After I was released from the "Dip" hospital, I returned to the "lines", as we called
it, that is, the ordinary or non-hospital huts, which housed the prisoners deemed
able to work.
Before long I began having chest pains, and landed in another "hospital". The
treatment I received was nothing more than rest. I don't remember feeling ill, but I
must have been weak and run down.
At any rate, I soon began feeling better. Soon Major Crawford, CMO, took a
number of us under his wing and kept us in the hospital to assist the medical
orderlies, whose numbers were severely restricted by Japanese regulations.
The official medical staff, Sgt. Reg Kerr, and Sgt. Ray Squires, were much
overworked, and the addition of a few extra hands to empty bedpans, and
provide what comfort we could to the sick and dying, was no doubt appreciated.
I shudder to think of what might have happened to Dr. Crawford if the Japs had
suspected that he was pulling the wool over their eyes.
There were four of us who were kept in the hospital to assist the orderlies: Ken
Court, Doc Savage, Walter Thompson, and myself. I am the only one left.
The duty of an assistant orderly consisted mainly of emptying bed pans and aiding
in any way we could under the direction of Ray and Reg. We dispensed sodium
bicarbonate  wrapped up in small packages, bathed sores with potassium
permanganate, and did whatever else we could to alleviate the suffering.
Another misery that dogged us throughout our stay in prison camp was the
incidence of scabies. To my understanding, scabies is caused by a micro-organism
which insinuates itself under the skin, and if left untreated, festers, and, in time,
results in large pustules ulcers.
To a large extent,these sores appeared on the lower limbs, but in severe cases,
ulcers appeared also on the body as well. The treatment was draconian. The poor
victim was made to strip, and the medical orderly then scrubbed him with a brush
that had the bristles clipped off short to make the process more effective.
When all the ulcers were bleeding, a solution of sulphur and God knows what else
was rubbed into the open sores. How those poor fellows stood the pain, not to
mention the indignity, is beyond my comprehension. If the individual did not take
good care of himself and keep his body as clean as possible, in a matter of weeks
he had to undergo the same torture again.
As an orderly, I had to administer this treatment to a number of my comrades, and
believe me, the task was not a pleasant one.I understood the cause of the
problem, and was scrupulously clean about myself. Every indication of a scabies
pustule was vigorously scrubbed, and whatever disinfectant I could find was
carefully rubbed into the wound. As a result, I don't bear any ulcer scars on my
body.
Here I must pay tribute to the ingenuity of our medical staff. With very little to
work with, it must have been maddening for these scientifically minded men to
know the cause, and be certain of the cure, yet be unable because of lack of
medicine and the tools to administer it the treatment.
Medical Orderlies
If I recall correctly, the only medicine availably  was potassium permanganate as a
disinfectant, sodium bicarbonate for stomach ache, sulphur lotion for the treatment
of scabies, and, of course, anti-toxin for the treatment of diphtheria when the
epidemic was at its worst.
Back to the Lines
For whatever reason, I was released from the hospital and sent back to the
"lines". I was deemed fit to work, and so joined the group of tunnellers who went
out daily to dig in the side of the mountain
We left ShamShuiPo in the morning in darkness and marched to work, some two
or threes miles, there to dig tunnels in the side of the hills. From what information
we could get out of the Japs, the purpose of the tunnels was to store food
supplies, and to act as defence positions in the event of an American invasion.