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Passport to Hell
Passport to Hell is the story of James Douglas Stark—“Starkie”—and his war. Journalist and novelist Robin Hyde came across Starkie while reporting in Mt Eden Gaol in the 1930s and immediately knew she had to write his “queer true terrible story.” Born in Southland and finding himself in early trouble with the law, the young Starkie tricked his way into a draft in 1914 by means of a subterfuge involving whisky and tea. He had a subsequent checkered career in Egypt, Gallipoli, Armentières, the Somme, and Ypres. Hyde portrays a man carousing in the brothels of Cairo and the estaminets of Flanders; looting a dead man’s money-belt and filching beer from the Tommies; attempting to shoot a sergeant through a lavatory door in a haze of absinthe, yet carrying his wounded captain back across No Man’s Land; a man recommended for the V.C. and honored for his bravery—but also subject to nine court martials. It is a portrait of a singular individual who has also been described as the quintessential New Zealand soldier.
320 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1936
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About the author
Robin Hyde
24 books12 followersIris Guiver Wilkinson, better known as Robin Hyde, her chosen name as poet and writer, was born on 19 January 1906 in Cape Town, South Africa. She was the second daughter of Edith Ellinor (Nelly) Butler, an Australian nurse who on her way ‘Home’ had met and married George Edward Wilkinson, an Englishman working on the installation of a post and telegraph system in South Africa. When Iris was a month old the family sailed third-class in the Ruapehu for New Zealand.
Settling in Wellington, the Wilkinsons rented a series of dingy houses in Newtown, Melrose and Berhampore where two more daughters were born. The household was violently divided in its opinions, Iris’s mother enthusiastic for God and empire, bluebells and manners, her father immersed in books denouncing capitalism, imperialism and religion. The story of her early life is told in her autobiographical novel The godwits fly, and in a haunting sequence of poems in Houses by the sea, published after her death. She was a pupil at South Wellington School and Berhampore School, where she was dux in 1918. After her family’s move to the suburb of Northland she attended Wellington Girls’ College, where she made a lifelong friend, Gwen Hawthorn (later Mitcalfe). Although Iris wrote dismissively of her education there as stodgy and cold, she received encouragement for her writing. Many of her poems and stories appeared in the school magazine between 1919 and 1922.
At 17 the ‘Schoolgirl Poetess’ joined the staff of the Dominion, also working on the children’s page of the New Zealand Farmers’ Advocate. She had a love affair with one of her father’s protégés, Harry Sweetman, which was fictionalised in The godwits fly. They planned to go to Europe together, but at 18 she spent some months in hospital after a knee operation. She came out on crutches, lame for life, dependent on opiates for pain relief, to find that Harry had gone without her. She learned much later of his death shortly after his arrival in England.
Returning to work at the Dominion she wrote ‘Peeps at Parliament’ under the pen-name ‘Novitia’ during the election year of 1925. Although flippant (as at that time her age, sex and the editor dictated), the column touched on some serious social concerns. She met politicians William Downie Stewart, Daniel Sullivan and John A. Lee, who became lasting friends. A brief love affair while she was receiving treatment for her knee in Rotorua left her pregnant. In April 1926 she resigned from the Dominion and sailed for Sydney. Five bleak months there ended with the birth and death of a son. She gave him the name Robin Hyde, then borrowed it back from him, to use for her serious writing. On her return to New Zealand she had a nervous breakdown, and in 1927 spent some months in Queen Mary Hospital at Hanmer Springs.
Writing again, she had some poems published in newspapers. John Schroder, from the Christchurch Sun ’s literary pages, began a correspondence with her that lasted till her death. He became her literary adviser and friend. Back in Wellington she found only occasional work as a jobbing journalist. She joined New Zealand Truth in September 1928, then, after being sacked, with Schroder’s help she was appointed to assist Esther Glen with the women’s page of the Christchurch Sun. She was employed by the Wanganui Chronicle by March 1929. At each post she inserted controversial interviews or subversive comment into the society or shopping columns.
Her first collection of poetry, The desolate star, was published in 1929. Few copies sold. In Wanganui she became pregnant after a brief fling with a married journalist who suggested she pay half the cost of an abortion. ‘Well, I thought, you can’t say we haven’t got sex equality all right’. Hyde refused the abortion and took six months’ sick leave claiming ‘a dicky heart’. She lived near French Pass and later at Picton under an assumed name; her son, Derek Challis, was born in Octo
Settling in Wellington, the Wilkinsons rented a series of dingy houses in Newtown, Melrose and Berhampore where two more daughters were born. The household was violently divided in its opinions, Iris’s mother enthusiastic for God and empire, bluebells and manners, her father immersed in books denouncing capitalism, imperialism and religion. The story of her early life is told in her autobiographical novel The godwits fly, and in a haunting sequence of poems in Houses by the sea, published after her death. She was a pupil at South Wellington School and Berhampore School, where she was dux in 1918. After her family’s move to the suburb of Northland she attended Wellington Girls’ College, where she made a lifelong friend, Gwen Hawthorn (later Mitcalfe). Although Iris wrote dismissively of her education there as stodgy and cold, she received encouragement for her writing. Many of her poems and stories appeared in the school magazine between 1919 and 1922.
At 17 the ‘Schoolgirl Poetess’ joined the staff of the Dominion, also working on the children’s page of the New Zealand Farmers’ Advocate. She had a love affair with one of her father’s protégés, Harry Sweetman, which was fictionalised in The godwits fly. They planned to go to Europe together, but at 18 she spent some months in hospital after a knee operation. She came out on crutches, lame for life, dependent on opiates for pain relief, to find that Harry had gone without her. She learned much later of his death shortly after his arrival in England.
Returning to work at the Dominion she wrote ‘Peeps at Parliament’ under the pen-name ‘Novitia’ during the election year of 1925. Although flippant (as at that time her age, sex and the editor dictated), the column touched on some serious social concerns. She met politicians William Downie Stewart, Daniel Sullivan and John A. Lee, who became lasting friends. A brief love affair while she was receiving treatment for her knee in Rotorua left her pregnant. In April 1926 she resigned from the Dominion and sailed for Sydney. Five bleak months there ended with the birth and death of a son. She gave him the name Robin Hyde, then borrowed it back from him, to use for her serious writing. On her return to New Zealand she had a nervous breakdown, and in 1927 spent some months in Queen Mary Hospital at Hanmer Springs.
Writing again, she had some poems published in newspapers. John Schroder, from the Christchurch Sun ’s literary pages, began a correspondence with her that lasted till her death. He became her literary adviser and friend. Back in Wellington she found only occasional work as a jobbing journalist. She joined New Zealand Truth in September 1928, then, after being sacked, with Schroder’s help she was appointed to assist Esther Glen with the women’s page of the Christchurch Sun. She was employed by the Wanganui Chronicle by March 1929. At each post she inserted controversial interviews or subversive comment into the society or shopping columns.
Her first collection of poetry, The desolate star, was published in 1929. Few copies sold. In Wanganui she became pregnant after a brief fling with a married journalist who suggested she pay half the cost of an abortion. ‘Well, I thought, you can’t say we haven’t got sex equality all right’. Hyde refused the abortion and took six months’ sick leave claiming ‘a dicky heart’. She lived near French Pass and later at Picton under an assumed name; her son, Derek Challis, was born in Octo
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
August 20, 2015
An interesting dip back into the First World War history of New Zealand.
This biography of "Starkie" tell the inglorious tale of Private Stark from Invercargil. His war was as peppered with misdemeanours as it was with glory and he seemed to resent anyone who tried to give him orders, which will never go well in the military. It seems impossible how many times one person can get into trouble with the law and still get away with a good deal of it.
Stark was an interesting mix of half native American Indian and half Spanish, mixed with a kiwi childhood.
What stood out for me was the loyalty to his friends and colleagues, and theirs to him sending both money and food to him in various jails.
The differences between British, Kiwi and Australian were already well developed a century ago.
This biography of "Starkie" tell the inglorious tale of Private Stark from Invercargil. His war was as peppered with misdemeanours as it was with glory and he seemed to resent anyone who tried to give him orders, which will never go well in the military. It seems impossible how many times one person can get into trouble with the law and still get away with a good deal of it.
Stark was an interesting mix of half native American Indian and half Spanish, mixed with a kiwi childhood.
What stood out for me was the loyalty to his friends and colleagues, and theirs to him sending both money and food to him in various jails.
The differences between British, Kiwi and Australian were already well developed a century ago.
November 1, 2022
James Douglas Stark was my second great uncle, and legendary on Mums side of the family. This story by Robin Hyde attempts to relive his war days based on interviews they had together. Apparently not all is factual, and I'm not at all surprised. My family are known for talking shit and being cheeky shits.
Hyde is a fantastic writer, it's incredible how she has crafted this story and brought it to life. In some parts it is hard to read and could do with an edit, and in others the writing style changes with no real effect. Rich imagery, sounds, smells, and some shocking stories that bring home the reality of war.
Hyde is a fantastic writer, it's incredible how she has crafted this story and brought it to life. In some parts it is hard to read and could do with an edit, and in others the writing style changes with no real effect. Rich imagery, sounds, smells, and some shocking stories that bring home the reality of war.
August 10, 2013
Being an account of New Zealand-born J.D. Stark ("Starkie") from birth to his return from the Great War. Robin Hyde explores Starkie's contempt of authority, the making of his complex personality, war experiences that are "amazingly correct psychologically" (back cover of my edition), and on occasion some more abstract morals.
This book may not be a work of fiction, but it is easier to read as a novel than as a biography. Tone, tense, and perspective change more than once throughout, and are sometimes hard to follow. The endnotes by D.I.B. Smith explain factual errors and portions that were expanded upon by Hyde; by the end of the book I felt like I could pick out which parts were Stark's own accounts or just Hyde's embellishments. These interludes allowed Hyde to make commentary she might (in the 1930s) have little other platform for, but I feel like they could have been woven more seamlessly into the narrative.
Descriptions of gore ranging from trench warfare to patient injuries to prison punishments cover much of the book, in addition to brief-to-detailed mentions of child abuse, riots, shark-infested waters, and corpse decay. Racist language and racial slurs are present throughout the book, not only directed at Stark himself but also used within the narrative descriptions directed at Stark and at others.
I have mixed feelings about this book. I expected a dry, challenging read, but somehow Starkie and Hyde kept me turning pages. Still, its flow felt very disjointed in places, switching between accounts of timelines and movements to detailed prose about the forest or a turquoise room. For readers interested in NZ lit, WWI lit, and/or women authors (especially of the 1930s era): very likely a worth-while read if you can get your hands on an elusive copy.
[Note on my edition as it differs somewhat from this GoodReads entry of the same ISBN: 244 pages, first published by Hurst & Blackett 1936, this edition 1986, but this copy perhaps 2011.]
This book may not be a work of fiction, but it is easier to read as a novel than as a biography. Tone, tense, and perspective change more than once throughout, and are sometimes hard to follow. The endnotes by D.I.B. Smith explain factual errors and portions that were expanded upon by Hyde; by the end of the book I felt like I could pick out which parts were Stark's own accounts or just Hyde's embellishments. These interludes allowed Hyde to make commentary she might (in the 1930s) have little other platform for, but I feel like they could have been woven more seamlessly into the narrative.
Descriptions of gore ranging from trench warfare to patient injuries to prison punishments cover much of the book, in addition to brief-to-detailed mentions of child abuse, riots, shark-infested waters, and corpse decay. Racist language and racial slurs are present throughout the book, not only directed at Stark himself but also used within the narrative descriptions directed at Stark and at others.
I have mixed feelings about this book. I expected a dry, challenging read, but somehow Starkie and Hyde kept me turning pages. Still, its flow felt very disjointed in places, switching between accounts of timelines and movements to detailed prose about the forest or a turquoise room. For readers interested in NZ lit, WWI lit, and/or women authors (especially of the 1930s era): very likely a worth-while read if you can get your hands on an elusive copy.
[Note on my edition as it differs somewhat from this GoodReads entry of the same ISBN: 244 pages, first published by Hurst & Blackett 1936, this edition 1986, but this copy perhaps 2011.]
September 25, 2016
First published in 1936, “Passport to Hell” is the story of Private James Douglas Stark, Fifth Reinforcements, Otago Infantry Battalion, New Zealand Expeditionary Forces. It was republished in 2015, the 100 year anniversary of the First World War, and I picked it up to read this year - firstly because the 1st of July 2016 was the 100th anniversary of the Battle of the Somme, and Stark, or Starkie as he was known to his fellow infantrymen, played no small part in the Somme Offensive, - and secondly because he was born in my hometown, so there’s a bit of a connection there.
Stark was born in Invercargill in 1894 to Wyald Stark, a full-blooded Delaware Indian, and Florence Anita King, a Spaniard woman. As a small boy, he was a bit of a larrikin, running wild, refusing to wear shoes and seldom attending school. He showed complete contempt for authority, often finding himself in trouble with the law. In 1914 with ‘every copper in Invercargill on his tail’ he tricked his way into the draft, and quickly found his way first to Trentham Military Camp then to Egypt and finally on to “Hell”, which was the Somme in France.
Although a true story, the author Robin Hyde, may have embellished or altered some details of Stark’s story, so that rather than a ‘documentary of war’, she has portrayed a real human being, flawed in character (drunkenly attempting to shoot a sergeant), yet heroic in action (carrying a wounded soldier across No-Man’s Land). “Passport to Hell” does indeed read like fiction – fast paced and gripping, yet has pages and pages of notes, a bibliography and two introductions! I wanted to know more about James Douglas Stark and just how much of the book was embellished, so I had a look at his War Record – (available through the Auckland War Memorial Museum’s Online Cenotaph) and there it was – badly wounded on two occasions, recommended for both the Military Medal and the Victoria Cross – neither of which were awarded due to previous misconduct.
I highly recommend “Passport to Hell” - it is a very good depiction (I imagine), of what life on the Western Front would have been like. Do read it - “lest we forget”. There is a sequel, called “Nor the years condemn” also by Robyn Hyde, which covers Starkie’s life after the War.
Stark was born in Invercargill in 1894 to Wyald Stark, a full-blooded Delaware Indian, and Florence Anita King, a Spaniard woman. As a small boy, he was a bit of a larrikin, running wild, refusing to wear shoes and seldom attending school. He showed complete contempt for authority, often finding himself in trouble with the law. In 1914 with ‘every copper in Invercargill on his tail’ he tricked his way into the draft, and quickly found his way first to Trentham Military Camp then to Egypt and finally on to “Hell”, which was the Somme in France.
Although a true story, the author Robin Hyde, may have embellished or altered some details of Stark’s story, so that rather than a ‘documentary of war’, she has portrayed a real human being, flawed in character (drunkenly attempting to shoot a sergeant), yet heroic in action (carrying a wounded soldier across No-Man’s Land). “Passport to Hell” does indeed read like fiction – fast paced and gripping, yet has pages and pages of notes, a bibliography and two introductions! I wanted to know more about James Douglas Stark and just how much of the book was embellished, so I had a look at his War Record – (available through the Auckland War Memorial Museum’s Online Cenotaph) and there it was – badly wounded on two occasions, recommended for both the Military Medal and the Victoria Cross – neither of which were awarded due to previous misconduct.
I highly recommend “Passport to Hell” - it is a very good depiction (I imagine), of what life on the Western Front would have been like. Do read it - “lest we forget”. There is a sequel, called “Nor the years condemn” also by Robyn Hyde, which covers Starkie’s life after the War.
June 13, 2023
This was my first Robin Hyde book I've read and I had very high hopes as I started reading this. It tells the (partly true) story of 'Starkie', a Kiwi who ends up going to the First World War.
While the story is visceral and at times harrowing, I found it a slog to read. This is mostly down to Hyde's writing style. It jumps ahead in the timeline of the story often, and the perspective and tone also change. I would definitely recommend to people who enjoy stories from the First World War, but this wouldn't be my first choice.
3/5
While the story is visceral and at times harrowing, I found it a slog to read. This is mostly down to Hyde's writing style. It jumps ahead in the timeline of the story often, and the perspective and tone also change. I would definitely recommend to people who enjoy stories from the First World War, but this wouldn't be my first choice.
3/5
August 9, 2016
This book was a good NZ read. In parts it was dull but there were others where I couldn't put it down. It is hard to remember that it is a true story, and I feel like Hyde imposes a lot of her ideas and feelings onto the story of Starkie's experiences.
April 9, 2016
A powerful book on experiences of World War I,
May 26, 2019
Not sure how I hadn’t come across this before, but a stunning piece of NZ social and military history.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews