear and feel the crash of the
_Wolf's_ guns, but fortunately the other fellow didn't see us, and in a
few minutes the signal was given to swing the guns in. The danger was
past, but there was a mighty nervous crew of men on board the _Wolf_
that night. On the other hand, it was perhaps just as well for the
Japanese cruiser that he did not spot us, because the minute he had
made any signal and given us any indication that he had seen us, the
_Wolf_ would have launched both torpedos and given him a broadside, and
at that short range they could not have missed very well. Personally I
was satisfied the way things turned out, as I did not like my chances
of getting the family into a boat under the circumstances, neither
did I have any wish to be present when the actual firing began. While
counting my chances of getting the family safely into the boats, should
an engagement ensue, I thought of just how much chance the poor devils
down in the hell hole had of being saved. They would have been battened
down and probably would have gone down with the vessel, should she
have been sunk, without a fighting chance for their lives. Even if
the German crew had released them at the last moment, what chance did
they have of being saved? Under the most favourable circumstances the
_Wolf's_ equipment of life-boats and rafts was probably sufficient for
only three hundred and fifty at the outside, and there was a total
of about seven hundred on board. It would be only natural for the
German crew to have the life-saving equipment themselves and our poor
chaps would have been left to drown, there being no articles of an
inflammable or floating description around her decks.
On the wall of my room was a typewritten notice over Commander Nerger's
signature, stating that in event of the _Wolf's_ engaging an enemy
a boat would be lowered and the women, children and medicos would
be placed in same, under my charge. This provided that there was
sufficient time and the weather conditions favourable. I could imagine
just about how many chances we had that there would be sufficient time
to execute this manoeuvre. However, this sign served the very good
purpose of alleviating the women's anxieties to a certain extent. It
is quite possible that this was the only reason this notice was given
us. However, I am grateful for the part it played. The preceding was
the tensest crisis in the _Wolf's_ fifteen months' history. Commander
Nerger sent down word to me afterwards that it was a Japanese
man-of-war, and to keep the news from my wife if possible.
The next night, September 6th, the _Wolf_, which was primarily a
minelayer and not a raider, laid ninety-eight mines at a distance of
from seven and a half to ten miles off shore. The lights of Singapore
were plainly visible from the port-hole. On this occasion I was locked
in the room for about two hours, but it was not difficult to count the
"eggs" as they were being laid, for the mines came up out of No. 3
hatch on an elevator and were conveyed aft to the "chute" on a small
rail car which had a flat wheel, and I could hear it going along the
deck "humpety-hump, humpety-hump." I estimated that it took about one
hour and forty minutes to lay these ninety-eight mines.
From off Singapore we practically retraced our steps back through the
Java sea and entered the Indian Ocean on October 9th, passing between
the islands of Java and Canor. We then proceeded to the northward and
westward until we arrived on the trade route running from Colombo
to Delagoa Bay. Here _Wolf_ cruised around slowly for a day or so,
crossing and recrossing the route at regular intervals. While lying
here waiting for the prey, the wireless man told me he could hear
several cruisers working their wireless and that there was one British
cruiser patrolling the Straits of Malacca, one at Bombay, two lying in
the harbour of Colombo--the _Venus_ and the _Vulcan_, I believe--and
another at a naval station in the Mauritius Islands. All this time the
bird, _i.e._, the _Wolf's_ hydroplane, had been down below in the hole
undergoing general repairs from an accident she had had, which nearly
ended her activities and drowned both of the operators.
Some two weeks previous, while she was rising from the water and at a
height of about sixty metres, something suddenly went wrong with the
balancing mechanism and the plane made a dive for the sea, which she
hit at a terrific speed; the back wings and the pontoons or boats were
completely demolished. The mechanic and the observing lieutenant were
catapulted into the sea and had much difficulty in swimming back to
the wreck, which had the appearance of a gigantic bird sitting on its
nose with its tail standing up in the air. It reminded me of an ostrich
with its head buried in the sand. The bonnet around the engine and
mechanic's seat, in all seaplanes of this description, is watertight,
so that in case of an accident of this kind the weight of the engine
will not cause it to sink. However, in this case, one of the struts
supporting the pontoons had caused this watertight bonnet to leak
and, although both operators baled for dear life, the water gained on
them steadily. When the rescuing launch finally arrived alongside the
machine it was just on the verge of sinking. The crew of the launch
tied the machine to the launch with ropes in such a manner that it
could not sink and the whole outfit was hoisted on board the _Wolf_.
All six cylinders of the engine were cracked and the "bird" appeared a
total wreck. However, the "aeroplane" squad set to work and repaired
the planes and put spare cylinders on the engine; and in a few days
she was ready for duty again. The crew of the plane apparently were
none the worse for their mishap.
One day one of the officers told me that probably in a few days they
would pick up a nice fat steamer with plenty of food on board. On
the morning of October 26th, immediately after breakfast, I noticed
that they were getting the "bird" on deck and assembling it. I asked
one of the officers whether there was "something doing" and he
said: "If we have any luck after lunch we shall have fresh meat for
supper." About 11 A.M. the "bird" was finished and the engine warmed
up. Suddenly somebody shouted, and everybody got his binoculars and
looked astern of us, and, sure enough, a faint outline of smoke could
be seen on the horizon. The hydroplane went up and in half an hour
came back and reported a large steamer approaching. Commander Nerger
shaped his course so as to meet this steamer but still give him the
impression that we were en route from the Cape to Colombo. At 3:05
P.M. the steamer was right abreast, She was a fine big Class A Japanese
passenger steamer, deeply loaded, and I could see passengers on her
saloon deck. At 3:07 P.M. the _Wolf_ broke out the Imperial Navy flag
and signalled for the _Hitachi Maru_ to stop and not use her wireless,
also dropped a shot across the _Hitachi's_ bow. When the _Hitachi_
failed to stop, the _Wolf_ fired another shot closer to her bow.
The Jap concluded to run for it and started in to work his wireless,
also swung his ship into such a position as to bring his gun for
submarine defence, 4.7 quick firer, into action. Meantime the _Wolf_
had opened fire on her in deadly earnest. One six-inch shell from the
after gun struck the _Hitachi_ and exploded just under her gun where
the gun crew was working, killing six Japs and blowing the balance
into the water. I saw one Jap in particular hoisted high into the air
above the smoke of the explosion, and he was spinning around like
a pin-wheel. Another shot from the after gun put the gun on the
_Hitachi_ out of commission altogether, and killed another man. In the
meantime from forward the _Wolf_ had succeeded in putting a 4.5 shell
through the wireless room, where the operator was working. This shell
came through one side of the room, passed between the operator and his
"set," cutting one of his aerial leads in two, and passed out through
the opposite side of the room, decapitating a man standing outside.
This shell eventually hit a ventilator shaft, ripped it to pieces and
knocked a man down in the engine room so hard that he afterwards died
of internal injuries. There were several more hits, one on the water
line in No. 4 hatch, two more in the stern, and one in the wheelhouse
on the bridge. About this time the flying machine came along and tried
to drop a bomb on deck forward but missed, the bomb exploding when it
hit the water just ahead.
The cannonading, while it lasted, was very severe, there being
something over forty shots fired in as short a time as possible. Of
these shots only nine were direct hits. I must add that the first
possible twenty of these shots were directed in such a manner as to
hit (if they did) the vessel in such a position as not to sink or
permanently disable her; but towards the last, when it became evident
that the Jap was trying to make her getaway, the shooting was in deadly
earnest. Several broadsides were fired, which I think did more damage
to the _Wolf_ than to the _Hitachi Maru_, as the air concussion stove
in the doors and glass ports on all the staterooms on the berth deck.
In several of the rooms the wash basins and plumbing were broken. I
was standing in my open doorway with one foot on the threshold in
such a manner that half of my foot protruded outside the line of the
wall. When the first broadside was fired the concussion or rush of
air passing my doorway, hit the part of my foot outside the door,
feeling just exactly as if somebody had kicked it away or hit it with
a baseball bat. Something went wrong with the six-inch gun mounted on
the stern of the _Wolf_ and a shell exploded a few yards away from the
muzzle, putting the gun crew and gun out of commission for the balance
of the voyage.
The prisoners who were confined directly below this gun said that the
shock and concussion down below was dreadful during the firing, and
that when the shell exploded they thought the _Wolf_ had been hit. At
this time they did not know but that the _Wolf_ had met a cruiser and
many thought they were about to be drowned, especially when suddenly
all firing ceased; they thought that the _Wolf_ had been vitally hit
and that the Germans had scuttled her and were abandoning her. Many of
these men will remember this experience for the balance of their lives.
By this time the Japanese captain had decided that he did not have a
chance, and stopped his vessel, while the _Wolf_ sent the prize crew
on board. In the meantime the passengers and crew had managed to get
clear in the life-boats, which were picked up. The people were taken
on board the _Wolf_. There were some 70 odd passengers, 1st and 2nd
class, among them 6 women and one little black girl. They were a sorry
looking sight as they climbed on board the _Wolf_; many of them were
only half dressed, being just awakened from their afternoon nap by the
cannonading. Over a hundred of the Japanese crew came along with the
passengers. The _Wolf_ could not accommodate such a large addition of
prisoners without making new quarters for them, so they had to live and
sleep on deck for the first three days, when they were transferred back
to the _Hitachi_. The _Hitachi_ had altogether 16 killed or mortally
wounded. The _Wolf_ incidentally lost its fresh meat for supper,
because one shell had wrecked the refrigerator plant and spoiled all
the fowl and fresh meat.
One of the passengers on the _Hitachi Maru_, an American chap hailing
from Chicago, told me his experience.
When the _Wolf_ was first sighted he was in bed reading; someone told
him that they were going to pass a steamer, and he got up and dressed
and went on deck to watch her. There was speculation regarding her
nationality among those watching although none of them imagined her
anything but what she seemed--an ordinary tramp. When she dropped
her ports and fired across their bow, everybody for a moment was
dumbfounded.
He ran into the cabin giving the alarm to those sleeping and secured
some valuable papers he had in his cabin. The Jap crew were in a panic
after seeing their gun crew killed, and many of them rushed the boats.
The first boat to be lowered was filled with members of the Japanese
crew, only one second class passenger being among them. On landing in
the water this boat was capsized; but the occupants were shortly picked
up by a boat, also manned by Japs.
The first boat to be launched with passengers in it was handled
entirely by the white passengers. In this boat were four women and
twenty-eight men; on being lowered the davit fall on one end fouled;
and it looked very much as if everybody were going to slide out, as
the boat was nearly perpendicular. Fortunately for all concerned,
the fouled davit fall broke, and the boat dropped into the water. A
lot of water was shipped but the boat floated right side up. The men
immediately pulled away from the vicinity of the vessel. It was the
firm belief of the occupants of this boat that they were to be shelled
later on by the Raider.
One of the lady passengers during the excitement lost a lot of jewels.
Some days later a German sailor clearing out one of the life-boats
found these jewels. He came down the deck to where there were several
of the passengers standing and asked: "Does anybody belong to these
things?" He held out for their inspection a handful of diamonds,
rubies, pearls and other valuable articles. Needless to say, he had no
difficulty in finding an owner. This sailor earned 18 marks per month
and the value of the find was in the neighbourhood of ten thousand
dollars. I wonder how many men, under the circumstances, would have
returned these jewels.
The _Wolf_ and the _Hitachi_ now steamed to the southernmost group of
the Maldive Islands, arriving there on September 27th. The vessels tied
up alongside of each other and coal and cargo were transferred from the
_Hitachi_ to the _Wolf_. The cargo of the _Hitachi Maru_ was valued at
over a million and a half pounds sterling, chiefly copper, tin, rubber,
thousands of tons of silk, tea and hides. It always seemed uncanny to
me that these "deep-sea vultures" seemed to be able to capture a vessel
loaded with any particular kind of cargo they wanted. About a month
before this capture, I heard the officers talking among themselves and
one of them remarked, "Now the next ship we get should be loaded with
copper and rubber and tin." Sure enough the _Hitachi_ had what they
wanted.
It seemed a pity to me to see the thousands of bales of silk goods,
ladies' blouses and silk kimonos being dumped from one hold to another
and trampled on. When the _Hitachi_ was finally sunk there were a
couple of thousand tons of expensive Japanese lingerie and other
ladies' wear and miscellaneous department store merchandise sunk with
her. The mermaids must have had "some" bargain sale.
It was the intention of Nerger to pick up, if possible, a vessel
that could furnish him with enough coal to take both the _Hitachi_
and _Wolf_ back to Germany. At this time there was a lot of talk
about landing us on one of the islands where there were missionaries.
However, none of us took any stock in this "landing talk," as it was
too apparent what their intentions were.
It was here that the married folks with their wives along, sent a
written petition to the Commander of the _Wolf_, begging to be given
one of the _Hitachi_ life-boats and a supply of provisions, so that
on the eve of the _Wolf's_ departure for parts unknown, we could make
our way to one of these islands and there await the arrival of some
trading schooner to take us to civilisation again. Nerger sent word
back that he could not do that, and repeated the same old "bull" about
landing us in some safe place, some time. Lord, he must have thought we
were a bunch of "gillies" to believe that guff.
On October 1st we were transferred from the _Wolf_ to the _Hitachi_
along with all the rest of the "top side" prisoners. Our quarters on
the _Hitachi_ were splendid. We fell heir to the bridal suite. It
seemed mighty good to sit down at a regular table with a white cloth
and napkins again. I shall never forget my feelings as we sat there
for the first meal, waiting for the whitecoated Jap waiter to bring
on the food. I could feel myself getting up from the table with that
satisfied, contented feeling amidships. Soon the waiter came and set
before us each a plate containing two ordinary soda crackers or ships'
biscuits, with a poor lonely god-forsaken sardine stranded on the
top. This, and a cup of the regulation "near" coffee comprised our
first evening meal on the _Hitachi Maru_. For the following morning's
breakfast we had porridge with kerosene spilt on it. Absolutely
uneatable. For dinner, rotten meat with good potatoes, water--or soda
water, if you had money to buy it with--and in the evening canned crab
and crackers. In the meantime our commander, Lieutenant Rose, was
having a banquet in his room with his brother officers on the _Wolf_.
On the _Hitachi_ it was noticed that Rose very seldom made his
appearance in the dining room at mealtimes. Quite frequently at
meals one of the Australian passengers who belonged to Lieut. Rose's
bridge-playing clique, would send a card up to his room asking if it
were not possible to have an extra slice of bread or a cracker. The
answer would come back: "Sure, boys, just ask the steward." But on
asking the Jap steward he would only smile and say: "Velly sorry, but
Captain write his name each day on paper that speaks how much you
eat." This was the fact, as I have seen the paper.
The German chief engineer and chief mate used to eat at the same table
as we did, and used to complain of the food as being inadequate; and
one night the chief engineer took the matter up with Rose and told
him a few truths. Rose said that it was "too bad," that he did not
know anything about it before but now he would straighten it up. The
engineer told Rose that if he cut out a lot of his private champagne
suppers and looked into what the rest of us were getting it would not
be necessary to make these complaints.
This is a condition that could not exist on the _Wolf_ because there
we were under the charge of a gentleman and an officer and we got
square treatment, but on the _Hitachi_ and later on the _Igotz Mendi_
we were under a sub-lieutenant, a snob and a man who did not know the
meaning of the word gentleman. In my opinion it is this class of "under
officer" that gives the Germans the unenviable reputation that they
have.
My wife at this time was convalescing rapidly and regaining her
strength; and it was of the utmost importance that she be provided
with sufficient food. Luckily I was able to purchase from one of the
stewards a couple of large cans of biscuits, some preserved ginger and
an occasional piece of cheese. This helped out a whole lot, although
even at that she was under-nourished. Little Juanita did not fare so
badly as she was given as much as her elders, and being only a child
did not require so much as they.
At this time it was possible to purchase stout on the _Hitachi_, which
was a Godsend to us. A few days after coming on board, when ordering
stout, I was told that it had all gone. On making inquiries afterwards
I found out that Lieut. Rose had stopped its sale and was reserving it
along with all the beer and wine for his own use, and for the use of
his particular friends, who were all able-bodied persons. There were
three women, in addition to my wife, who actually needed something of
this description.