"JESSIE"
ELIZABETH SIMONS
(Now Mrs. J.E. Hookway)
Posted to the "Far East" in 1941 as a member
of the 13th A.G.H.,
a survivor of the sinking of the Vyner
Brooke and
interned by the Japanese for three and a half
years in Sumatra.
Another "Brave Women" page
J.E. Simons-Hookway 1999 |
YOU SHOULD READ
THIS UNIQUE BOOK!
Elizabeth ("Jessie" to her fellow POW nurses)
Simons is the author of the book "While History
Passed" (William Heinemann Limited, 1954)
later re-published under the title "In
Japanese Hands". The book fully documents
her experiences immediately before, during and immediately after her internment
in the prison camps of Sumatra. It is currently out of print but can be
obtained through the Australian National Library.
YOU SHOULD READ ITS CONTROVERSIAL
PREFACE!
We thought that, rather than take Mrs Hookway
over "old" ground, we would analyze the
controversial preface that she wrote to
the 1954 edition and ask her questions relating to her attitudes now, after
the passing of more than 55 years since the date of her release from Japanese
internment. The interviews took place during October, 2000.
|
Extract from the Preface (1954)
to "While History Passed"
"I think I have managed to bridge the gap
of those years and catch up with what was happening in Australia and the
rest of the world during those years when so much history was being made
- history which passed us by in our Sumatran backwater. I cannot, of course,
recapture the outlook of the Australian people during those years, and
I am still amazed that so much interest was taken in us. My friends tell
me they scanned the papers for word of us through the years, and I know
from the nature of our welcome home that Australians as a whole, not only
our own friends, rejoiced in our releases, though horrified at the fate
of those who did not come back.
"Jessie" Simons
Photo: Van Diemen's Studios,
Launceston
Question 1 (18/10/2000)
During the intervening years have your reactions to internment and
its consequences changed at all?
A: During the 50 or so intervening years I have
mellowed. When we came out of camp we had no knowledge of what had been
going on. We had been living in limbo, a backwater. As I came to hear about
the atrocities committed during the war (WW2), for example the mass executions
by the Germans of Jews and others, the appalling suffering of our men who
had been interned by the Japanese, the blitz of London, the heroic sacrifices
by the RAF and the RAAF "the few" - I was shocked and horrified. I came
to regard our experience as not as bad as theirs. Also there were those
left at home in Australia. We knew we were all right but they had no idea
whether we were dead or alive. The families suffered terribly.
For myself, apart from the waste of time and our nursing skills, I feel
I personally benefited by my association with people of different walks
of life, mainly British; but there were Dutch and at least one German lady
(not the doctor) with
whom I became friendly. They gave me an understanding of their ways of
life, acceptance of the war and their situations. Both had lived in the
Far East for some years. |
©Although Angell Productions is a Commercial Company,
the "Brave Women" segment of its website is voluntary. All material thereon
is copyright to the contributors and must not be reproduced, downloaded
or otherwise replicated without written permission from Angell Productions.
"Looking back over those years I find that in
many ways I do not regret the experience. I learned the meaning of comradeship.
There is an indefinable bond among those who have lived and suffered together. When
I wrote recently to some of the girls for help
in refreshing my memory on several points, I had letters back from all
over Australia within a week. When I was a youngster, I used to think soldiers
of World War I were talking rubbish when they spoke of the comradeship
among those who have been through it together. Even now, though surrounded
by friends and relatives, I still long for my old pals.
Question 2 (18/10/2000)
Apart from your positive reaction of learning "the value of comradeship"
is there any comment you would make to the youth of today about how they
should regard war and imprisonment?
A: War has never been a solution. There are no winners.
It is normally the Man-in-the-Street who pays the price, often with his
life or health, physical or mental. Often both.
We should encourage our youth to take greater interest in politics.
Our politicians are our country's representatives and we mirror our leaders
in the eyes of the world.
As time went by I came to value the courage and fortitude of my companions.
It was late in 1945 - about July or August - when I began to feel I had
not much longer to live. I remember saying, "After all, the girls
on the beach were lucky - their death was swift." I don't
blame the Japs. They were only obeying orders. Of course
my
war was a very short one. I landed in Singapore in September (1941) and
was captured in February 1942, but I know we must learn to forgive. Bitterness
only affects the person who is feeling it. Bitterness makes people ill,
makes them behave irrationally. |
Top of page
"It is terrible to think of the girls
who lost their lives. Normally they would have had many years of useful
community service ahead of them. But we did volunteer for service overseas,
and a nurse's life is never an easy one. We were all prepared to share
the fate of our men to the best of our ability.
Question 3 (18/10/2000)
What has the companionship and mutual support meant to you through
the passing years?
A: I am attached to the women with whom I spent 3
and a half years in very close contact. We know each other so well, but
they are not my only friends.
After I got home separation did not mean much at first - I was so glad
to be home - but then it began to pall. People kept trying to put words
into our mouths, to jump to conclusions, to make up things that just didn't
happen or to twist what did happen. That is when we began to seek each
other's support. Now I am glad that I had the experience, I met and mixed
with people from all walks of life in the prison camp, people whom I would
never have known otherwise. Not all of them survived, of course. |
Top of page
"Apart from our own group, there were the
old ladies, often used to very comfortable conditions, who died in pain
and abject poverty. Little children, wizened and shrivelled and wholly
mercenary, died too. Will the world never learn!
"The Japanese - how they hated that name! When
a tiny baby lisped the word "Jap", the mother was lectured angrily by one
of the guards. He demanded that she teach the child to say "Nipponese".
They always insisted that we call them by that name, a sure way of guaranteeing
that we did not, except to their faces. Whatever they may say, we will
never be deceived by their wide smiles and low bows; they are not individually
to blame for being born Japs, nor for their lack of education and civilization,
but it is hard to find any excuse for their neglect
and brutality. The best you can say is that their inheritance is largely
pagan,
and if you remove the Christian influence from any nation you get much
the same result, whether in East or West.
Question 4 (18/10/2000)
Has your attitude towards the Japanese changed?
A: Apart from the war years I have not had any contact
with the Japanese. Were I to meet a Japanese man I would treat him the
same as any other person. If I see a Japanese in uniform, however (in a
film or on television) that distresses me. I get flash-backs even now.
|
Top of page
"There was a Dutch doctor in Palembang during
the early days of our captivity who used to boast, I'm Dutch and proud
of it. Well after a while the Japs got tired of that and chopped his
head off. He had not learned the wisdom of silence. There are many things
about which I have kept silence in this book. For one
thing, I cannot recall everything in its right setting; there are other
things I have left out intentionally..."
J.E. SIMONS Tasmania 1954
Conclusion:
(J.E. Simons 18th October, 2000)
My three and a half years were not wasted, they caused me to mature
perhaps earlier than I would otherwise have done and I value the friendships
that I made and the knowledge I acquired
|
Top of page
"The doctor" refers to the German
Dr Goldberg who was interned with the women. They allege that she was not
a medical doctor and that she held both German and British passports. Some
of them have expressed an opinion that she may have been collaborating
with or spying for the Japanese, but this is a matter for academic research
- a mystery yet to be solved - and Angell Productions accepts no responsibility
for quoting other people's opinions. This is done not to cause mischief
but in the interests of filling in details and perhaps stimulating
further investigation. In fairness it should be noted that it is equally
possible that, if she was spying at all, she could have been spying for
the British. However some intersting facts have emerged during research
for the biography of Wilma Oram Young.
Watch out for the Book! Return
Pagan: J.E. Simons added a
footnote in 2000 as follows: "...and they were governed by their Emperor
whom they regarded as a god." Return
"Recently" - i.e. prior
to writing the 1954 Preface. Return
"While History Passed" or "In Japanese
Hands" (J.E. Simons - William Heinemann Ltd, 1954)
Top of page
Brave Women
Home page
SITE MAP
Page designed by
Angell Productions Pty Limited
E-mail:
