ESCAPE FROM SINGAPORE
On 11 February 1942, a contingent of 60 nurses of the Australian Army Nursing Service (AANS) was ordered to evacuate Singapore. Six of the nurses’ colleagues had left the day before on the Wusueh. Their remaining 65 colleagues would leave the day after on the Vyner Brooke.
Half of the contingent belonged to the 2/10th Australian General Hospital (AGH), which had arrived in Malaya in February 1941 aboard the Queen Mary and had established its hospital in Malacca. The other 30 belonged to the 2/13th AGH, which had arrived in September and was based initially on Singapore Island before relocating to Tampoi on the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula. After the Imperial Japanese Army invaded Malaya in December, both hospitals were evacuated to Singapore. Now Singapore itself was on the cusp of falling.
During these final days, with the battle for Singapore raging around them, the nurses were rarely off duty. Their hospitals were overcrowded, supplies were running short, bombs and shells were falling all over the place, and the Japanese had cut off the municipal water supply. Yet the nurses’ spirit was undaunted, and they did not want to leave their patients.
No one came forward when Matrons Paschke of the 2/10th AGH and Drummond of the 2/13th AGH called for 30 nurses from each hospital to volunteer to leave. All wanted to stay, so the matrons had the difficult task of drawing up lists and issuing orders. Staff Nurse Margaret Selwood of the 2/13th AGH exemplified the nurses’ attitude when she later said that although “those last days were sheer terror … when we had the order to evacuate we cried – it was so terrible to leave those brave men.”
The 60 nurses were given 20 minutes in which to get ready. Many departed with only the uniforms that they were wearing and their tin hats – later described by one nurse as “the best friends we’ve got.” Others managed to throw together a few things in a haversack or small suitcase.
As a pall of black smoke hung over the city, the Australian nurses boarded ambulances at their respective hospitals and were driven to St. Andrew’s Cathedral through ruined, near-empty streets. Here and there a few locals sat mutely, just waiting, and all the while an air raid was taking place. The nurses rendezvoused at the cathedral, which by then had been turned into a makeshift hospital, and then awaited further transport to Keppel Harbour. Outside, the bombing and artillery fire intensified. Late in the afternoon they travelled by ambulance to the wharves, full of holes and abandoned cars and desperate people. Here they waited in an air-raid shelter until the order came to board their ship, MV Empire Star, a cargo ship captained by Selwyn N. Capon.
THE EMPIRE STAR
The Empire Star had previously been used to evacuate troops from Dunkirk, Greece and Crete. On board were more than 2,160 people, perhaps as many as 2,400. They were mainly British RAF personnel, whom General Archibald Wavell was sending to Java to help defend the Netherlands East Indies (NEI), but there were also 139 2nd AIF troops (some of whom were labelled deserters – an accusation they later vigorously denied) and many civilian refugees, including more than 160 women and 35 children. The ship also carried a considerable amount of RAF equipment and stores.
The 60 Australian nurses were assisted onto the ship along a swaying gangplank by two merchant seamen. One of the nurses remembers climbing up a rope ladder hanging from the Empire Star and losing her haversack to the sea. Once aboard, they were sent down into the hold, which smelt of smelt of stale meat, as there had not been time to clean it out.
In the hold the 60 nurses met around 40 civilians, Territorial Army Nursing Service (TANS) nurses, and Voluntary Aid Detachment (VAD) personnel. The TANS nurses and VADS were still recovering after a traumatic departure from their hospital that morning. They had been sniped at while running across the hospital lawn to an ambulance waiting to take them to Keppel Harbour. Then as they drove through the city, the ambulance was machine-gunned.
The women stayed in the hold for most of the voyage to Batavia. The 60 AANS nurses each had a blanket to sleep on, and perhaps the other women did too. They drank what Staff Nurse Mary McMahon of the 2/10th AGH referred to as dixies of tea, which the men lowered down to them on ropes. They ate nothing more than ‘iron rations’ – dry biscuits and tins of bully beef, which some of them had managed to bring on board. Some of the men threw down cartons of cigarettes – and toys. Staff Nurse Maud Spehr of the 2/13th AGH caught a Teddy Bear that was thrown down and carried it home to Australia. Earlier, Sister Kathleen McMillan of the 2/10th AGH had picked up a toy rabbit in a bowtie, which she carried home too.
JAPAN ATTACKS
In the late evening the Empire Star and as many as 27 other vessels pulled away from the wharves and anchored in the outer harbour. At first light on 12 February, HMS Kedah, HMS Durban and two destroyers led the convoy out into the Durian Strait south of Singapore Island, and Captain Capon set course for Java.
Captain Capon and his crew fully expected to be attacked from the air. The presence of Japanese aircraft was first reported at 8.50 am, as the convoy was about to clear the Durian Strait. Just after 9.00 am the alarms were sounded, and six Japanese dive bombers descended on the Empire Star. The guns of the ships in the convoy burst into action. One plane crashed into the sea and disappeared under the water. Another was hit and broke off from the squadron with smoke pouring from its tail.
The planes kept coming, and the Empire Star sustained three direct hits. The explosions caused considerable damage and numerous fires, which members of the ship’s crew succeeded in extinguishing – difficult and dangerous work in a ship full of people.
DRESSING STATION
Twelve military personnel were killed outright during these initial attacks, and two more died subsequently. There were 17 wounded. The Australian nurses quickly set up a dressing station in the hold, which Staff Nurse Mary McMahon later described as “a filthy spot, cluttered with baggage and timber.” The nurses all had field dressings, and some of them had bits of material, which they tore up for bandages. A few of them had brought some drugs. Very soon casualties were brought down to them, and the nurses worked four-hour shifts attending to them.
Two of the Australian nurses had displayed exceptional courage. Staff Nurses Margaret Anderson and Vera Torney were both Victorians and had arrived in Malaya on 20 November on the Zealandia as reinforcements for the 2/13th AGH. After the attacks began, they and others had taken shelter in a lounge with two injured military personnel. A fire broke out, and smoke and fumes began to fill the room. Thinking that all was clear outside, the two nurses helped to drag the men out onto the deck. The planes returned and strafed the ship. The nurses threw themselves onto the injured men and protected them with their bodies. Margaret Anderson was later awarded the George Medal, while Vera Torney was appointed a Member of the Military Division of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (MBE).
FURTHER ATTACKS
Intermittent attacks by Japanese aircraft continued for the next four hours, with the final one conducted by a formation of nine aircraft at 1.10 pm. These were high-level attacks from 2,000–3,000 metres and were carried out by heavy bombers. Dozens of bombs were dropped, some of which missed the Empire Star by mere metres. On these occasions the concussive effect of the explosions lifted the ship out of the water.
All the while Captain Capon was taking evasive action. Thanks to Captain George Wright of the Singapore Pilot Service, who had remained on the ship after it had cleared the harbour, and the Third Officer, Mr. James Peter Smith, the captain was being kept advised at all times of the manoeuvres of the attacking aircraft and their angle of attack, and was able to weave through the water or execute sudden reverses. By dint of his skill, and through sheer good luck, none of the high-level bombs struck the Empire Star and there were no casualties.
Remarkably, the ship was not attacked at all on the following day, Friday 13 February. It was afterwards learned that the Japanese pilots had instead given their attention to a convoy of oil tankers.
BATAVIA
The Empire Star limped into Priok Tanjung, the port of Batavia, on the morning of 14 February. Shortly before the ship’s arrival, Captain Capon had held a Thanksgiving Service, and all of those who could attend did so. Everyone understood what a miraculous escape they had had. By one account, the Empire Star was one of only three ships in the convoy to reach Batavia.
Captain Capon arranged for emergency repairs to be carried out on the ship, and the passengers disembarked. While the British RAF personnel were set to remain in Java, most of the civilian passengers ended up transferring to other ships. According to Staff Nurse Maud Spehr, one particular civilian woman had 12 trunks on the wharf and was calling out for her 13th. A number of the nurses were disgusted at this, and contrasted the woman’s obvious privilege with the experience of the 2nd AIF deserters, who had now been arrested and marched out to a camp.
Meanwhile, the Australian nurses were transferred to the Dutch ship Phrontis, which was bound for India. They were made comfortable on straw mattresses on a clean lower deck and given fresh sandwiches and tea and cold water. They were treated with every consideration and kindness. In view of their awful ordeal during the voyage from Singapore, it is unsurprising then that Batavia was later described by one of the nurses as “the most wonderful place on earth, a haven of peace after the everlasting noise of the blitz.”
From Batavia the nurses thought that they were going to be sent to Colombo in Ceylon to help at the 2/12th AGH. However, this did not eventuate, and in the end Captain Capon offered to take them to Fremantle on the Empire Star. While they were waiting, the senior nurses arranged to go into Batavia to buy supplies of food with what little money the nurses had. Malayan dollars were exchanged for Netherlands Indies guilders, and the senior nurses came back with what was available, mainly tinned food. As there was not enough, a meeting was held on deck and the decision was made to have one meal a day at 11.00 am.
THE JOURNEY HOME
The Empire Star sailed from Tanjung Priok on 16 February. Soon after departure, the nurses noticed a ship on the horizon, fast approaching the port. It was HMT Orcades carrying 7th Division troops to Java to reinforce the island against the Japanese. As the Orcades passed the men on board waved frantically and called out “coo-ee.” When the Orcades departed Batavia again on 21 February, bound for Australia via Colombo, there were six AANS nurses aboard. They were the nurses who had been evacuated from Singapore on the Wusueh.
After a week at sea, and with no further incident, the Empire Star reached Fremantle on 23 February. The nurses were home. The ship anchored in Gage Roads, the outer harbour of Fremantle, and remained there until Army Headquarters was notified of the nurses’ arrival. Then some officers came aboard and took their paybooks to ensure that they were in fact AANS nurses. Once ashore they were taken to lunch at the 110th AGH in Perth, also known as the Perth Military Hospital or Hollywood Hospital, and were then taken to 118th AGH at Northam to be reequipped with uniforms and gear.
While at Northam the nurses were given some bad news concerning the colleagues they had left behind in Singapore. The last 65 AANS nurses had departed aboard a ship called the Vyner Brooke and it had failed to arrive in Batavia.
SOURCES
- Arthurson, L., ‘The Story of the 13th Australian General Hospital, 8th Division AIF, Malaya,’ as reproduced by Peter Winstanley on the website Prisoners of War of the Japanese 1942–1945.
- Blue Star Line (website), ‘Blue Star’s M.V. ‘Empire Star’ 2.,’ particularly a transcript of Captain Capon’s letter to the mother of one of the survivors.
- Henning, P. (2013), Veils and Tin Hats: Tasmanian Nurses in the Second World War, BookPOD.
- RG Crompton (website), ‘Geoffrey Crompton: his war, part 2 Escape to Batavia and Ceylon: the voyage of the Blue Star’s MV Empire Star.’
- Luby. P., ‘Passage on the Empire Star,’ Remembrance (Nov 2022–23, vol. 12, pp. 46–57), Shrine of Remembrance, Melbourne.
- Martin, R. V. (2010), Ebb and Flow: Evacuations and Landings by Merchant Ships in World War Two, Brook House.
SOURCES: NEWSPAPERS AND GAZETTES
- The Australian Women’s Weekly (28 Mar 1942, p. 7), ‘Home Again – A.I.F. Nurses from Malaya.’
- Courier-Mail (Brisbane, 16 Mar 1942, p. 4), ‘They Were So Brave, It Nearly Broke Our Hearts.’
- The London Gazette (no. 35714, 22 Sept 1942, p. 4123).
- Sunday Mail (Brisbane, 15 Mar 1942, p. 5), ‘Queensland Nurses Return Home.’
- Sun News-Pictorial (Melbourne, 2 May 1942, p. 12), ‘Epic Courage of A.I.F. Nurses.’
- The West Australian (Perth, 24 Feb 1942, p. 6), ‘Nurses Return.’
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