We All Came Through

How to survive? This is a story of grit, determination and faith between my father and mother. Despite being separated from my Dutch father for three long years of both being prisoners under the Japanese in the 2nd World War in Indonesia they managed to find each other and lived a fulfilling life. My English mum in her story describes her hardship in camp amongst mostly Dutch women with her baby daughter. My dad’s version writes about moving from camp to camp, the labour they had to endure and his efforts to find my mum after peace had been declared. They both held onto their belief that there would be a time that they would be reunited once this nightmare was over.

Constance (Connie) Ruth Visser-Wood was born in Frome, UK on 31 May 1917. She grew up in Bournemouth and attended Bournemouth High School. Her dad died of the Spanish flu while he was serving as a chaplain in the British Army in France. She was three months old at the time. Her mother never remarried but ran a boarding house to make ends meet. Connie studied at St Christopher’s College to become a children’s nurse. While employed by the McDougalls to look after their three children, she sailed to South Africa on 22nd Oct 1937. They settled in Johannesburg where she met Roelof Jan Visser, her future Dutch husband. They started their married life in Rhodesia, where her husband, my dad, was a miner. War broke out and he was called up by the Dutch Royal Navy to serve in Indonesia. They both sailed there, my mom being pregnant with my elder sister. My parents were interned in separate camps during the war by the Japanese. After three years my dad found my mom and sister in a hospital. From there they returned to Europe. They decided to immigrate to South Africa where they spent the rest of their lives. Mom died of Parkinson’s Disease in 1993 and my dad a year later of bone cancer.