Evening star., 1941-08-10
BY DONALD STEWART KING,
40 Told to w. H. Shippen, Jr.<

40 Told to w. H. Shippen, Jr.<
After Nazi dynamiters rolled the
battered old Zamzam into her South
Atlantic grave we captives Of many
nations, races and creeds began to
share a common state of mind-a
psychosis of fear.
Nor were our brave captors en-
tirely immune. The officers OF the
raider Tamesis were palpably nerv-
GUS. know they weren't too happy
as they watched the wreckage they
had made of a neutral cargo vessel
drop over the rim OF darkening
sea.
The bold Nazi raider was under
way, but where was she going with
the 1873 Americans whose lives she
disjointed when she shelled the
crowded Zamzam? Two Of them
Frank Vicovari, captain of my am
bulance outfit, and Uncle" Ned
Laughinghouse, elderly North Caro-
lima tobacco man-lay grievously
wounded by shell splinters in the
raiders hospital.
From the questions they asked,
I knew the officers were troubled.
I think they expected to find they
had leveled their five Inch gun that
dawn on troopship, or at least a
contraband. But all those neutral
passengers -. all those women and
children -.
Raider Was Disguised.
What of them? What would Ber-
lin and Washington say?
Maybe the officers were new at
the game. We learned later the
"Tamesis" could have been the Ger
man motor ship Rameses, escorted
out of Shanghai only a few weeks
previously by two obliging japanese
destroyers.
The officers seemed anxious to
learn what Uncle Sam might do
about an act described later by Ber-
lin as model" functioning of in
ternational law.
We all suffered a let-down that
evening. Excitement coupled with
action had buoyed us through the
day. We were keyed up by the
bombardment, the escape, the sink
ing of our ship.
Before the reaction set in, some
of us learned what we could of the
raider. AS far as I could see she
carried only one heavy gun-a FIVE
lncher mounted aft. Her silhouette
was disguised with false deck house
and with sheeting which made her
round funnel appear oval in shape.
The Germans brought us tea and
lime juice as We headed south. We
were some 324 in all. including 200
passengers and the rest officers and
crew. Many of the crew had escaped
with only the clothes on their
backs. Those of us who had pro-
vtded ourselves with tobacco and
extra clothing divided up as best
we could.
Gloom and Fear Spread.
Later that day we were herded
into hold five decks down. The
Germans, always thorough, had
equipped it for English prisoners.
Directions were printed on the wall
in English. We filled out forms for
the officers which had been prepared
IN English-they even had a few
English books for us to read.
AS the evening wore on we tried
to keep our spirits up, but gloom
spread through our crowded quar-
ters-gloom and fear.
There were Is English ON board
band at least as many Canadians,
| along with a few South Africans,
Belgians and Norwegians. The
latter must have thought of con-
centration camps and broken fami-
lies-husbands divided from wives,
parents from children.
I, too, feared a concentration
camp. In France had seen a few
from the outside; in Spain I saw
one from the inside-for a week
anyhow The Nazis have perfected
a preventive starvation" technique.
1t breaks mans spirit to such an
extent he is no longer potential
enemy. A year of it can ruin a
young man for life. What would it
mean to women and children, or
elderly men? 1t was my fear of a
German concentration camp which
cost me many an ache and pain
later.
Huddled Below Decks.
Fear is a word of many implica-
tions. I had seen that most in
tense of all emotions on the faces
of mothers watching their babies
hoisted aboard the raider in cargo
slings. 1t was with us all, infect
ing every soul on that crowded
ship. The missionaries, I suppose,
feared for the souls of the heathens
they wouldn't be able to save. We
| young men of the Ambulance
Corps mourned a lost opportunity
There were men and women on
board married to citizens of bel
ligerent countries. What could they
be thinking?
We looked forward with fear and
hope to meeting an English wal
n .J l>L>-x