Uncovering Pootung- Part 7: A Leader's Perspective- Ernest Sherwood Savage's Testimony

by Jenny Chan

The affidavits of John Van Almer, Albert Edward Alsop, James E. Aurell, Den W. Purns and Floyd Crowder, John Robert de Lara, and Henry Francis Parks have woven a rich tapestry of Pootung Assembly Camp’s trials, from violence and starvation to bombing risks and inhumane conditions. Now, the testimony of Ernest Sherwood Savage, an advisor to the camp’s representatives, adds a poignant new voice to this history. Sworn aboard the U.S.N. Hospital Ship SS Sanctuary in 1945, Savage’s affidavit details the camp’s cramped quarters, the struggle to secure medical supplies, and the pervasive malnutrition and malaria that plagued internees. His account also recounts the tragic death of Mr. Bruce, an American internee whose heart failure, attributed to harsh treatment and a grueling return to camp, underscores the human cost of Japanese neglect. As we transition to Part 7, Savage’s insider perspective, shaped by his leadership role, illuminates the internees’ efforts to maintain dignity and health under dire circumstances, reinforcing the call to preserve Pootung’s forgotten stories.

Perpetuation of Testimony: Ernest Sherwood Savage’s Affidavit
Sworn aboard the U.S.N. Hospital Ship SS Sanctuary en route from Pearl Harbor to San Francisco in 1945, Ernest Sherwood Savage’s affidavit offers a unique perspective on Pootung Internment Camp, where he served as an advisor to the camp’s representatives from February 1943 to August 1945. A resident of Richmond, Virginia, Savage describes the overcrowded tobacco warehouses, the internees’ reliance on self-funded medical supplies, and the camp’s vulnerability to air raids, including a 1945 shrapnel attack that injured several internees. His testimony also details the heartbreaking case of Mr. Bruce, a former manager of the China Press, whose death from heart failure followed a punishing journey back to camp after interrogation. Presented in full below, Savage’s account highlights the internees’ resilience in managing their own clinic and sanitation, while exposing the systemic failures that led to widespread illness and preventable loss, urging us to honor the sacrifices of Pootung’s internees.

Abroad the U.S.N. Hospital Ship SS Sanctuary 
Enroute Pearl Harbor to San Francisco, California 
Ernest Sherwood Savage, 800 Bowe Street, Richmond, Virginia being first duly sworm deposes and says:
While an internee at the Pootung Internment Camp at Shanghai, China from 15 February 1943 to 29 August 1945 I was advisor to the representative of the camp and witnessed the following conditions in the camp. We were quartered in buildings that were formerly storage warehouses and which contained 39 square feet of space per person. There were 77 persons in the building in which I was quartered and others quartered more or less than seventy-seven. Each building had running water for toilets, there being gour toilets inside each building. There was an eight foot trough in each quarters which was used for urinating and each also contained two wash basins for washing. No soap or disinfectants were supplied to us by the Japanese but we were able to obtain soap from outside the camp with our own funds. We were able to maintain our quarters nearly and sanitarily. 
Medical supplies were not furnished to us by the Japanese. We raised our own camp fund for the purchase of medical supplies. The procedure to be followed was that of giving a requisition list to the Japanese officials who were to give them to the Swiss Consul who were supposed to obtain the medical supplies desired by us. More often than not, the Japanese dispensed with giving the list to the Swiss Consult and purchased whatever medical supplies they wanted to, returning with the explanation that the remainder were unavailable. Those obtained by the Japanese for us were insufficient to care for the needs ot the camp. This was the situation until the spring of 1944 when we began receiving American Red Cross supplies which in addition to other things also contained medicines. 
Our camp had its own little dispensary and clinic which was completely supplied and equipped by the camp fund. It consisted of one ward which could accommodate ten beds. Prior to September 1943 we had three doctors in camp and after September 1943, four doctors. The number of internees in our camp varied from one thousand seventy-eight (1078) to one thousand ninety-five(1095). 
When it was impossible to tend to the patients because of the shortage of space or when the cases were too serious to handle, patients were transferred to the main hospital in Shanghai where the patients had to pay for their care and attention. On one occasion we had fifty patients on the camp sick list and on another occasion, thirty patients. The most common ailment suffered by the internees at Pootung was malnutrition which all of the internees endured at one time or another. The most common disease was malaria which approcimately ten percent of the internees were afflicted with during the period of internment. The malaria was attributed to stagnant water about the camp, the lack of drainage and the absence of disinfectants to fight the mosquitos. 
There were four gun emplacements within a radius of one hundred yaards of our buildings and quarters. The Japanese received their first air raids at Pootung during the early part of 1944 when the Italian ship SS Conte Verde was sunk. Other air attacks commenced regularly in November 1944. None of the internees in the camp received any injuries from the air attacked until 17 July 1945 when approximately six internees were slightly injured, none of whom were Americans. Shrapnel penetrated the hospital in our camp and shattered its windows. Patients were still in the hospital at the time and the stretcher bearers who were standing by were those who were injured. 

Abroad the U.S.N. Hospital Ship SS Sanctuary 
Enroute Pearl Harbor to San Francisco, California 
Ernest Sherwood Savage, 800 Bowe Street, Richmond, Virginia being first duly sworm deposes and says:
While an internee at the Pootung Internment Camp at Shanghai, China I witnessed the death of a Mr. Bruce (first name unknown) an American citizen who had been formerly the manager of the China Press in Shanghai previous to his internment. Mr. Bruce had been caught sending a message to his Oriental wife who resided in Shanghai. He was taken from the Pootung Internment Camp, questioned and believed to have been jailed. Sometime before the end of a week he was transferred from the jail to the hospital in Shanghai. Approximately one week from the time he was removed to jail he was discharged from the hospital and escorted by two guards to Pootung. The distance involved was about one mile and no transportation was provided. Mr. Bruce had a suitcase with him and no one was available to carry it for him. This occurred during a hot day in the late summer of 1943. A few minutes after his arrival in camp, Mr. Bruce slumped over and died. The diagnosis of an American doctor in camp by the name of Thorngate was that Mr. Bruce had died of heart failure. We in the camp never did receive an opportunity to learn of the treatment Mr. Bruce had received while in jail because his death occured to shortly after his return to camp. I believe and many others agree with me that if Mr. Bruce had received transportation from the hospital to the camp he would not have suffered death when he did. 

Source:
“War Crimes Files Pootung,” Pacific Asia War Archive, accessed June 15, 2025, https://pacificatrocitiesedu.reclaim.hosting/items/show/939.