Papers written by Hodgkin, Ernest P. (Doctor, b.1908 - d.1998) - Part 12

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become so used to being slaves that they seem unable to break their habit of

craven submision. Surely, surely we could tell the Nips that in future we

will run the camp ourselves and that in order to avoid any incidents it is

up to them to keep out of it.

24th. August. I do not seem to have had time to write anything the last few

days, there have been so many odd jobs to do and the atmosphere is one in

which it is almost impossible to settle down to anything.

On Sunday the Kempi (Military Police) returned what was left of a 

number of Europeans who had been in their protection for varying periods.

One was Robert Calderwood who was taken not long after the double tenth. He

is desperately ill but there is a good chance the he will recover. On his

arrival he was quite unrecognisable; besides being shrunk to nothing he has

gone dark - you remember his fair curly hair! Most of the others are not too

bad and are able to get about, but the have some dreadful stories to tell.

The same day Holttum, Corner, and Birtwistle were sent in; they xx

have been working in the town all this time, Holttum in the gardens and the

other two in the Raffles Museum. Naturally they are somewhat unpopulars,

they are regarded as Quislings, I cannot believe this to be true of Holttum

but ther seems to xx be good reason for believing that the other two have

gone out of their way to help and praise the Nips.

Sunday's rumours included one that there were already thirty-five

British transports in the roads, and another that our forces were to take

over at midnight.

On Monday morning I was invited by Eric to go to the top of the

hill to watch the union jack hoisted on the Cathay building at 9.0 a.m. We

have just (Friday) been ordered to pull down the flag staff in the camp - it

has never had any flag on it while we have been here. The ships had mysteriously 
retreated to fifty miles away during the night.

On Tuesday we got, by underground channels, a summary of recent

broadcast news including the story of the atomic bomb. That sounds a ghastly 
story, but I supposed that if it has hastened the end of the war it will

have saved more lives than were destroyed; it has at any rate saved our lives,

for if the ghastly episode of the recapture of Manila is anything to go by

many of us xxx must have perished in the recapture of Singapore. We realise

as you must just what that ghastly explosive means for the future of the 

world. The little news that we have had of the proposed peace settlements

do not give much hope that any method has been devised of ensuring lasting

peace; the news that we have had has all been from Nip. papers and consequently 
greatly distorted by their propaganda and it is natural to suppose that 

they have selected the worst features rather than the best.

A number of people received cards from friends in the P.O.W. Camp.

This is the first written communication we have been allowed to have with

them. The recipients of cards only were allowed to reply. The cards were

dated 19th and 20th, quite a record in rapid postal transmission for the

'New Order'. The first Christmas P.O.Ws. were allowed to visit their relatives 
in our camp; at Christmas 1942 and 1944 they sent toys for the children; 
and for the last year or so they have sent small sums of money to 

friends and relatives here (Ihad $10 from John Strahan once) the object 

bieng to let us know that the are all right and to get our siganatures in

receipt; women with husbands who are prisoners have always received allowances 
of $10 to $20 so long as the husbands are in Singapore: those are the 

only official communications we have been allowed with the PO.Ws.

On Wednesday the Nips announced that anyone seen approaching the 

wire to trade with the locals or for any other reason would be shot! Has

peace been signed? I am beginning to wonder if the rest of the world was

not destroyed by the atomic bomb and that Singapore island alone remains

whirling by itself in space.

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Time has never drragged so slowly in all my life, it seems at least a month

since last Saturday when first we realised that the war was over and thought

that we were free. Today freedom seems as far away as ever, we still know

nothing as to when our forces will take over and when we shall see the last

of these little horrors.

On Thursday limited supplies of toilet soap, towels, tooth brushes

and powder, and toilet paper were distributed; I think they have been in the

camp for months having been sent in by the 'Neutral Agent', they are mostly

cheap Japanese goods. Six hundred Red Cross parcels were also sent in, but

these we have not yet had. If and when we get them it will bring the total

received in three and a half years up to about two to each internee. We

have been allowed the residue after Nip sick and wounded and troops have had 

their share, also aparently after a considerable quantity has been sold in

the town. The pigs in the camp farm continue to flourish - we continue to

exist on a diet entirely deficient in animal protein and with not nearly

enough vegetable protein.

The kitches have done marvels with the food during the last few

days considering the utterly inadequate materials with which they have to

work. For breakfast they generally produce 'waffles' which appear to be

made by frying lumps of rather solid kunji. For lunch we have white rice

and a thick vegetable stew that is rather flavourless owing to the lack of

anything with which to flavour it. For tea we generally have a good big

bun or rissoles with fried rice and a sauce or spread made of tapioca and

curry powder largely. It sounds pretty grim but to our palates it tastes

very good on the whole, nevertheless what was are all longing for is some

fresh food, eggs, fish, meat, and fruit. My tummy (like that of many others)

has protested against the change of diet and the increased bulk so I am starving 
myself; fortunately at this juncture I can relieve the starvation with

a few biscuits and milk. I hope I shall settle down quickly, I can foresee

a few strenuous days when we eventually get out of this. I was weak enough

before starting this upset.

27th. August. I have been so busy the last few days that I have not found

time to write this diary. Busy, that is by internment standards. I have

been hard at work drafting a memorandum for the benefit of planters and

others who may be going up country on what they can do to protect themselves

and their coolies from malaria. Jack is doing most of the drafting but I

have the donkey work of typing and rehashing it. It is strange to be getting 
down to my own work once again and not altogether easy. The spectacle

industry has almost closed down except for minor repairs, I cannot attempt

to do both jobs. With the uncertainty as to the date of our release no one

is prepared to take any work that will take maore than a day. Today we hear

that it is likely that we shall be here for another five or ten days before

with the arrival of the fleet we can be released from x internment. The Nip

military police must be having an unenviable job keeping order during this

interim period.

On Friday the General announced to the Men's and Women's Representatives 
that the war was over, at last! He has begun to show an appropriately

changed attitude to us. I cannot remember all the various announcements;

they amount to a great relaxation of the conditions of internment. Relatives

who, up to now, hhave only been allowed to meet one another once a week on

Sunday afternoons may now meet every afternoon; very nice for genuine relatives 
no doubt but it must be a bit of a strain for some of the phoney relatives 
- if they continue the practice. He also said that from 5 a.m. Saturday 
British and American planes would fly over the camps and drop supplies.

In the middle of the night internees were turned out and made to construct

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large white P.W.n in various parts of the camp; the women used sheets and

tooth powder was one of the temporary expedients used in the men's camp.

The more excitable members of the community were up at five and sooner or

later they had most of us awake - nothing happened, and no planes have yet

appeared over Singapore so farx as we know. The Nip air force does however

seem to have been grounded since Saturday morning, save for a singe machine 
occasionally.

The most important event of the day was that we had fresh fish

cakes for breakfast, the first fresh fish fish we have tasted for a year or

more. Since -then there has been a quarter pound of butter each, fresh cold

Storage butter dated August 1941! and today 16 oz of craft cheese each.

What with the present excess of ricec and all these supplies that aree being

sent in we are really beginning to be decently fed again. If we go continue

on this diet long most of us younger ones will put on weight rapidly, though

I fear it will be noting but fat. We also had a bite of real meat yesterday

when the camp cows and goats were killed.

On Sunday afternoon I joined a party at the 'relatives' meeting

in the orchard on the invitation of Adie Pape. It is the first time I have

been to one of these amazing performances, except for the meeting on Christmas 
Day. It was an amazing performance, but I have no time to describe it

now. Our party consisted of three nursing sisters, John Softley, myself,

and another lad from this hut, we spent a very hilarious afternoon.

In the evening the issue of forms to fill in saying where we wish

to go on release and whether we wish to fly or go by boat, and whther immediately 
or after an interval created further excitement. It is not clear

whether the Nips have asked for them or if it is only our own camp authorities; 
as usual it is ixxxx almost impossible to obtain information even on

such a simple question as this. We were also given post cards to write for

immediat- dexpatch on the arrival of British forces, they were very hastily

drafted, but it seems doubtful now whether they will ever be despatched as

other and better arrangement will probably be made byx the Red Cross.

Today, Monday, has again been a momentous day. The Swiss Consul

and Mr Schweitzer were allowed to meet representatives of the camp. The

latter gentleman announced that he had (at last) been recognised as the

representative of the International Red Cross. Cables had been received

from Switzerland instructing them to look after us in every possible way,

and to tell the Nips just what they have got to do for us now and in preparation 
for our release and repatriation. Amongst other things we are to

be allowed a radio set with which we can listen in to any station; after

subsisting, for news, for two years on an exclusive diet of smuggled Nip

propaganda it will be wonderful to hear honest to goodness news once again.

People in the town are to be allowed to send-in parcels of foodx  and clothing 
to individual internees; at the present time I think we must be better

off for food than many people in the town, eggs, fish, meat are all extremely 
short apparently. Schweitzer also confirmed that 'paraparcels' are

going to be dropped in this and P.O.W. camps, and presumed that it was x 

because of the present bad weather that they had not already been dropped.

The weather is pretty grim (I have been trying to dry my dhoby for the last

two days) but I did not think it was as bad as all that. It is medical supplies 
that we are most is need of. The General Hospital and Alexandra are 

being cleared for the use of P.O.Ws. and internees and Dr. Macgregor xx is

to go out and inspect them tomorrow. This hospital is so grossly overcrowded

that I expect we shall send patients to the G.H. if it is at all possible.

The beds in the hospital are close against one another and there are more

down the middle and all along the verandah. During the morning shift it is

hardly possible to move. patients, doctors, and orderlies falling over one

another.

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This evening the Nips, for the first time since the double tenth,

supplied us with news. A Domei news sheet was read out giving news of the

cessation of hostilities, here and in Japan and Chinna. We begin to understand 
why there has been such a delay in telling us that the war is over

and in giving us a greater measure of freedom. It is evident that we shall

have to possess our souls in patience for some days yet before the arrival

of British forces. Until they do arrive we have to remain within the camp,

and 'maintain discipline'. It is difficult to see why in order to do the 

latter we should still have the assistance of armed guards - Sikhs, Malays,

as well as Nips, within the camp. It is reasonable enough that we should 

stay where we are now. Our presence in the town would undermine the little

remaining authority ofn the Nips who are , so Schweitzer says, behaving in

an exemplary manner - for once. One piece of news that tickled us was the

appeal made by the Nips over the radio to irregular British commanded forces

to cease their operations and refrain from blowing up the railroad and in 

other ways incommoding them!

This afternoon I went over to the womens hospital as a charioteer

for a patient who went to visit a relative. Like the the relatives meetings

in the orchard these visits to the hospitals are nowx daily affairs, every

afternoon xxxxx a straggling crocodile of women comes over to the men's

hospital and another crocodile of men winds over the the women's hospital.

I spent the afternoon very pleasantly on the verandah of the hospital chatting 
to Adie. It was a strange sensation after three and a half years to

be able to sit and talk with a woman under almost normal circumstances. It

was very nice for one afternoon, but how all these pseudo-relatives manage

to keep it up every afternoon I canot conceive, what do they find to talk 

about. Perhaps the relief of getting away from male company is all they. xxx

Eric has his 'ward', a snappy lass of less than half his age, and he solemnly 
trots over to spend the afternoon in the orchard xxx with her daily.

30th. August. On Tuesday at lunch time we went wild. A British plane flew

over very low and dropped leaflets, so low was it that we could see one of

the occupants wave to us when he had thrown out the leaflets. Most of the

sheets were in Nipponese telling the Nips that the war was over, that they

must lay down their arms , and that they must amintain order until British

forces arrived. Otherx leaflets were addressed to us telling us not to eat

too much at first if we had been starved and such like information; they 

also state that planes would shortly fly over and drop parcels of food and

medical supplies -- the planes have not yet arrived. I suppose that the

beastly weather we have been experiencing is the reason for the delay and

that xx  after waiting for three and a half years it is stupid to grouse at

the delay now, but it is hard to be patien when we know the war is all over.

The condition of the hospital is getting desperate, it is packed with seriously 
ill patients and anyone who is just ordinarily ill has to make the

best of it in his own hut. I have wandered as usual and to return to the

plane; it caused much speculation because the markings were quite unlike

anything we knew so that tongues were kept wagging the whole afternoon while

the plane or planes were flying around. A large package of woodbines was 

also dropped out, evidently a present from the crew!

On Wednesday more Red Cross parcels arrived --

This very moment are two R.A.M.C. officers and a N.J.C. have arrived in 

the hut! Naturally the whole neighbourhood is a mass of gaping faces, all

the kids in the camp seem to have gathered round in a body, the adults are xx

not much better. It appears that they, in company with a few others, arrived

b3

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by plane at the Changi aerodrome this morning. Aparently they descended by parachute 
bristling with tommy guns and revolvers. Our plane landed later 

To return to the parcels. They are xthe parcels that were destined 
for internees in Sumatra and Borneo and which the Nips were unable to

send because of 'transport difficulties'. The other day General Saito an

said he thought that they should be kept and handed over to the British xxx

forces on their arrival! the reply of the M.R. was what you might expect.

The big thrill of the day was the installation of a radio set. I cannot

hope to reproduce on paper the thrill that it was to hear Big Ben chiming

once again, thenx to hear a real English voice make the announcements, and

finally to hear a B.B.C news bulletin. There was not much in the bulletin

but somehow it transported me away from this too familiar atmosphere in a

way that nothing else has ever done except the orchestral concerts we used

to have in the early days at Changi. For ten minutes I might have been

sitting in our own home listening to our own radio and not a miserable,

underfed, almost naked internee. The contrast between the news given by the

B.B.C. and that provided in the local propaganda rags is unbelievable, one 

[*ld*]   would hardly know that they were talking about the same thing. For the last

two days we have had the Domei news sheets direct and though x slightly more

factual they still contrive to give a twist to the xxx news. Last night

London gave an account of the speech by the Nip Premier exhorting his people

to behave themselves, telling them that in the past they had not been told

the truth, xxx that the secret police must go, and finally that they must

cease to regard themselves as a superior nation. All this must be a horrid

shock to the Nips who regard the Emperor ans the Son of Heaven and themselves 
as being the salt of the earth.

4th. September. The last few days have been too much for me altogether I

have been quite unable to keep up with this. Followingn the arrival of that

first batch of half a dozen parachutists they have been coming in in increasing 
numbers and every day more supplies have been landed. At first only

parachutes were used but by Sunday I think planes were being landed. To

our disappointment nothing has been dropped here and we seldom see any planes.

Most of the supplies have been landed at the aerodrome adjacent to the c

P.O.W. camp. medical supplies have of course or dominated but there has

also been a lot of clothing and toilet requisites, though nothing like

enough to supply us all as yet naturally enough. Foood has been pouring

in from the town and the biggest eater could not cope with all we now are

given. The quality has improved little, a little fish, butter, a little

meat are all about all that have been added to the general diet, but for

the last three days chinese have been pouring into the camp selling eggs

byt by the thousand (at $20 each) xxx and bananas. We have been given

money by some of the Asiatic M.Os. who have come in to visit us. and none

of the Chinese will let us sign for the eggs!, trusting us to pay for them

when the currency is reestablished. Parcels of foodstuffs have come in

for those who have friends in the town, but naturally we from up country

have received nothing the communications being chaotic. On Sunday I think

it was, I had a chat with the Sweedish Consul who had just arrived from

Cameron Highlands. He had been held up for nine days at Gamas while a

battle raged xxxxx between Gamas and Segamat. The Chinese guerillas had

called upon the local Nips to lay down their arms to them, a demand which x

natrually was refused and a battle ensued.

On Saturday there was a concert, it was not a great

success, individual items could not, in the open air reach to the vast

audience assembled there beneath the treesx. It was a grand evening for all

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that, symbolising as it naturally did our freedom. Bothx the concert and

the Scout xx party earlier in the afternoon finished with the singing of

God Save the King for the first time for about three years. That night the

radio announced that the internees and P.O.Ws. in Singapore had been liberated, 
and so I suppose we have. Since the arrival of the Parachute troops -

the Nips have not been allowed to enter the camp without the permission of

the N.R. and so we see little of them and when they do appear there are much

more subdued, and far from sure of their own safety - though I think it

most unlikely that anything would happen to them unless they were so foolish

to come in at night. We have been liberated from the Nips, only to be interned 
by our own folks; the rule is that no P.O.WS or internees shall leave

their camps without the permission of the Commandants, and that no one shall

be allowed in fromn outside. The rule is broken in both directions and many

people have been in the town while large numbers of visitors roam the camp.

The town is not altogether salubrious at present and visiting people who

drift down there with good reason are a menace to themselves and to peace.

People who have been down bring back very conflicting stories. Some say

that the town is peaceful and clean, others that there are piles of refuse

all over the place and that corpses are to be seen at every corner - they

may they have seen Malayan and Indians being knifed and thrown into the

rivers and other atrocities and much looting. The truth must lie somewhere

between these extremes. It seems tragic that the change over could not

have been arranged without this intervening period of lawlessness. The Nips

are nominally in command still but their numbers in the town are xx too

small to ensure order and they must be terrified that there will be general

rioting.

Sunday, to judge from my notes seems to have been noteworthy for

the arrival of 2½ lbs of butter for each of us; the parachute boys removed

it forcibly from the Cold Storage where it has lain for four years. Such

a large quantity is more than we can cope with without refrigerators and

much of it will go rancid before we can eat it even at our present extravagant 
rate - overindulgence has caused my piston rixx rings to slip a bit!

On Sunday there was a thanksgiving service in the orchard in the evening

for the whole camp. I regret to say that I was so anxious to get the typing

of the malaria pamphlet finished that I did not attend; and to say I am

told by the regulars of our kongai that things might have been said better.

A pity! but even the Bishop slips up sometimes. I dont know whether it is

our reception or their performance which has deteriorated in these three

years but both this service and the ceremony of hoisting the Union Jack on

the following morning seem to have been sadly mismanaged and lacked inspiration.

Monday brought its thrill in shape of John Strahan and Jim

Burgess from the P.O.W. camp. John is far from well. being undernourished

like the rest of us and having had B.T. malaria on top of it. They spent

most of the afternoon here and we wnet hard at it hammer and tongs comparing 
notes of our experiences, both personal and medical. They had some

terrible stories to tell but this is no place to go into them and I am nauseated 
atrocities at the moment and would like to forget them but cannot

because certain persons will gloat over them and of 'what is coming to the

Nips'. I never want to see a Nip. again - that is all. A long message from

Mountbatten tells us that we are going to be well looked after and sent

home as soon as possible though this may take some weeks. We will be provided 
with all we want at the various stations on the way home -- and so on.

SPeaking for myself I am very grateful and alln that but all I really want

is news of you and to get away from here by any means at hte earliest possible

date.

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To-day, Tuesday, the Navy has arrived, so we learn from the radio.

We have seen nothing of them yet. Mountbatten is due to arrive tomorrow.

We only have renewed instructions that we may not leave the camp even on

official business, in fact the only people who may go to town are those who

have no business and have not permission - there are plenty of them. All

this xis probably very reasonable but the camp authorities seem to have gone

mad when they take to prohibiting the women from coming over to the men's

camp - not that much notice is likely to be taken of it. The reason probably 
is that most of the bore holes and the bath places are entirely unprotected. 
Prohibitions of that sort will only be disobeyed whereas a polite

request that they should keep to the more civilised parts of the men's camp

would no doubt be obeyed by the women. There was a protest from the P.O.W.

camp authorities at Changi two days ago that there were fifty women in the

camp from here on the previous night! the Commandant said that it was not

fair on the other 16,000 and would lead to trouble! I don't wonder, after

three and a half years of monastic life the proximity of anything even half

as attractive as some of the frippets that are at present wandering about

this camp is too much for any normal man. A pair of melting eyes, a soft 

voice, a whiff of scent, and a fetching feminine sway - they are best avoided.

x 17th. September I seem to have fallen down on this diary letter rather

badly, but I did not realise that it was nearly a fortnight since I last wrote.

It has been a very hectic period, particularly in this mess where there has been

constant coming and going of medical personell from the army and navy. With

the emptying of the hospital and the departure of most of the staff on Saturday we

are quiet once again - distressingly quiet as we feel we are lost and forgotten.

We have been given a pep talk this morning on the subject of repatriation

ships, probably to try to counteract the effects of reports of the conditions from

people who refused to sail on yesterday's overcrowded ships. Everything 

is chaos at the moment, we are nobody's babies and seemingly we who 

remain will have to reorganise ourselves on an internment camp basis

if we are to remain much longer. The place is a shambles, unburied refuse

everywhere, flies on the increase, malaria beginning again (I am taking prophylactic

Atebrin), and all arrangements for feeding chaotic. But to try to 

go back over the last fortnight:

Thursday 6th saw the arrival of Army nursing staff, orderlies, two

sisters, and two Doctors. The last two decided to [[bed?]] with us and that is about 

all they did do, we christened them Sodom and Gomorrah, and were very glad

when they decided to leave us (Sodom has not been heard of since by his own

units). We had to look after them, fortunately after a day or two we got a

Chinese boy ^who has turned up trumps, done all the washing up, much of the dhoby,

and the sweeping, of course there have been considerable pickings and there will be

many more when we finally go and he has had lashings of food.

On Friday there was an influx of Fannys who took radio messages or

were entertained. I captured one and after she had had lunch with us I took

her off to go round the hospital - smelly, dirty and grossly overcrowded - she took

it in good faith and did her job which was more than some of them attempted.

Since then she has been working in the R.A.P.W.I. office and I have found the

contact useful for getting off radio messages and letters & getting transport. From

sittings at tiffin, the battle for its substitute. I was metaphorically on the [[hob?]] the

whole day long and with the reversion to Malaya time instead of Tokyo the

day became longer. One still wakes with the dawn soon after six and

lights do not go out until after eleven. I am chronically short of sleep which is

a great mistake.

Two other events this day. The band of H.M.S Sissex played in the camp

first marching up and down the road and then in the orchard. The population

of the camp, especially the khaki section of it went mad. Since then concerts

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of one sort or another and cinema shows have been nightly shows. I have

not sat through any, frankly because of other attractions in the hut. I took

one of the sisters to the first film but we were so disgusted with it that

we did not stop. If that is the sort of feeble stuff you have had to put up with

in our absence we have not missed much.

On Saturday (8th) I went into town for the first time. It had a very

deserted appearance which it retained for the next few days. All the shops 

were shut and there was hardly a hawker to be seen. Nip. currency was

still the only money available but it had already been announced that it

was valueless but it still changed hands. I went into the municipal

Office which is the headquarters of the Military Administration, to try to get them

to print the pamphlet that Jack and I had laboriously produced. They were 

polite but not very helpful or really interested. Their one idea is to make their

own muddle in their own way and not be interfered with by us, whom they

all believe to be mad. Fortunately Col. Walkinshaw who is in charge of the medical

& Health services (civilian) offered me a desk and typewriter and over the next

four days I got my Keys for the Identification of mosquitoes retyped and ready

for the press - apart from the drawings which I have yet to complete. It was

an exhausting business going into town each day, there was never any difficulty

getting in there were always lorries on which one could get a lift, but it was much

more difficult getting back and I did a lot of walking and found myself badly

out of practice. Other times I was more lucky and got straight back or was ferried

in stages by two or three cars or lorries. Transport of any sort was short and

money if one had it - and I had not - did not help much in getting so far out

as this camp. By Tuesday the town was beginning to get back to normal,

there were still few shops open but innumerable hawkers lined the roadsides
selling anything and everything that the troops and navy could be persuaded to buy;
watches, pens, silks, pineapples, banannas, and all sorts of things that had been
saved or looted. Prices were just whatever the buyers could be persuaded to pay
(pineapples three for a dollar), much below the previous prices but still high above
pre war level.
 Wednesday 12th was the ceremonial parade. You have no doubt read a
description of it gilded with the usual journalistic extravagance. I had a
good view of the show from the front of the Municipal offices in which the surrender
was signed. It was an impressive show with representatives of all the different
branches of the forces marching on to the padang, the arrival of Lord Louis,
the hoisting of the union flag and the playing of God Save the King. There
was of course the usual unruly crowd which seethed onto the padang as
soon as the parade was formed up, in spite of the efforts of police and M.Ps.
It could not truthfully be said to be a very enthusiastic crowd, merely out to see
the fun. the [[offrs?]] were welcomed in silence except for the catcalls of
a few whose loyalty I suspect may have been in some doubt. I did not see
the signing of the surrender, X that took place in the Council chamber which
was so brilliantly lit as to be brighter than the outside where a storm had
threatened all morning (though it never materialised). I have never seen so
many cameras in all my life - they made me green with envy.
On Saturday 15th, there was a grand exodus over a thousand going from the
camp. from this room, David, Eric, Allan, Rupert, & Stuart all went, leaving John
and myself. We still had the two girls with us and Ian Dickson joined us from
the next room but we felt very deserted for all that. All the Sisters went the same
day which left me even more bereft because I had got into the habit of going over
there for a chat and a snack and Adie or Eileen frequently came visiting here.
Those two girls x worked as hard as anyone in the camp, when they were not
on duty they must have been eternally sewing because they seemed to do most
of the mending and making for the mess, and mending the derelict garments
we wore must have been a heartbreaking job.

69
On Sunday 16th. Joan and Vivian deserted us. They were sleeping in the Sisters
hut and woke up to find the place being looted round them, we invited them to stay
with us but, whether it was modesty or the fact that there really was no more work
for them to do, they departed for the general. Over the last few days hundreds
of patients have been flown from Sumatra ,many of them in a very poor state, amongst
them are Sister Mackinnon, Paddy West and probably many others we know. They
were starved and merely undernourished as we are, and I believe that nearly
half of the internees in some of the camps had died - that after the most terrible
experiences on their way to Sumatra. It makes one realise all the more how fortunate
we have been here. The two girls were grand, they fitted in well,
behaved as though they were fellow internees and trusted us as normal human
beings instead of something slightly mad - they explained that by saying
that they themselves were generally regarded as mad!
September 25th. At long last we are away. We came on board on Sunday (23rd), spent
the night at the dock being chewed by mosquitoes and got away at mid-day yesterday.
I dont think anything much worth recording happened in the week I have omitted.
John left on the Monday and I found myself in solitary possession of the room. [[Wincester?]]
Diamond - Bruce Home were still next door and got away at midday yesterday.
found some excuse to go down town just to relieve the boredom of sitting about the camps.
I got my hair cut, and after much haggling I bought a typewriter having been told that
they were almost unobtainable in Australia, and that is about all I did. The town was
hot and of course I had to walk everywhere and scrounge lifts too & from the camp
on any vehicle that could be persuaded to take one. In the camp there was nothing
to do; one day were warned to stand by at two hours notice, so I packed and
remained packed for most of the week.
The ship is marvellous and we are travelling in luxury. There were woeful
tales of some of the earlier ships, overcrowded conditions on the troop decks and short
rations. Some people walked off the ships and returned to camp, but nobody who really
wanted to get home I suspect. Here all internees are in the first class accommodation
and some in cabins and the rest of us in the smoke room, in both the berths are
in three layers so that we are pretty crowded. There is plenty of deck space, we have
the run of the spacious boat deck, there, starboard side of the promenade deck and
some rather small lounges. I have one of the bottom berths near the windows, but
it is stuffy and hot and after the discomfort of the first night I decided to sleep on
deck. With my comfortable mattress, blankets, life belt for pillow, and a ground sheet, I make
myself very comfortable on one of the rafts. There was a strong breeze and I rolled myself

up a thick [[?]] in great [[?]]. It is the strangest sensation to sit down to a

proper meal with a table cloth on the table, china, and with a steward to wait on you.

[[?]] are more of us sure of ourselves yet and are still at the stage of not being quite

sure what [[?]] and [[?]] are for. The ship continually has no power [[?]] how ex prisoners

should be fed on are just on xx ordinary English meals, steak and onions and

all the real of it: though we are reluctant to admit it I think most of us are are finding

the meat rather much and would like a bit more bread or taties or corn rice. The

Red Cross, or whoever it is that supplies things, is doing us proud; free [[?]] of tea and

cigarettes & [[?]] of toilet [[?]] [[?]] paper, and old magazines. We have also

been given £5 cash but I have not yet [[?]] anything to spend it on.

There is only one thing that is wrong with this ship, it is going in the wrong

direction. Just where it is going it is impossible to [[?]], presumably Darwin first

as we are travelling S.E. and rumour has it that we go to Brisbane from there. Some

day I suppose I will finish up in Perth.

70

Friday 5th. October.  This lapse b represents a period that was largely

blank except for the call at Darwin. As I told you in my letter we saw

little between Singapore and Darwin, keeping well away from land most of

the way; when we did strike land on nearing Darwin it was a dreary sight,

a long flat rather barren coastline. It was Sunday night we got there I 

think, anyway it was Tricia's birthday (hope she got my telegram). We

lay out in the harbour all Monday seemingly for the sole purpose of taking

on beer and supplies of clothing, the latter so that the troops may appear

well dressed for the inevitable parade on arrival. Presumably it was

also necessary so that we might have some more clothes, though in spite of

their efforts most of us civilians will arrive looking rather like scarecrows

if it is at all cold. Naturally I fretted impatiently at the delay

and my impatience was not in any was eased by the bands and the 'beautiful,

Australian girls that came on board to amuse the troops. We did not sail

until dawn on Tuesday.

Thursday afternoon saw us anchored off Thursday Island. No one

seemed interested in us so we settled down for the night, and the lighthouses

blinked at us from all around. We sailed at dawn today. Venus

blazed above the deep coral-pink clouds and the islands were a grey serrated

silhouete against the paling sky. The lighthouses were still blinking at

us as we steamed north to round the main group islands. As the sun rose

light poured into the scene waking the colours in the fleet of islands,

large and small that surrounded us; the tumbled hills took on a soft grey-green

from the trees that clothed them or a russet brown from the bare

steeper slopes, the beaches shon silver and the white crests of the waves.

Since then we have sailed a devious course past innumerable islets,

many of them smaller than the ship, and rocky headlands with their white

lighthouses. It is very like the west coast of Scotland as we saw it 

near Loch Broome but one spot reminded me vividly of Anglesea; a rolling

gree down with clumps of trees falling to low ragged cliffs into the

sea. Perhaps it is not so idyllic for anyone who has to live there, very

hot in the absence of this glorious breeze and barren too I should imagine.

Saturday 6th Oct.  Aday of the Barrier Reef and the scenery has not changes

much. We have never been far from the coast which varies in character from

high white sandhills to chiselled hills dropping steeply to the sea; in

only a few places have there been level patches with trees down to

the water's edge. There are many rocky islands, shoals, and patches of reef.

The last show as pale yellow-green patches against the lucent ultramarine

of the deeper water. The scene now with the morning sun lighting to

colours in the hills is lovely. The long white line of the shore, the white

or coral-pink of the tumbled sandhills shining from among the grey-green

vegetation, behind the hills with their deep-cut valleys climbing to a long

range of blue mountains flat-topped with sheer escarpments. Like a beacon

a solitary rounded hump glows red in the far distance. The deep blue of the

sky is flecked with the skeins of downy clouds.

We are just passing a headland that is a miniature of the mountains.

Along flat top drops by a hundred-foot cliff of broken grey rock to a steep

scree scarred into shallow valleys filled with a thick shrubby growth that