大象传媒

This story was submitted to the People鈥檚 War site by Vijiha Bashir, at 大象传媒 Scotland on behalf of Justine Dowley Wise and has been added to the site with her permission. The author fully understands the site鈥檚 terms and conditions.

We steamed out of the harbour into the South Atlantic, around the tip of South Africa and into the Indian Ocean and passed the port of Durban where some of the convoys had been diverted, to avoid congestion in Cape Town. I heard later, that all the troops that had gone ashore there had also enjoyed a similar welcome form the inhabitants. A lovely lady who lived in Durban called Perle Sielde Gibson and was an opera singer, came down to the docks each day to welcome all the troops and hospital ships with her wonderful singing. She came to be known as the Lady in White too the many thousands who passed on their way to the eastern battlefield. Standing on a fifty foot high platform, she sang to them through a loud hailer, nostalgic songs such as 鈥榃e鈥檒l gather lilacs in the spring again鈥� and patriotic songs like 鈥楾here鈥檒l always be an England鈥� and 鈥榃e鈥檒l meet again, don鈥檛 know where, don鈥檛 know when....鈥� amongst others. It is said by those who heard her, that these hardener soldiers were often moved by her beautiful singing that some of them were reduced to tears as they though of their loved ones and realised that they might never return to their homeland to see their loved ones again. She was a great morale booster and was idolised throughout the Armed Forces. Perle was reputed to have sung to a thousand troopships and three hundred and fifty hospital ships during the war. In recognition of this, Queen Elizabeth unveiled a statue of her in 1995, on the same jetty where she had sung to them. In those days there was a tremendous spirit of patriotism wherever one went, and a great sense of camaraderie amongst the troops.

After the excitement of Cape Town, life on board became rather mundane as we sailed away into the Indian Ocean out of sight of land. I spent a lot of my time looking over the deck rails watching the parting of the waves at the bow of the ship and always found it very exciting when the porpoises came to join us at the bow of the ship and travel for quite long distances before suddenly disappearing. At other times I often saw shoals of Flying Fish leap out of the water and skim across the surface of the waves before diving back into the sea again.

Sometimes when we got bored, Patricia and I used to look through the large picture window of our cabin that opened at the same level onto the sailor鈥檚 recreation deck and watch them as they played games and amused themselves. Whenever Jock caught sight of me at the window he would come over and sit on the deck beneath it to talk to me. He loved to hear me tell of my early days in the mountains of Kalimpong and Darjeeling and my descriptions of the sunsets on the magnificent Himalayas that could be seen from Ahava, and stories about laughing hyenas and the leopard. I think they so captured his imagination that when I asked him to sign my souvenir Landfall Menu at the end of our voyage, he wrote on it 鈥淚 love you and I will never forget that little house in the jungle. I really won鈥檛! Love Jim鈥�.

One of his sailor friends was a musician who sometimes joined him to entertain us by playing his accordion. This often attracted the attention of some of the other sailor鈥檚 who would come over to us and join in singing some of the nostalgic war songs that we all loved to sing together during those dark and difficult days. Mother was aware of this and we were thankful that she approved with the proviso, 鈥楢s long as this is always conducted strictly through the window鈥�.

As we passed Madagascar and sailed up through the islands of the Seychelles and past Mombassa, soon to cross the Equator for the second time and entered the Arabian Sea, it started to get very hot again. Throughout the voyage we had experienced total extremes in the weather conditions, but from now it would be continually hot. I felt sorry for all those soldiers who had never experienced such heat and would be suffering great discomfort in their crowded quarters. Because of the short time that we had been in Cape Town, they probably hadn鈥檛 even been allowed ashore. Whenever we closed in on any of the other ships in our convoy, they all appeared to be as tightly packed with troops as ours but the rousing cheers that came from them as we passed, showed that they were still in good spirits in spite of suffering such cramped conditions.

We were now on the last leg of our journey and there was an air of excitement on board as we neared land, especially when we passed several ships coming in the opposite direction possibly from Bombay, the port we were heading for.

As it was to be our last night on board, the Captain arranged a farewell dinner for us. Afterwards, the ship鈥檚 officer and some of the more important members of the crew came in to be introduced and thanked for their excellent care of us on what had been a long and hazardous voyage. Then we toasted each other with champagne, after which we all linked hands and sang Auld Lang Syne. After bidding farewell to the other passengers, I returned to the cabin. Feeling tired but exhilarated, I packed away my belongings and went to bed.

Early the following morning as I looked out of the porthole and saw all the sailors bustling about on their decks, I was puzzled when I caught the site of jock sitting on a coil of rope with his head in his hands. He looked dejected, and because I was concerned to see him like that, I called to him. He came over and as he looked up at me, I noticed his blue eyes were full of tears, so I asked what was troubling him. I was very surprised when he told me that he had fallen in love with me and was heartbroken because he couldn鈥檛 bear the thought of never seeing me again. I was lost for words, as I hadn鈥檛 realised he felt like that about me. I had always kept my personal thoughts and emotions to myself and wasn鈥檛 conscious of having given him any encouragement to think that I might care for him. I had only shown friendship towards him and his mates. I felt sad at leaving him so distressed, so we exchanged addresses and I told him I would write to him. As I said goodbye and offered him my hand through the window, he grasped it and held it to his lips reluctant to let it go. It was a poignant memory, and I hoped he might soon forget me, but as timed passed it proved that he didn鈥檛.

Although I was only fourteen years old at the time, people often mistook me fro being much older than that, possibly because I was an 鈥榚arly developer鈥�, and being head and shoulders above my sister who was only eighteen months younger than me, I always acted like her big sister.

Having packed the last of my belongings, I was preparing to leave the cabin when there was a knock at the door. I said 鈥楥ome in鈥�, and the saucy young cabin steward who had given me such trouble over the 鈥楧uchess鈥� notes, entered. 鈥業鈥檝e come to say goodbye to you Miss, and I cant let you go without telling you how much I enjoyed looking after you throughout this voyage, and I am going to miss you.鈥� This outburst took me totally by surprise, and I was shocked and indignant when he came up to me, supposedly to shake my hands, but instead took me in his arms and kissed me passionately. (Being kissed by a man was one thing I still dreaded!) Before I could recover my composure, he was gone and it was too late to do anything about it, because the rest of the family were already waiting for me in the lounge. As I joined them, mother noticed that I looked flushed and upset so asked me what was the matter, but I was far too embarrassed to tell her. We heard noisy cheering coming from the troops decks as they saw the wonderful sight of the Great Archway of India coming into view. As I gazed upon it, I was reminded of the day in 1936 when I had sadly watched it receding into the distance as we said goodbye to India and sailed away to England to be left in a boarding school there. But now this same sight thrilled me. I was returning home again, though apprehensive about meeting my father after being away from him for so many years, and worried because I couldn鈥檛 remember what he looked like. As the ship was being tied up at its berth with everyone on board crowding at the rails, we saw a large military brass band resplendent in red and gold uniforms with their white helmets, waiting on the quayside to greet us. As they played rousing marches, Land of Hope and Glory, and There鈥檒l always be an England, and other nostalgic songs, I was overcome with emotion as I joined in the singing with the soldiers.

Mother had difficulty in spotting father amongst the crowds that thronged the quay, so it was a while before she caught sight of him. Suddenly I saw hr waving frantically and calling, 鈥楢rthur, Arthur!鈥� as she pointed at someone in the crowd. 鈥楲ook girls, there鈥檚 Daddy. He鈥檚 wearing a cream suit and a brown Trilby hat. Can you see him?鈥�

Having described him to us, I caught sight of him and waved. He had seen us and was waving back. As he was walking along the edge of the quay looking up, he failed to see a large metal bollard in front of him and tripped over it. As he lay sprawled across it, we watched as he picked himself up, and bowed to it. The soldiers who had seen this happen roared with laughter, but he appeared quite unperturbed as he looked up and waved to them. Poor father! At least he appeared to have a sense of humour. After the gangplank was lowered, father made his way towards it and waited there to greet us. Meanwhile there was frantic activity amongst the soldiers who had donned their khaki topees and slung their kit bags over their shoulders in readiness for disembarkation. As I watched them, I was amazed to see a group pf them being swung over the side of the ship by a crane, clinging to the net covering an enormous load of luggage. At the other end of the ship, cranes were also unloading our baggage, so it was a while before we could join my father. When the call finally came to disembark, we made our way down the gangplank where he greeted me with a kiss and a hug. I remember feeling very uneasy and embarrassed because I couldn鈥檛 think of anything to say to him.

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