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A fact from Henri Hekking appeared on Wikipedia's Main Page in the Did you know column on 26 March 2023 (check views). The text of the entry was as follows:
Did you know... that two American officers bribed Japanese troops with their watches to have Dutch medical officer Henri Hekking allocated to their prisoner of war camp?
The following is an archived discussion of the DYK nomination of the article below. Please do not modify this page. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as this nomination's talk page, the article's talk page or Wikipedia talk:Did you know), unless there is consensus to re-open the discussion at this page. No further edits should be made to this page.
The result was: promoted by BorgQueen (talk) 15:52, 19 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]
A contemporary depiction of sick and dead men in a Japanese camp
... that Dutch medical officer Henri Hekking is credited with saving hundreds of lives in Japanese prisoner of war camps (example pictured), including by using herbal medicine that he first learnt from his grandmother? Source: "Charles credits with saving the lives of hundreds of Allied prisoners during their enslavement" from: Michigan. Dept. of Military Affairs. Information Office (1986). The Wolverine Guard. Adjutant General's Office. p. 19. and "it was his grandmother, a committed herbalist and healer, who set him on the path of studying native medicine ... Hekking continued pursuing his grandmother's art" from: Hornfischer, James D. (25 March 2009). Ship of Ghosts: The Story of the USS Houston, FDR's Legendary Lost Cruiser, and the Epic Saga of Her Survivors. Random House Publishing Group. p. 321. ISBN978-0-307-49088-9.. The article includes examples of techniques he used.
ALT1: ... that Dutch medical officer Henri Hekking successfully treated patients in Japanese prisoner of war camps (example pictured) with mould scraped from the pomelo fruit? Source: "Dr Henri Hekking found a pomelo tree in the jungle that had mould growing on the skin of the fruit. This he diluted in plain water to produce a paste that proved effective in preventing infections in cuts and worked against diphtheria, meningitis and tetanus. In 1945 a Bangkok hospital reported that the mould was a form of penicillin" from: Kratoska, Paul H. (2006). The Thailand-Burma Railway, 1942-1946: Voluntary accounts. Taylor & Francis. p. 45. ISBN978-0-415-30951-6.
Overall: This is my first DYK review, so I hope I'll handle it correctly. Both the article's length and age are OK, as well as the QPQ requirement; I assume good faith for the off-line sources you used, especially since you've indicated the exact pages and ISBN addresses. However, there were some odd phrasing choices and references throughout the article, which I should have already fixed by myself (at least partially). Also, make sure the article's text does not resemble the original quotes too much. Both hooks seem interesting: however, if we decide to go for the first one, it probably needs to be shortened and made clearer; most specifically, I would exclude the quote "that he first learnt from his grandmother", since I haven't seen it mentioned directly in the article itself (yet). On a side note, the image looks fine, but could use a more specific description. Oltrepier (talk) 11:45, 14 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Hi Oltrepier, thanks for your review. Happy to look at any "odd phrasing choices and references" if you can point them out to me? Also, anything that "resemble[s] the original quotes too much", not aware of anything overly close to the sources but happy to take another look. Happy to exclude the bit about the grandmother if you like. I've reverted some of your changes to the article there is no need for a 4 paragraph lead for a shortish article and no need to duplicate citations from the main text, removal of "perhaps" from "perhaps the most successful..." changes its meaning etc. see my edit summaries for details - Dumelow (talk) 12:37, 14 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
@Dumelow: Oh dear, did I make the article worse? I'm so sorry... Going back to the first question, I actually changed most of those phrases in my first edit on the page: for example, I edited the phrase "His camp had the lowest death rates of any [...] in a nearby camp of 470 men" because I thought that sequence of consecutive numbers would create a bit of confusion (I'm not mother tongue in English, though, so that might be the real reason). Still, none of those instances were a big deal, to be fair. On the other hand, thank you for double-checking on close paraphrasing: I've already updated my lead template to reflect it. Right, I'll write down my proposal for the hook in a separate message. Oltrepier (talk) 13:42, 14 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Let's try this for the first hook, then:
ALT2 .. that Dutch medical officer Henri Hekking is credited with saving hundreds of lives in Japanese prisoner of war camps (example pictured), including by using herbal medicine?
By the way, was Hekking a medical officer and a physician? Oltrepier (talk) 13:47, 14 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Hi Oltrepier; sorry, reading back my comments they are really grumpy! Apologies and I hope I haven't dissuaded you from reviewing here. Your edits to the article have improved it on the whole and you've picked up on some important things that I missed. Good point on the physician bit, I think I was using it instead of "medical doctor" (in British English we would usually just say "doctor" but it is complicated by those with doctorates in other fields). I guess physician might imply he was treating civilians regularly (in British English we'd say "general practitioner")? I will switch it to just say "medical officer". Happy with your proposed hook but we will need another reviewer to approve it (reviewers cannot approve their own hooks). Sorry again for my abrasiveness, you've done really well with your first review, keep up the good work - Dumelow (talk) 14:52, 14 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Dumelow No worries at all, I actually appreciated the feedback! I just felt a bit dumb after finding out that you already had plenty of experience with similar subjects... : ) Thank you for your support, as well. So, now I have to wait for another editor to reply before giving the (final) green light, right? Oltrepier (talk) 15:08, 14 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
No that's fine, your job is effectively done as you've approved everything else in the checklist above. The second reviewer can give the green tick themselves after reviewing the hook - Dumelow (talk) 15:12, 14 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
@Dumelow and Oltrepier: Hmm, couple notes (I was invited here via my talk). First, I think drawing a but-for causation from untested herbal medicine to saving lives would require a WP:MEDRS level source; at minimum, probably something better than an oral history would be good. Second, I don't think the image really demonstrates relevancy to Hekking, so I would advise reconsidering whether it belongs in Hekking's article (rather than a broader-concept article about the state of the place in general). theleekycauldron (talk • contribs) (she/her) 06:26, 26 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Hi theleekycauldron, thanks for the input. I came at this article from the military history side and have no medical expertise. I don't think I would be able to track down the appropriate medical sources so happy to look at alternative hooks. How about:
ALT3 .. that Dutch medical officer Henri Hekking is credited with saving hundreds of lives in Japanese prisoner of war camps in the Second World War?
Source as above
ALT4 .. that two American officers used their watches to bribe Japanese troops to have the Dutch medical officer Henri Hekking allocated to their prisoner of war camp?
Source: "But then we were lucky; we had Dr. [Henri] Hekking as our camp doctor. ... Captain Fitzsimmons contributed his wristwatch, and Lieutenant Lattimore a pocket watch, and they used the watches as a bribe to the Japanese to get us Dr. Hekking" from: Yung, Judy; Chang, Gordon; Lai, Him Mark (20 March 2006). Chinese American Voices: From the Gold Rush to the Present. University of California Press. p. 217. ISBN978-0-520-24310-1.
Happy for the hook to run without the image but think they provide a bit of context for the article of the sort of conditions Hekking was working in - Dumelow (talk) 09:08, 26 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
@Dumelow and Oltrepier: Looking at ALT3, it's sourced (in the article) to Crager 2008 and The Wolverine Guard. Crager doesn't appear to mention the claim, and The Wolverine Guard doesn't repeat the claim in their own voice, but instead sources that crediting to a PoW who later wrote a book. Is there any reason to believe H. Robert Charles counts for more than an anecdotal source? theleekycauldron (talk • contribs) (she/her) 10:04, 1 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Hi theleekycauldron, I've clarified the attribution in the article to a former prisoner, I had thought "credited" was enough to imply it was an opinion but happy to strike ALT3 to avoid controversy. What's your thoughts on ALT4? - Dumelow (talk) 10:56, 1 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]
ALT4a: ... that two American officers bribed Japanese troops with their watches to have Dutch medical officer Henri Hekking allocated to their prisoner of war camp?
This is my first DYK review, so I hope I'll handle it correctly. Both the article's length and age are OK, as well as the QPQ requirement; I assume good faith for the off-line sources you used, especially since you've indicated the exact pages and ISBN addresses. However, there were some odd phrasing choices and references throughout the article, which I should have already fixed by myself (at least partially). Also, make sure the article's text does not resemble the original quotes too much. Both hooks seem interesting: however, if we decide to go for the first one, it probably needs to be shortened and made clearer; most specifically, I would exclude the quote "that he first learnt from his grandmother", since I haven't seen it mentioned directly in the article itself (yet). On a side note, the image looks fine, but could use a more specific description. Oltrepier (talk) 11:45, 14 February 2023 (UTC)
Hi Oltrepier; sorry, reading back my comments they are really grumpy! Apologies and I hope I haven't dissuaded you from reviewing here. Your edits to the article have improved it on the whole and you've picked up on some important things that I missed. Good point on the physician bit, I think I was using it instead of "medical doctor" (in British English we would usually just say "doctor" but it is complicated by those with doctorates in other fields). I guess physician might imply he was treating civilians regularly (in British English we'd say "general practitioner")? I will switch it to just say "medical officer". Happy with your proposed hook but we will need another reviewer to approve it (reviewers cannot approve their own hooks). Sorry again for my abrasiveness, you've done really well with your first review, keep up the good work - Dumelow (talk) 14:52, 14 February 2023 (UTC)
ALT4 seems workable :) reformatting: theleekycauldron (talk • contribs) (she/her) 08:32, 18 March 2023 (UTC)