"We never asked where they came from," the chief physician aboard the "Helgoland" recalled. The Vietnamese called the "Helgoland" the "white ship of hope." The crew helped everyone, no matter which side they may have been on. ![]() Word got around quickly that the German ship spelled salvation for the ill and wounded. Medical care in the country was a disaster there was only one doctor per 17,000 people. The floating hospital was the most modern clinic in all of Vietnam. Since the boat was under protection of the Geneva Conventions, it was considered strictly neutral. Only civilians were treated on board, no soldiers. The final harbor for the "Helgoland" in Vietnam was the city of Da Nang, close to the war. When the first wounded civilians were brought on board, the German medics were shocked. But the doctors and nurses were not prepared for the horrors that were awaiting them. The "Helgoland" reached the South Vietnamese capital Saigon in September 1966, protected by mine-detection ships. Last resort for civilians: Two "Helgoland" nurses with a Vietnamese child Some 150 beds and three operating rooms were set up along the boat's 92 meters (300 feet). Instead of tourists, there were ten doctors and 30 nurses on board from the German Red Cross. Under protection of the Geneva Convention The German response was the deployment of the "Helgoland." In a rush, the German Red Cross had converted the boat into a hospital ship, as ordered by the German government. The US kept insisting on support from their Western German allies. The Americans' entry into the war put pressure on the German government. Soon, communist North Vietnam and the US got involved as well. A violent civil war between communists and anti-communists had been raging in the country for years. The goal, roughly 12,000 kilometers (7500 miles) away: South Vietnam. In 1966, the "Helgoland" left for her longest journey yet. Soon, the little ship would have a much more serious purpose. But the Helgoland's days as a pleasure boat were coming to an end. Stressed-out city slickers wanted the boat to take them to the famous chalk cliffs, where they could relax. Training continues to be sponsored by the New Zealand Viet Nam Health Trust, which was formed in 1997 after a reunion of New Zealanders who had taken part in the medical effort in Binh Dinh between 19.Passengers used to be able to find laughing children and fun times aboard the pleasure boat "Helgoland." The 1963-built vessel transported happy tourists from the northern German port town of Cuxhaven to the island of Helgoland. This collaboration continued until the government withdrew funding in 2002. In 1991, a coalition of 12 agencies, including Volunteer Service Abroad and the Red Cross, revived the relationship with Qui Nhon that had been forged by New Zealand medics and public health practitioners during the war. The last team member, Dr Jack Enwright, left South Vietnam in late April 1975. It continued to operate until March 1975, when it was evacuated to Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City) a few days before Qui Nhon fell to North Vietnamese forces. Given the task of establishing a base for his staff, he performed admirably despite uncooperative local counterparts, inadequate facilities and limited New Zealand administrative support on the ground.īy 1966, the team had grown to 14: three surgeons, a physician, an anaesthetist, an administrator, a laboratory technician, six nurses and a maintenance officer. ![]() The team based at Qui Nhon, in central Binh Dinh province, treated civilian war and accident casualties from the surrounding area, and trained Vietnamese medics and nurses in all aspects of modern hospital medicine, including maternity, paediatrics and public health promotion.ĭunedin surgeon Michael Shackleton – accompanied by his wife and five children – was the first team leader in Qui Nhon. ![]() Their deployment – two years before New Zealand combat troops were sent – marked the beginning of this country’s involvement in the Vietnam War. On Anzac Day 1963, a six-strong New Zealand civilian surgical team arrived in Qui Nhon, South Vietnam as part of the Colombo Plan assistance programme.
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