Brother Peter WHEALAN [????-????]

Postwar Statement by Private A.B. de Carvalho, HKVDC Field Ambulance:.

      On the 20th December 1941 the HQ of the Field Ambulance HKVDC was at St Albert’s Hall, Rosary Hill and it was here that most of our casualties received first aid.  The more serious cases needing surgical attention were transferred by Ambulance to Bowen Road Military Hospital.

            It had been raining heavily for a few days and the narrow road up to the Hospital was thick with mud from the embankments brought down by landslides and exploding shells.  The two ambulances under my charge were loaded with casualties including a few shell-shocked cases.  There were for each ambulance a driver and two ambulance orderlies including myself.  The trouble started half way up the road when the wheels started spinning and skidding in the mud ruts and finally bogging down the ambulances.  With engines at full throttle we couldn’t get up another yard and only started skidding dangerously to the side of the road to a sheer drop of about a hundred feet.  We had to abandon the idea of going on that way, so we concentrated on one ambulance at a time.  Collecting all the rubble we could by hand and strewing it in front of the wheels and using ourselves as human brakes, we slowly got the ambulances up safely to the hospital.  It was a difficult and tiring job and we had many an anxious moment as shells exploded uncomfortably close by, causing the shell-shocked cases to panic to such an extent that they got out of hand and scrambled up on ahead to the Hospital.  On our arrival there I reported to Col. Shackelton as to the bad condition of the road up to the hospital and he decided to divert all further ambulances to Queen Mary’s Hospital.  This was also reported on my return to Field Ambulance HQ at Rosary Hill.  Casualties were still pouring in and eventually some time that evening there was another batch of seriously wounded officers awaiting surgical treatment.  We had been notified to divert our ambulances to Queen Mary’s Hospital but as no facilities as yet had been arranged for the reception of Military casualties we were told to try Bowen Road Hospital once more.

            There was a complete black out on when we left Rosary Hill and at the first attempt to utilise dimmed lights our head lamps were smashed out by patrols guarding the road block on Stubb’s Road as they were under constant shell-fire from the mainland.  We had to practically feel our way the rest of the night to Bowen Road and this time we could not go further than 25 yards up before being bogged down for good.  The driver, Brother Peter, and myself decided to walk up to the hospital and ask for extra stretcher-bearers to carry the wounded by hand the rest of the way.  The road was so bad that we could hardly walk up and when we reached the hospital and told them what we required they informed us that it was impossible, as an hour previously they had tried hand-carrying casualties with eight stretcher-bearers but could not make any headway.  There was no alternative but to turn back and go to the Queen Mary’s Hospital but as the driver, Brother Peter, was too exhausted from constant driving and no rest, we persuaded him to spend the night at Bowen Road Hospital.  With a RAMC driver we finally managed by placing boards under the wheels to get out of the ruts and made our way to the Queen Mary’s Hospital.          

            On the 23rd December 1941 our HQ Field Ambulance had been transferred to the War Memorial Hospital and that afternoon we were ordered to transfer 12 Indian Patients to the Indian Military Hospital (former Tung Wah Hospital) at Causeway Bay.  Volunteers for the job were called for and four of us took it on: Brother Peter (driver), two St. John’s Ambulance orderlies and myself in charge of the ambulance.  We were warned that the Japanese had already turned back two of our ambulances as they had overrun that area, but for us to do our best to deliver our patients safely.  We managed to get through their lines without any interference.  The Senior Indian medical officer informed us that the Japanese troops had taken the British Officer in charge as hostage and whilst searching the hospital for arms, had lined the rest of the staff in front of two machine-guns threatening to kill everyone if any arms were found.  The search was unsuccessful and the Japs took to the hills.  We tried then to get through to HQ by telephone for further instructions but apparently the line had been cut so rather than staying as POW we decided to risk another dash through the lines.  We started at about 5.00 pm deciding to follow the same route back and dodging Jap patrols to go by the sea-front which we had noticed previously to be bare of any enemy forces.  We only managed to get as far as the entrance of the Po Leung Kuk (Home for Muitsais) when a burst of machine-gun fire from ahead splattered around the ambulance and brought us to a halt.  The St. John’s orderlies in the back of the ambulance jumped off, one hiding under the ambulance the other dashing to safety behind some buildings.  We waited for a while thinking that whoever it was that opened fire, once they saw that it was an ambulance, they would allow us to proceed without any interference but no one showed up.  Taking a chance, we started the engine with the intention of making a dash for it but as soon as we moved off the Japs opened up direct fire on us riddling the engine and wounding me in the mouth.  We then had no alternative but to run for cover but only managed to get a few steps away when the Driver Brother Peter got mortally wounded in the head.  I was also hit in the right upper arm which spun me around and using the ambulance for support, got behind it for cover.  Brother Peter had fallen back into the driver’s seat and was out of sight but I did not know until later how bad his injuries were.  Thinking that he would follow me, I crawled on and managed to make cover utilising the ambulance as a shield all the way and joined the other St. John’s orderly behind the buildings.  I had to rest for about 10 mins., until the attacks of nausea and dizziness passed, then asked him where the others were.  He said that his friend was still under the ambulance but had no idea what had happened to the driver.  Peering round the angle of the building, I caught the attention of the other orderly and made signs for him to get the driver out but received a negative signal.  Thinking that he meant that the driver had made [it] to cover safely I called him to join us which he did.  He informed me that the driver was still in the ambulance but that he was dying as his head was covered with blood and groaning softly, whereupon I asked them to try and get Brother Peter to safety but they were so shaken up I couldn’t get them to make a move.  Losing patience with them, I borrowed their first aid knife and slit up my sleeve to see what the damage was.  There was no doubt about a fracture so with the aid of my puttees I managed to make a rough tourniquet, bandage and sling. Once my arm was strapped to my body and the bleeding controlled and resting for a little while more, I felt less sick and at the first lull in the firing decided to try to bring Brother Peter back with us.  I managed to get only a few yards into the open when bullets started whizzing all round me so close that it was impossible to crawl any further, besides my arm was constantly in the way and every movement got me violently sick, so I turned back hoping to get another chance later.  At about 7.00 pm I made another attempt but without success as the firing kept us pinned down and eventually we had to give up the idea as it was getting too dark and the firing was getting more intense.  The Japs were attacking the Valley and we were right in their midst but under cover of darkness we slipped through their lines and creeping through alleys managed to make our way back to town.

            The two St. John’s Ambulance orderlies with me had decided between themselves that there was a better chance of escaping if they were in civvies so removing their uniform they helped me back to town. They were lucky to have been with me for running across some of our own troops they were nearly shot at as any Chinese in civilian clothing caught out after dark most probably were looters. We reached Wanchai Playground and managed to stop a private car driven by one of our own ambulance personnel and were given a lift to the Naval Dockyard First Aid Station.  I was given first aid there at about 8.00 or 9.00 pm and waited to be sent up to Bowen Road Hospital for an X-Ray and surgical attention.  The two St. John’s Ambulance were instructed by me to report back to Field Ambulance HQ.

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Letter from (Colonel) L T Ride to Mr W M Whealan, New York, 1946.

W.M. Whealan Esq

272 New Scotland Avenue

Albany, New York, U.S.A.   

Dear Mr. Whealan, 

I am very grateful to you for your letter of the 24th July because I have often wanted to get in touch with somebody connected with Brother Peter to tell them of his wonderful work during the hostilities in Hong Kong.

I was in command of the Hong Kong Field Ambulance and shortly after hostilities broke out, a number of people including your brother volunteered for active service and were sent to me to see whether I could use them.  It was impossible to sign your brother on in the Hongkong Volunteer Defence Corps owing to his American nationality, but that did not deter him and he requested to be allowed to serve in a purely voluntary and unofficial capacity.  In view of his lack of field training, I kept him at my H.Q. and he lived, worked, ate and slept with the men, taking his full share of their troubles, their joys and their discomforts.

I do not remember any of the details of his work until the period about the 20th December, 1941, when our H.Q. had been forced to move to Rosary Hill and there we were having an extremely busy time.  I remember that evening very well because one of the wounded we had to attend to that night was a very great friend of mine and it was the last time I saw him alive.  We had a large number of wounded to move from Rosary Hill to the Bowen Road Military Hospital and as soon as it was dark, our ambulances set off on the hazardous journey. The night was pitch black and the proximity of the enemy made it impossible for our ambulances to use even dimmed lights;  to make matters worse, it was raining and the roads near the hospital were being shelled heavily.  We were extremely short of drivers*[ LTRide to Military Attaché 25.1.43: ”Field Hygiene Section … was attached to my HQ during the hostilities in Hongkong;  all the Chinese members deserted within a day or two of the Japanese landing”] and Brother Peter, although he had not driven a large vehicle for some time and certainly not under these trying conditions, volunteered to take one of the ambulances.  They had a terrible time and in the end the slippery mud thrown up by the bursting shells made it impossible for the ambulances to climb the steep road to the Military Hospital;  after some hours spent in vain attempts to get through, they had to abandon the attempt and take the wounded to a civilian hospital.  Brother Peter however was absolutely exhausted and no small wonder as it was so soon after his illness (I think he had a gastric ulcer) in the Philippine Islands.  He was detained in the military hospital that night but returned undaunted and as eager as ever for duty next day.

The next time I remember him was on the 23rd December.  Our HQ had been forced to move still further up the Peak;  our position was fast becoming desperate, and our struggle was nearing its end.  On that day I received an urgent call to transfer a number of Indian wounded to the Indian hospital, and this meant taking them through the actual fighting zone and the enemy lines.  I knew this would be a most dangerous operation and I was not prepared to order anybody to undertake it;  I called for volunteers and Brother Peter was one of the four who volunteered.  I explained to them all the nature of the dangerous job which they were undertaking and none of them wished to change his mind.  Brother Peter was the driver and was wearing the dress of his Order plus a tin hat.  He knew full well the probable outcome of the task he was undertaking and before he went he left with me a small pocket book, with a few dollars in small paper money and a religious medallion.

The party consisted of Pte Carvalho of the HKVDC in command, Brother Peter as driver, and two orderlies of the St. John Ambulance.  They managed to get through the lines and delivered the 12 Indian patients safely to the Indian Military Hospital but on arrival there they found that the enemy had already captured the hospital and had taken the British Officer in Command away.  Pte. Carvalho tried to get through to me by telephone for further instructions but of course the enemy had cut the lines and so they decided that, rather than stay there as Prisoners of War, they would attempt to get back to HQ.

They left the Military Hospital at Causeway Bay at about 5 p.m. following the same route which they had taken to the Hospital.  They had not got very far, however, when they were suddenly brought to a halt by a burst of machine gun fire.  The two St. John orderlies jumped out.  Brother Peter and Pte. Carvalho, however, remained in the vehicle hoping that when the Japanese saw that it was an ambulance they would allow it to go through.  After a short time they started the engine up, but as soon as the Japanese saw the vehicle move, they opened up again with machine gun fire and Pte. Carvalho was wounded in the mouth.  They had no alternative then but to make a dash for cover.  Pte. Carvalho got out first and he was again wounded with a bullet which fractured his right arm and Brother Peter was hit and fell back out of sight into the driver’s seat;  Pte. Carvalho crawled on to gain the cover of nearby buildings, expecting Brother Peter to follow him, not knowing at that time that Brother Peter was wounded.  Carvalho decided then to attempt to rescue Brother Peter and so, bandaging his broken arm as well as he could, he started crawling towards the ambulance.  Although in very great pain, he crawled off but the Japanese immediately opened up with such heavy fire on the ambulance that it was impossible for him to get anywhere near it.  An hour later he made another attempt but again enemy fire and his injuries made it impossible for him to approach the ambulance.  Just before dark the enemy attack in the valley recommenced and the three of them had to move away from the area to avoid capture;  and under cover of darkness they got through the enemy lines and the three of them were immediately admitted to hospital.

Some time after the surrender, a Roman Catholic Priest, whose name I am afraid I have forgotten, went down to that area and found a body which he recognized as that of Brother Peter.  He had been shot through the head, and it would appear certain that he never regained consciousness after he was hit.

The personal belongings which your brother left with me were taken from me after the surrender and I regret to say must be considered as lost.

It is only natural that I should wish to end this note with expressions of sympathy to you and his other relatives on their loss;  but I wish to do more than that;  I want to tell you of the thoughts that have many times passed through my mind since those fateful days in Hongkong.  To appreciate these fully, you must remember that Brother Peter was not of my religion, my nation or my unit;  I knew him for the space of but a few short hours, yet he made a lasting impression on my mind.  When he first came to see me in the shelter that then served as my HQ, I saw a man frail in frame, obviously far from well, untrained in our professional work, unaccustomed to military affairs and unused to the life we were being forced to live.  What earthly use could he be to us?  Officially he could not join our unit, but we were so much in need of dependable men and he was so persistent in his desire to serve in an active capacity that I agreed that he could live with us and help us, and but for the loss of his life, I never regretted that decision.

Only one with great strength of character and of purpose, with firm faith in his mission in life; with spiritual courage far transcending physical bravery, could have pursued the course he chose for he knew full well the price he might be called on to pay.

It was not loyalty to a unit, nor obedience to the orders of a commanding officer, nor the desire to preserve lives or capture a post in the heat of battle, none of these was the motive underlying his actions;  it was simply the realisation that where his fellow men needed help, there his duty lay, and where they needed it most, there would he serve.

If ever a man by wilful sacrifice proved that he possessed in full measure that “Greater love”, that man was Brother Peter.