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NATHALIE WITTMANN

Service Details

Shortly after the commencement of the Korean War, the RoyalAustralian Air Force advertised for suitably qualified Nursing Sisters to serve in thatconflict. Nathalie Wittmann (nee Sister Oldham) answered the "call to thecolours". Highly qualified in a number of specialities, she was required to undergoRAAF familiarisation and orientation courses at a number of RAAF stations in Australia,including an intense but speedy course in Medical Air Evacuation procedures. On graduationshe was posted to the RAAF Hospital at Iwakuni, Japan and almost immediately was directlyinvolved in the medical air evacuation of wounded Australian and British Commonwealthtroops from Korea. She remained in this role for most of her service in the RAAF. Duringservice she became formally engaged to an RAAF fighter pilot (77 Squadron RAAF) and on herreturn to Australia, married. The RAAF rules & regulations of the period required herto resign from the RAAF on marriage. Nathalie lives in Canberra and spends much time withher five children and grand children. She is actively involved in a number of communitybased projects and is directly and keenly involved in the welfare and activities of formerNursing Sisters.

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Early in 1951 I read a newspaper advertisement recruiting NursingSisters for service in the RAAF. The ad highlighted the prospect of Medical Air Evacuationexperience, which immediately attracted my attention. Having spent the previous nine yearsqualifying and working in the fields of General Nursing, Infectious Diseases, Obstetricsand Infant Welfare, I could not resist this exotic opportunity so promptly despatched myapplication . My close friend, Joan Clayton, also applied and after satisfactory medicalswe were inducted in July and posted to 6 RAAF Hospital , at the RAAF Base, Laverton,Victoria. Joan and I, together with six other Nursing Sisters, attended a two weeks coursein Medical Air Evacuation at RAAF Base, Point Cook in January 1952. Much to my surprise afew weeks after completion of the course I was posted to 391 (C) Wing at RAAF Base,Iwakuni, Japan, for duties with the Base Hospital which was Commanded by Squadron LeaderD.A.S. Morgan and at which Senior Sister Tess Cleary was Matron.

I arrived at Iwakuni on 12th March 1952 (per Qantas and via Darwin,Labuan and Hong Kong) and set forth on my first Medical Air Evacuation Flight three dayslater. From that point in time trips averaged one a week as they were shared among sixSisters. Most of our working days were spent on normal hospital duties, but the excellentBase facilities and pleasant, fishing village atmosphere of Iwakuni provided a goodfoundation for a happy and enthusiastic approach to both on and off duty activities. Dayswere busy, experiences varied and interesting. The serious but rarely depressing work withpatients was spiced with the novelty of building so many friendships, or acquaintances asthe case may be. There seemed to be an endless cavalcade of "characters".

I became close friends with some of the Dakota crew members who weremore like brothers than workmates. They worked very hard under frustrating conditions yetseemed to maintain a better sense of humour than most. An "evergreen lark" theyenjoyed so much was to have a Sister transmit some of the routine Position and EstimatedTime of Arrival (ETA's) reports as we approached Seoul. A woman's voice on theradio never failed to draw a humorous response from the Control Tower.

Yungdungpo (K16) was the focus of our Medical Air Evacuation Flightsbecause British Commonwealth patients were assembled there for evacuation to Iwakuni andsubsequent hospitalisation in Kure. Consequently, nearly all of our flights were fromIwakuni to K16 and return. Our aircraft did not display the RED CROSS insignia so that ourinbound flights to K16, our Dakotas (C47s) carried cargo, troops and even munitions onoccasions. In winter, the medical supplies, which included blankets, our miscellaneouscargo (blankets) was a blessing as it allowed us to curl up on top of the pallets andmaybe have a sleep. It was bone chilling inside the fuselage compartment of a Dakota andat least trickle of warm air could detected near the ceiling. On arrival at K16 one of thewelcome sights , on opening the cargo doors, was the big black face of an American,wreathed in light blue fur (issue Pakha ?). The face belonged to a soldier in charge ofmobile hot air machines and his familiar southern drawl "want any hot airMa'm" always brought a "yes please" smile to my face. Of course hissecond utterance was usually something like; "Got anything to sell Ma'm - Surecould use some lipstick". It would have been easy to become a trader.

The United States Air Force (USAF) employed C47 aircraft for MedicalAir Evacuation flights from the shorter runways of forward airstrips and tacticalairfields but didn't enthusiastically approve of our use of the aircraft forrelatively long range over-water flights in the Medical Evacuation role. However, ourDakota's and crews performed admirably and very successfully fulfilled their roleswithout blemish. On a few occasions, when forced to divert from the predetermineddestination (for a variety of reasons), it was necessary to unload the patients, refueland then reload before proceeding. The inconvenience caused, probably could have beenavoided had we possessed C54s like the Americans for long range medical evacuations roles.We did not have that luxury.

In July I was attached to the 801st Medical Air Evacuation Squadron,(MAES) United States Air Force, in order to work with their Flight Nurses and report on myexperiences and observations. The 801st MAES was responsible for Medical Air Evacuation,from Korea, of wounded and sick personnel of the American Forces and those of other Alliedforces except British Commonwealth personnel. The latter were evacuated by 30 TransportUnit (RAAF) for treatment at the British Commonwealth Hospital in Kure. Based at Tachikawa(Tokyo - Japan), the 801st flew C54s to a number of pick up points in Korea, includingKimpo, Yungdungpo, Wonjin, Taegu and Pusan, the latter base known as "Dogpatch"and transported patients back to Japan, either to Itami for treatment which was the majorUS Army Hospital in Japan or sometimes to Tachikawa.

I arrived at Tachikawa on 27 July 1952 by USAF transport flight fromIwakuni and was welcomed that night by a large number of the staff. I later learned thatthe rank of "Sister" had mislead them to expect a Nun, not just a "NursingSister". No doubt, curiosity prevailed. The Nurses of the 801st could not have beenmore helpful and hospitable and my time with them, both on and off duty, was happy andrewarding. Their modus operandi , in the Medical Air Evacuation role, differed little fromours but in other ways they enjoyed far superior "conditions of service" than usand it was difficult not to envy them. Their pay-for-rank equated with the men's payand they received generous flying pay. Nor were they called upon to perform routinehospital duties as we were. Most of them owned and drove big American cars. By contrastour Junior Sisters earned less than Corporal Medical Orderlies. Maybe the RAAF thought wewere Nuns ! During my first two weeks with the 801st I performed Medical Air Evacuationduties in C54s on four missions to Korea and found their methods to be just like ours butwas most conscious of the abundance of facilities and equipment at their disposal. I hadalready experienced the helpfulness and generosity of American medical staff at Yungdungpowhen we needed help with our (RAAF) Medical Air Evacuation services at that Base so it wasno surprise to find that the same co-operative spirit prevailed in the 801st work ethic.On 10 August I was sent from Tachikawa to spend a few days with four 801st Flight Nurseswho were performing rostered duties at their forward area detachment at K16. We worked infairly primitive conditions typical of forward bases and were accommodated in huts. Onarrival I was a little surprised to be issued with a "tin helmet" which I wasrequired to wear at all times when not flying. Using C47 aircraft (Dakotas), thedetachment provided "on call" Medical Air Evacuation services to forward stripsand tactical airfields such as Wonju, Yang-ju, Kunsan and Chunchon and escorted patientsback to Yungdungpo for treatment at the 121st Evacuation Hospital in Seoul and thentransfer back to Japan when necessary and appropriate.

Whilst at Yongdongpo I was invited, with two USAF Nurses, to visit theUSN Hospital Ship Repose. anchored in Inchon Harbour. We travelled to Inchon by jeep andout to the ship by motor launch. We spent an interesting couple of hours on board,escorted mainly by an American Padre. The hospital ship impressed us mainly because of itssimple and complete representation of a large Base Hospital with professionally efficientwards and abundant facilities. Another hospital ship, the USN Haven, was also in harbour.Both ships were equipped with "helipads" for rapid reception of seriouslywounded servicemen, particularly those who had severe head wounds. Such patients, from allallied countries, were evacuated from the front for urgent treatment. On the 13th August,I returned from my K16 detachment by C124 to Tachikawa. That was my first experience offlying in such a huge aircraft, which was capable of carrying nearly 150 litters when usedin the Medical Air Evacuation role. Before returning to Iwakuni, two days later, aboutthirty members of the 801st MAES farewelled me with a luncheon in the Officers' Clubat Tachikawa and presented me with a copy of a "Short History of the 801st MedicalAir Evacuation Squadron" which had been autographed by all who had attended theluncheon. I was deeply impressed by this generous gesture and possession of that"history" still raises fond memories of happy days with the 801st.

In November 1952 a Medical Evacuation Ward was established the BritishCommonwealth Zone Medical Unit (BCZMU) situated on the outskirts of Seoul. The purpose ofthis ward was to assemble and prepare wounded and sick patients for medical evacuation toIwakuni via K16. Sister Cathie Daniels and supporting Medical Orderlies set up and mannedthe Evacuation Ward before I joined them on 10th December, my birthday. The Sisters andOrderlies were provided by the RAAF Base Hospital Iwakuni and were to be rostered for twomonths with a one month overlap. It was a Spartan existence at the hospital at that time,but for me, and no doubt for others, the severe cold was my greatest hardship. The fewpot-bellied stoves were impotent against the sub-zero temperatures and the flimsy woodconstruction of our ward, which was outside the main brick structure of the hospital.Outside toilets and the ablutions block were freezing and hot water frequently unavailablein the unisex shower which was reserved for females (with armed guard posted) for one houreach afternoon. It seemed that everyone got caught once, getting undressedbefore checking whether hot water was available - or not.

One day a patient returned from the shower with hypothermia whichtriggered intense activity of the staff to affect his recovery. We all felt so guilty fornot having recognised his emotional fragility. Most, but not all patients in our Ward wereambulatory and fully dressed during the day but at night usually just removed their bootsretire. It was so cold and none of the patients had pyjamas.

Our Ward had a bad reputation for response to Air Raid Alert Practice,mainly because of the mobile state of our patients who could wander or visit mates in themain section of the hospital, so we encouraged them to go to bed in "MarchingOrder", which literally was fully clothed except for boots. The one night that"Bed-check Charlie" caused a real air raid alert, during my duty in Seoul, Islept right through it.

Opportunities to socialise were rare due to the "blackout",the lack of transport, the necessity to be escorted everywhere, our long duty rosters andvery early rising on Medical Evacuation days. However, I was invited, with other Sistersfrom the BCZMU (British Commonwealth Zone Medical Unit) to visit the Officers Club at the121st Evacuation Hospital in Seoul on a couple of occasions. The young Medical Officerswere good fun and very hospitable. It was surprising to find that a large number of themwere combat soldiers of WW2 , who had undertaken their medical training after the end ofthe war under the Veteran Training Scheme and were obliged to serve again - as Doctors -when the Korean War broke out.

My fiance was a pilot in 77 Squadron, RAAF, based at Iwakuni convertingnew pilots onto Meteors and visited Kimpo (K14) frequently but found it nearly impossibleto visit me because of the blackout, lack of transport and of course my very full dutyroster. Fortunately, one his mates, Ross Alexander, was the Squadron Public RelationsOfficer who had the only jeep on the squadron and very kindly made it available to myfiance on one occasion.

One of my most memorable experience occurred whilst I was at the BCZMUin Seoul. A battalion of the Princess Pat's (Princess Patricia's Canadian LightInfantry {PPCLI}) was returning to Canada after completing its tour of duty (12 months) inKorea and on the way to Inchon to embark the troops per ship to Canada. The Band and sometroops visited the hospital. It was late afternoon, snowing lightly and almost dusk whenon the drill square, in front of the hospital, they "Beat the Retreat" for someof their mates who were still in hospital - and possibly for all the other Commonwealthtroops who remained behind. I am sure that there wasn't a dry eye amongst the NursingStaff who were watching from the windows overlooking the square.

I completed my duty in Seoul on 14th February 1953 and returned happilyto the relative warmth and luxury of life at Iwakuni. On 6h April I returned to Australiaand posted to the RAAF Base, Laverton, Victoria.

Five children later, whilst my husband was serving in Vietnam, Ireturned to nursing as an Infant Health Sister in the ACT and was consulted by a youngKorean couple with a baby. The husband was enrolled at the Australian National University(ANU). When he said that they came from Seoul, I remarked that I had served there as aNurse during the Korean War. He rose from his seat, bowed deeply and said "Thank youMa'm". About a fortnight later, they visited again and he presented me with asmall exquisite, hand woven trinket basket, which I treasure.

Despite the passage of over 4 decades, the Koreans have not forgottenthe service and sacrifice given by Australians.

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