Return to Brisbane (23)

Have you ever wondered how psychiatric patients were transferred in the WWII?  What happens to their clothing, restraints and bedding?  Capt. Pfile receives orders to escort some patients to the General Hospital in Brisbane. 

A member of the 92nd Evac modelling
a straight jacket: to understand it,
try it on

November 28, 1943 Sunday

      Thursday afternoon I took 4 psychos to the 42nd General Hosp. at Brisbane, by plane. 2 of the patients had to be in restraints. We left at 4 P.M. on a C-47. There were 8 litter cases and 20 other people on the plane besides the crew. The 354 air miles took 2 hours against a slight headwind. We bounced a bit at times, flying just under the broken clouds. The patients raved all the way, but the noise of the plane was greater. We sat on bare aluminum seats (room for 40!) which I noticed as we neared Brisbane, made the trouser seats black! Next evening I washed the seat of my trousers for that and no other reason!             Aussie ambulances and women drivers met us and we took the patients right out to the hospital from Archer Field (5 miles?). There was a lot of delay at the hospital. The 40 odd patients who arrived on planes (from Townsville too) just seemed to daze them. They had no system! As a result it was 7:30 before we got rid of the patients and went to the dining hall to eat. Then it rained a terrific downpour, and hailed a lot, for a short time.  We (Capt. Casey and Capt. Koenig from the 1st Evac Hosp at Orro Bay, on the way for leave had to accompany patients from Townsville and Capt. Lacey from the 12th Station Hosp.) went to check our equipment - it hadn't been brought back! 
     I called the billeting office - no room, so we all stayed at the hospital overnight. Had a nice inner springs mattress, on the officers' ward! After breakfast, I hunted down where my 4 patients had gone and got 4 suits of pajamas and 4 pillow cases in exchange, and got credit for them. Then we (Casey and Koenig and I) went down to the 3rd Med. Supply Depot (we had to catch a ride in an ambulance) to try to straighten out the property, for it had all been turned in there and a tally out given in the name of the [Brisbane 42nd Gerneral] hospital! But a driver had the tally, so the hospital knew nothing of it! 
     After planning to meet there at 1:30, we went to the billeting office and I was assigned to the CTA - Commercial Tourist Assn on Elizabeth Street.  It was on the club style, but quite ancient [it was built in 1907].  I was assigned a room on the 4th floor - a [w]hole bedroom affair. No key for the lock, hard mattress, ancient plumbing. But at 3/6 a night I couldn't say much! Then I went by street car out to the Hq at Sommerville House and got my orders and signed the book. 
     Going back to town I met Jackson, a fellow who had worked in x-ray and transferred 2 months ago.  So I took him to lunch and we talked.  Then back to the Supply depot, who gave us a car and we went back to the hospital and finally got our receipts.  Back to town [the top of the diary (a "Queensland Exercise Book") was cut off, probably to make it fit the space available for packing, and a comment added there later can't be read].  I looked thru the stores a bit, ate at the Officers' Club, met up with a 1st Lt who was going to a show so I went along.  Then back to bed at 9:30, quite tired.

Brisbane Botanical Gardens

     Saturday morning I was up early (well 7 A.M.) and could find no place open for breakfast so back to the Officers' Club where for 9d I had 2 pancakes, honey, coffee and toast!  Food there is good and cheap.  Then I shopped around and got nothing for myself except some leather.  Then took pictures in botanical Park [see also post #17], walked on the hill above town, and finally took the train out to Ascot.  I went in to the Px and had a coke, took a picture of the green back of the grandstand [see post #13], walked around the residential [area] and took 2 more pictures.  Then back to town and had 2 malted milks (at 5d and 6d each) for lunch and went to a show.  Out in time to go to the air transport window and was very much surprised to get a ticket!  Back to the Officers' Club to eat and sat around.  I was astonished at how well my feet held out.  I used calamine lotion and it seems to dry up the areas.  Back to the room and sat around talking.

Sunrise above the clouds, winging their way
 back to Rockhampton

      I had the porter call me at 3:15 [A.M.]. I was to be picked up at 3:45 but the Aussie woman driver picked up 3 others first, and got me at 4:10. Out to the field. Weighed in on the U.S. scales at 147 and on the Aussie ones at 150, 11 pounds luggage. Coffee and donuts at the Red Cross! The Ansett (commercial line) plane was a dandy - 10 place Lockheed, 2 pilots. We had only 5 and the pilots. It was 5:10 when we took off, still quite dark. We climbed gradually thru 2 layers of clouds to (I guess) about 7500 feet. It was beautiful to watch the sun come up, just like fairlyland. The clouds were scattered and not solid so we had glimses of the ground. 
     2 Col.'s of the Dental Corps were on the plane - Shuttleworth (who knew 92nd from the desert) and Snyder! The Fitzroy River certainly breaks up into a maze of passages on reaching the river [ocean?], and the tide water has innumerable criss crossing channels for miles along there. We landed at 7:40 - 2 hours 25 minutes. Nice soft seats, less engine noise - lots of fun! An Aussie female driver met us and took the Col.'s to the Criterion and dumped me out since her duty period was over! I could have called for a ride, but I thumbed one. When I returned Iwa [?] had a fit because I didn't bring back the restraining sheets. I was lucky to get even a receipt! So ended my air trip - lots of fun. If Beth could have been in Brisbane with me, I'd have been happy!

Photos from Australia (17)

Capt. Pfile knew Beth loved flowers, so he took lots of photos of nature.  Here are a few:

White frangipani bush in Brisbane

Sausage tree in the Rockhampton Botanic Gardens

Rockhampton Botanic Gardens (I think)

Pink frangipani in Rockhampton

Coral trees in Rockhampton

Gene also took lots of photos of everyday things:

Grosvenor Hotel in Rockhampton (C.C. Adair, proprietor); note car and Dewar's Whisky advertisement.

American soldiers walking down the street in down town Rockhampton;
note the open-sided bus, and Stewarts, where Gene bought three lace handkerchiefs, (made in England) for 2/6 each and 2 ration coupons for the lot.

An Australian soldier in front of the Public Curator's Office in Rockhampton;
note the old car in the background

Residential area in rockhampton; "Tidewater" is written over the door of the white building.

Since the Fitzroy River was prone to flooding, and cyclones were not uncommon in Rockhampton, many of the houses, like this one, were built on stilts.

Note the old tramway tracks in front of this lovely home in residential Rockhampton; the tramway had been closed down a few years earlier.

Looking for beauty in the ordinary was a way for Gene to find a brief refuge from the ugliness of war that confronted him every day in the wards..

Getting to Know Brisbane (14)

July 14, 1943 (Wednesday)
     We have to have ration cards for clothes and tobacco.
     It rained a little during the night, and was foggy this morning.  They gave us 4 blankets last night, and straw (stuff-'em-yourself) ticks.  It was rather chilly, too.
     4 of us started down town about 10 A.M.  We took the "train" for 2d, getting off at Queen and Edward Streets.  Lady conductor, partly open train.  It reminded me of the cable cars in Frisco.  We wandered around sight seeing.  Chemists = drug store (and only drugs and supplies).  Timber merchant = lumber yard.  Ironmonger = hardware store.  We went to a bank to have our money changed.  For $46.25 I received £14 3/ 11d, the £ being $3.26.  We looked in at several shops and bought a 1/ lottery ticket.  The lottery seems to be the universal vice.  Everywhere you see "casket shops" and all sorts of people buying.  A ticket sells for 5/6d or 6 to a ticket of 1/ each.  The drawings are weekly and are a Queensland affair, the profit going to the hospital.  We bought booklets and carefully went thru a book store.  3/6, 2/6 and 1/6 for the things.  There seem to be plenty of flashlight batteries at the hardware stores.  We ate in an ordinary place on purpose.  We could hardly understand the waitress!  ...  We had steak, with 2 kinds of potatoes for vegetables besides a leaf of lettuce and small slice of tomato!  And the dessert was a "sweet" - "sundī" (the "milk bars" are the malted milk places) - 6d or 9¢ for one!  We looked at butcher shop windows.  There is a great profusion of meat and at ridiculously low prices.  Fine steaks at 6d (or 10¢) a pound!  Long 3' bars of soap for 1/1 (or about 17¢)!  Clothing is rationed.  I stopped at lots of "Tobacconist and Hairdressers" - combination cigar stores and barber shops - but no tobacco.  There are lots of U.S. brands and stores.  I saw Woolworth's, Macy's, Penney's, Sherwin Williams Paint, Dunlop Rubber Co., etc.  Finally I found some tobacco at Finney's Dept. Store, 1/2 = 19¢ an ounce which is high.  It was bulk mixture.  No pipes!  I bought a razor strop for 13/8 ($2.19), which is about a $3.50 value.  Later I bought more tobacco - Capstan Navy Cut Flake 2 oz. for 2/6 1/2d (?) and "Champion" which is quite dark and heavy.  It is all cut plug type.  Too expensive!

A residential street in Brisbane

     Padre [Griffiths] and I found a Masonic Temple and went in and signed the register and looked about.  One member invited us to a 3rd [a third degree Mason is allowed to attend meetings at other Lodges] at Acacia Lodge next Monday.  They have a bar, to which I shall return later!  Nice, solid-looking men.  Then we hunted up the main Masonic building on Anne Street.  It is a grand building, but we were at the wrong time for the caretaker.  I stopped in a saddlery store.  Their stock saddles are English type, but a bigger leg flap and seat and a sort of projection in front and behind the leg comparable in use to a "bulge" on the breaking saddles.  No horn!  For they don't use ropes.  These sold for some £16 and didn't look to be very good leather.  None of the stores appeared to have as cosmopolitan appearance as ours.  In fact they all seem to be "dinky" and with a mneager supply of goods.
     Last night at our officers' club I bought a 10/ chit book, divided into 6d chits, for the bar.  Small glasses of beer are 6d, wine 12d or 1/.  The beer was cold for us.  It was sweetish and I like it better than ours.  It is stronger in alcohol.
     Our bed rolls and footlockers arrived.

Horse-drawn cart

     Oh happy day!  The first mail!  I had 3 V mail letters [V- or Victory-mail letters were written on specifically-designed paper that was then microfilmed and sent overseas where it was enlarged and printed close to its destination; 2575 pounds of letters could be reduced to 45 pounds] from Beth!  Words fail me!
     I was astonished at the number of horse drawn vehicles - large 4-wheeled wagons, 2-wheelers, etc.  There are a lot of small cars and a few wood-burners of some type.  "Tyres" = tires.

Wood-burning automobile

     At lunch the smallest spoon even for ice cream, was a small tablespoon.  I saw one "Digger" eating with a fork in each hand, but conveying the food to his mouth with the right.  Another ate with his hat on.
     The sugar is very grandular - grains about 3 times that of ours.  But it is cane sugar.
     I weighed myself downtown for 1d - 11-5 1/2, which is 11 stone 5 1/2 pounds of 159 1/2 pounds, a stone being 14 pounds.
     The toilet paper her is a marvel.  It is puncture proof!  It is about the strength and smoothness of our brown wrapping paper, and gray in color.  The plumbing is old style - overhead tank type of toilet, faucets close to the side of the bowl, even in modern buildings.
     Everyone has bomb shelters or slit trenches in all vacant lots and parks.
     Street car stop is "Hail train here" post.

July 16, 1943 (Friday)
     Having recouped my strength, I set forth (having had a hot shower and shave - lovely) about 10:30 A.M.  4 of us took a cab to town for 2 bob each.  On the way down, I asked the driver about fishing.  He said to see Jack Grī-him and spelled Graham, G, R, HI, HAICH, HI, HEM!  I went in and out stores, looking for a gift for Beth.  They have scarcely any purses, and the few good leather ones have very poor workmanship and cost £2 17/.  The special dealer at Allen and ? had 3 gems, too.  I looked at jewelry shops - they have lots of unset gems but are not allowed to set them.  Best one is apt to be badly strung.  I heard one man ask what a 48 point perfect blue white diamond woulod cost and knowing the cost in our country (a la Beth's ring), I'd say things are no cheaper.
     Christie just told me to put down in my diaryt that he shot an 84 on the golf course yesterday.  I ran into Omer and we had lunch together.  Then I went to the Masonic Club bar and had a glass of been and a lot of talk with a fire insurance salesman.  The to another quar and took the Lone Pine launch for 2/ up the river 1 3/4 hours (~ 12 miles) to the koala bear farm.  Adams, Vinicor, and Farquar went along - among others 2 nurses who were mildly on the make for Sparky and I, and 2 Australian nurses, one of whom got out ot Tabruk just 5 hours before it fell.  There were over a dozen koala bears, including small ones.  They are very hard to raise and eat only gum (eucalyptus) tree leaves.  They also have kangaroos, wallabies, birds, emus, etc.  then we came back to town by bus for 9d (the zoo was 6d).  We ate at Lennor's - food wa good for 5/ but not exceptional.  Beer was 6/ a pitcher.  Then back home to bed about 8 P.M.

July 17, 1943 (Saturday)
     6 letters waiting for me, mailed all the way from June 21 to July 5, both regular and air mail.  the one from Sam Tyson in Fla. about 10,000 miles in 10 days.
     This morning I had my first spell of censoring.  It was for the 17th Repl. Bn [Replacement Battalion], Co. K.  Most of the men had been sick or wounded and were waiting to return to their outfit.  What those fellows don't all write.  I learned that "dog faces" are soldiers!
     In the afternoon Armstrong, christie and I went to the races at Albion Park, where the Doomben Cup is to be run next week.  There are 3 grades: Paddock (13/), St. Leger (3/) and Flat (1/).  We went in the Flat end accidentally (they let us in free), but got a very big kick out of it.  Everybody was betting!  There were dozens of rivate bookies, and also the pari-mutual (?) betting.  It is easy to see why the poor stay poor - betting!  I bet 2 bob on Crafty Clare and she came in about 10th.  Chrisite (of course) won, lucky as he is.  So the next race I gave him 2 bob to bet for me and I also be on another.  Christie's horse won me 6 bob so I wa just even.  He came out £1 1/2 ahead!  Then Armstrong and I went downtown and saw the zoological gardens - Krape Park in Freeport had more at one time!  We came bakc out for supper.  Everything in town was closed.  We saw a show in the area based on "The Devil and Daniel Webster".

July 18, 1943 (Sunday)
     There is a bird around here that looks like a sort of magpie, but tamer [peewee?].
     Venetian panels = Venetian blinds.
     4 of us went to St. Andrews Presbyterian Church downtown.  It is quite a large church and quite Scotch.  We ate at the American Club - nothing else open!  Saw a raft of full Col's and 1 Brig. General.  MacAurthur is supposed to be in town, as well as Admiral Halsey.
     Rumor has it we are going to Rockhampton, 300 miles north of here, to set up a 1000 bed hospital for the 42nd Division which is just coming out of the islands - be with them3 to 6 months while they res up and then go back into action with them!  Scuttlebutt?
     Torch refills = flashlight batteries.
     It sounds funny to hear the men shooting craps saying 2 shillings, etc.
     Our nurses are at "Indooroopilly" [a suburd of Brisbane where Camp Columbia is located].
     Cigarettes are 40¢ a carton, being tax free outside the U.S.A.
     My left traverse arch has been paining me for several days.  I taped it this morning.
     The paper says there was a heavy frost with temperature of 45° and 61 degrees of humidity this morning.  How can it be?
     "Fanny" is Australian slang, does not refer to buttocks but to the front!

July 19, 1943 (Monday)
     I went with Christie to play golf at the Royal Queensland Golf Club.  The Prince of Wales played here 20 years ago!  It cost us each (servicemen) 1 shilling.  To rent clubs 2/.  We had tea and scones before we started - 1/.  After the first 9 we had lunch 1/6d for tea and sandwiches.  We had a shower and shaved and played the last 9 and had beer for 1/.  About $1 for all of it!  The grass is dry, but it is a good course.  I did the last 9 in 58 - George in 47!
     Still no mail!  Rumor has it that our orders are in, and that we'll move to Rockhampton soon!
     In the evening Padre Griffiths and I went to Acacia Lodge #330 in S. Brisbane, to a 3rd degree.  It was a Queensland Charter.  Things are very much different!  I hope I can remember the differences to tell in our lodge when I return!  When we got as far as downtown (about 11:30 P.M.) the power went off.  We had a hot dog, Australian-style - very tough skin!  We got rooked on a fancy ice cream deal - 2/ for a dish!

July 20, 1943 (Tuesday)
     Boy - cnesoring for 6 hour today.  It really plucks at the heartstrings to read some of the loneliness and love.  One fellow wrote, "I be the officer that has censored my mail will think I'm a lovesick fool.  I hope he is married or in love, so he can understand how i feel." So I wrote at the end of the letter, "You're right.  I am married and I am in love with my wife!" and signed it "Censor".
     A V from Oliver Waite [a friend from Trinidad].  No mail from Beth for a week.  Some of the letters of the men indicate that they haven't had letters for so long, and apparently write nasty remarks about the other person not writing, and then receive 6 or more letters at once, and are promptly sorry.
     2 letters this afternoon from my Honey!  Marvelous!  Everything is rosy again!

July 21, 1943 (Wednesday)
     10 officers and 100 men leave tonight on an advance party to Rockhampton!  We are to act as a station hospital, with 1000 beds, for the 42nd Division returning from combat.  It is practically 100% malarious.  They are on suppressive treatment, from which they will be gradually withdrawn and sent to the hospital as they relapse.  Withdrawal will be staggered in groups so we aren't swamped.  Then after about 5 months we are to return to combat with them!
     This evening we drank up our remaining chits - beer, apricot liquer, cherry brandy, Soleol [?] wine, etc.

Setting the Scene: Australia and Japan (13)

Australia at 2.97 million square miles, is about the area of the United States minus the state of Alaska.  It is considered the world's smallest and driest continent.  Most of the interior is flat and desert or semi-arid.  Brisbane is located in the middle of the east coast, and at the southern edge of Queensland, a state that is about the same size as Alaska.  The temperature is moderate, and the average annual rainfall is about 42 inches which falls mainly in the summer months of November through March.  The population of Brisbane in 1942 was about 750,000

According to A Pocket Guide to Australia published by the War and Navy Departments in 1943 (which I mentioned in yesterday's blog), annual per capita consumption of wheat and flour in the U.S. was 160 lbs, while in Australia it was 203 lbs.  In the U.S., 1/2 lb of tea and 13 lbs of coffee were consumed; in Australia, 7 lbs of tea and 1/2 lb of coffee.  Meat consumption was as follows: beef (U.S.) 63 lbs, (Australia) 112 lbs; lamb or mutton (U.S.) 7 lbs, (Australia) 81 lbs; pork (U.S.) 55 lbs, (Australia) 19 lbs.  Americans made up the calories by eating lots more fruit and leafy vegetables. Both countries probably had a similar sweet tooth.

In January 1942 the American British Dutch Australian Command (ABDACOM) was formed to oversee the Southwest Pacific Area and was placed under British control.  At the time the goal was purely defensive since "Europe First" had been decided upon by the British and Americans.  President Roosevelt felt that even though the U.S. had been attacked by Japan, American commitment should be first against Germany.  He had concerns about the ability of Russia to hold up against Germany and he wanted to keep Great Britain free. He also thought Germany would continue the war with or without Japan.

In early 1942 Japan seized various small islands in the south Pacific, as well as Borneo, Singapore, and ports of New Guinea (including Finschhafen on March 11, 1942, which will be important to the 92nd Evac later).  The ABDACOM was dissolved only a few months after it was formed when most of the area to be overseen was conquered by the Japanese.  At this point the Australian politicians discussed establishing a defensive line at Brisbane,  thus effectively  conceding half of the continent to Japan if they were attacked.  They were in a difficult position because most of their ground troops had been committed by Great Britain to fighting in the Middle East.

General Douglas MacArthur was evacuated from Corregidor Island in the Philippines in March, and the Philippines were surrendered to Japan in May 1942.  After arriving in Australia, MacArthur was not willing to participate in passive defense.  His strategy was to take control of the area, starting with New Guinea, and eventually to take back the Philippines.

Gene describes sailing up the estuary to Brisbane,  and finding their spot in Camp Ascot in his diary:

July 13, 1943 (Tuesday)
     We came part way up the estuary, inside the submarine nets and anchored last night.  I was up by 6 (the men made so much noise) and we were moving up the channel then, and it is a narrow channel between low islands, but quiet as a mill pond.  In fact, as soon as we came inside the bay it was quiet.  It was quite a ways up the river to the docks - 10 miles or so.  We were all excited to see land.  Last night everyone rushed to one side and darn near capsized the boat.  They warned everyone to stay on his own side.  I was relly alarmed, because it took a terrific list when they had to make sharp turns.  We tied up to the dock about 7.
     I had to get the detail for the baggage and unloaded it last, so I didn't get off the boat until 11.  We had a right-handed truck and our education to Australia began.  We drove to section H, Camp Ascot, about 1 1/2 miles from the dock.  The rest of the men and officers had to walk, so I had a ride for my trouble [according to nurse Edith Anderson, the nurses rode by government bus to Camp Columbia] We drove all over camp looking for our outfit and finally [after] about 3/4 of an hour located us.  We went to eat at once.

The area outside the turf track at Eagle Farm Race Track,
the interior of which was called Camp Ascot in WWII

     This camp is in a race track which is quite elaborate and new.  It was finished just before the war in '39.  We have only the inside area.  The beautiful turf tracks are left undisturbed.  Of course it is all dead-looking now, it being winter.  On the way up we passed some perfectly huge poinsettias in bloom - actually trees with big trunks!  The large grandstands house officers.  The mess is not too hot!  We pay a ration plus 1 bob (1/) (shilling, = 16¢) extra a day.
     We had an orientation lecture from 1:30 to 4:15 which was a series, and very instructive.  "I'm knocked up.  Go jazz my sister." means "I'm tired out.  Go dance with my sister."  The lady who says she gets a good screw each week means she has a good wage each week!
     We signed in and I had a $10 bill converted - £3, 1/ and 11d.
     I sent Beth a canned cablegram for 44¢.  I couldn't tell in it where we were (that can only be put in letters), and mailed letters.

In a cable to Mary X sent on 16 July 1943 (Friday), Beth writes: CARD FROM MERCY INDICATES SHE RECEIVED ALL WELL CABLE FROM DICK WEDNESDAY.  NO DETAILS JUDGE IT WAS FROM AUSTRALIA.  AT LEAST BOAT IS SAFE AND IM SURE GENE IS TOO.  CANT UNDERSTAND WHY NO CABLE FOR ME.  AM WIRING MOM.  THANKS FOR KANSASCITY CARD LOVE TO ALL= ELIZABETH.

We have tents, wooden floors and some have cots.  Open air cold showers and wash stands (we can use the officers' showers at times with hot water - Christie and I did.  Was it nice!)  There was a movie last night but I was too tired.