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+| MORE ABpUTGRIPSHOLM(Cojuimrtcl fniR) f'ajfc One)losis clinic hei or. active servic sailed in the sae before she went e in June, 1940. She ne ship as the Winnipeg Grenadiers and the Royal Rifles, landing at Horvg Kong, Nov. IS, 1941. She ianti Nursing Sister :Kathleen Christie, of Toronto, were among the firsj, to leave the ship. They went diircct to the British military hospital.Still Operating The British [military hospital is still operating, linder Japanese control, but some of the British doctors arc still there, she stated. The .nurses and the other doctors have been interned,In the internment camp, she shared a bedroom with Miss Christie and Mrs. Pearl Needham,-of Vancouver. [They slept on camp beds. The only mother furniture consisted of two stools and one table, made by two boys in the cnnip. They had to keep their own room clean, ^All work in the camp was done by those interned. They did all the cooking and carried out repairs to the plumbing and electrical installations. The Japanese would bring in supplies, food, fuel, etc.. and deposit them at one central place. Then working parties from each block of the camp would go and collect it. Sometimes the wood was in big blocks which had to be sawed. At other times it only r ceded chopping. |There were lectures and classes j on almost every subject, conducted1 by the internees, and there was a school for the children. Some sports were played and concerts werepresented.One recreation was walking rour.d the camp, inside the barbed wire. It was about one mile round it and there were some hills in the camp area. When she first went into the camp, she would walk round two or three times a day, but at the end only cncc a day, she recalled.With other repatriates, she left Hong Kong Sept. 23.Miss Waters is a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. David Waters, 256 Welling-f n„ ffriends, who welcomed her home from her long internment in Japanese prison camps. Smiles, tears and warm handclasps welcomed her ... a welcome extended by old family friends, her classmates from training days, girl friends, hoy friends, members of the Winnipeg Grenadiers auxiliary, military nurses and delegations from the military. Donaid Scolt, Miss Waters’ very special boy friend of about four years of age. brought her the largo Canadian apple, which be had; spent the past week shining up for this special occasion. Other welcome-home gifts were left unopened, as late-comers made their way to the station platform.When Miss Waters finally reached the station rotunda after about an hour and a half, she was greeted by more friends.Only slight reference was made of the dreary months of internment, die ocean trip home on the exchange ship Gripsholm and her travels since arriving in Montreal, early this week.Of dinner parties, afternoon teas and special parlies for Miss Waters, she said she would sec everyone evcnlualiy, and asked her hostesses not to give her any rice dishes on the menu.Miss Waters was in uniform, and said she hoped to be back at work soon. After a leave, at her home. 256 Wellington crescent, she will Jikely be posted for duty in M.D. 10.Remains Undauntedii When interviewed at her home, {Monday, the blue-eyed fair-haired nurse showed that her oraeai had I not daunted her or caused her to lose any of the cool-headed poise | which is a professional tradition rivilh the nursing sisters of the j Royal Canadian Army Medical 1 Corps.I Like that of the Grenadiers, Nursing Sister Waters’ morale is still tops. “We just carried on from day to day and trusted to luck everything would be all right/' she said.That was all they could do. The hardest part of it was getting ho mail and not knowing whether mail was going out. The biggest worry was wondering how the folks were at home, she stated. During the whole 14 months she only received ore letter from home—in August— and it was written in May, 1942— ar.d two from Nursing Sister Nila McLardy, a Winnipeg friend, who is serving with the South African military’ nursing service. Those letters were also about one year old.iA graduate o! the Winnipeg General hospital, Miss Waters was on the staff of the Central Tubercu-
Newspaper Details
Winnipeg Free Press
Winnipeg, Manitoba, CA
Mon, Dec 06, 1943
Page 17
Full Page
Clipped by
Susun W.
USA 28 Mar 2017
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