70 years ago: Hong Kong's wartime diaries

((I've dated this entry to 22nd July, not the 23rd shown below. The 22nd is the date given in his wife's diary and other records of this journey for the ships' arrival at Lourenco Marques.))

On July 23rd our ships pulled into the inlet leading to the port of Lourenco Marques, Portuguese East Africa. What a beautiful morning - made all the more beautiful by the sight of a little tanker proudly flying the American flag and sounding its fog horn. Believe me, there was great cheering when we saw that flag which we had not seen for more than 6 months.

The Asama pulled along the pier with its stern about 30 feet from that of the Swedish liner, the Gripsholm, on which were the Japanese who had come from America. We felt sorry for some white American wives of Japanese men who would now be going into the turmoil of war. As soon as the steamers were tied up some of the crew of the Gripsholm began throwing fruit and cigarettes over to our ship. The excitement mounted among us as the moment of complete freedom neared.

Up to this point we still did not know which of our missionaries had come on the Conte Verde. This was joyfully answered when in the evening the Kleins, Thodes, and Zimmermanns appeared at our gangplank. This was a happy reunion and soon we would be together for the second half of the voyage of a month’s duration.

What an exciting day!

First of all we arrived near our destination at about 9 am. The shore line was beautiful.

After long anxious waiting we saw the ship which is to take us back. The biggest thrill of all was seeing the freighter with the American flag. We all cheered and most cried for excitement.

Finally our ship slowly pulled in front of the Gripsholm!  The Conte Verde pulled into the space behind the Gripsholm. After quite some waiting (about 3pm) we saw American mail come aboard. I just couldn’t take time to run down to the cabin to tell Lorenz but instead, I stood in the queue to see if we had letters. We did, so I hurried right down to the cabin only to find that Lorenz had also heard and was gone to find it. Finally he came and we opened our letters from Dr. Brand ((Director of Missions for the Lutheran Church, Missouri Synod, and their boss.)) Lorenz feels so relieved to have heard. Everything is already arranged for us at New York.

It’s most exciting. During the afternoon we watched activity on the street. The natives are a strange lot, black and shiny, all in tattered clothing. Their teeth shining, really most interesting.

While we were sitting on deck chairs we heard cheering and laughing. Getting up to see, we found that Lenny’s red wagon was the attraction. The baggage was being transferred and one black boy was pulling it along, smiling merrily.

The next excitement came just before supper when Mr. Pomeranke told me that some of our Mission folks were at the gangplank to see us. I ran all the way down the aisle and down steps etc. to get there, and there stood Rev. and Mrs. Klein. They told us that all the Kleins, Zimmermanns and Thodes are on board. What a gang of us going home! 30 in all. How thankful we are that all of them are safe. We shall have a lot to talk about.

We eat early and the exchange begins at 9 tomorrow. That will be still more fun. Then we hope to be able to go on shore after that.

Bobby’s cold is making him miserable. It’s loose but stuffs his head and he has 103 fever again. I do hope it will soon clear up.

Today the repatriated Americans saw the ship "Gripsholm" for the first time.

The web-page http://www.salship.se/mercy.asp describes the repatriation voyages of the Gripsholm and the Drottningholm during WW2, and is a good source of additional information.