大象传媒

My father, a partner in the firm of Fofden, Brisbane & Co. 鈥� Civil Engineers, was working at the Naval Base at Changi when he happened to get into a lift with a man called Leigh Mallory who said 鈥淭his is all going to be over in 48 hours, I鈥檇 get out, if I were you.鈥�

My mother had been co-opted into the RAMC (as, presumably, all civilian doctors had been 鈥� or perhaps she volunteered!) and said she couldn鈥檛 possibly leave!

However, she was persuaded. They packed their one permitted suitcase each with their one precious item each 鈥� my father鈥檚 Leica camera, my mother鈥檚 silver plated coffee pot which her parents had sent out as an engagement present 12 years earlier.

They reached the docks and tried to board the Empress of ? Britain ? Canada but were turned back because 鈥楾his ship is taking RAF personnel only.鈥� Further along the dock they came upon an Australian coaster called (The) Gorgon on which they found a bit of deck space to call their own. Not long after setting sail the Gorgon鈥檚 engine failed, which left them drifting nearly all night in the approaches to the Java Sea, which by now was within Japanese naval waters. Mercifully, the ship鈥檚 engineer(s) managed to get the engine going again and they made straight for her home port of Freemantle, without further incident. (I think).

My parents stayed in Perth for some days 鈥� some of their old Singapore friends were Australians whose home was Perth. Before leaving, my father had got a banker鈥檚 note from his Singapore bank (Hong Kong & Shanghai) and was impressed by how accommodating and helpful the Australian bank was.

They toyed with the idea of staying in Australia but both still had parents and family in Britain so they set off across Australia to find a passage home from Melbourne or Sydney. This meant a train journey across the continent which, at that time did not have a standard gauge railway system 鈥� each state had it鈥檚 own gauge, which meant changing trains a few times. I think the whole journey took about 4 days 鈥� they were fascinated by the Nullanbo Plain.

It took some time to find a passage home but, eventually they embarked on the Straltreden from ? Melbourne ? Sydney. While the ship was in Auckland taking on a cargo of butter the passengers were advised that the journey ahead could be hazardous, and, in case they had to take to lifeboats to make sure their few possessions were secure and to wrap perishables such as tobacco and cigarettes in a sheet of oiled silk to keep them dry.

From New Zealand they sailed east towards Cape Horn (they saw the Magellanic Clouds for the only time in their lives) then up the west coast of South America, through the Panama Canal into the Caribbean. The Stralteden was fast enough to sail alone (not in convoy) and, because there were known to be U-boats in the Caribbean, some passengers were included in a rota to look out for periscopes. One was spotted but they managed to elude it.

Eventually, one evening, they arrived in the Firth of Clyde but had to stand out until morning, (presumably a boom across the river at night). Early the next morning, in the mist, they started up the river. As they proceeded they became aware of a strange noise ahead and, as the mist cleared they saw a large group of dockyard workers cheering and throwing their caps in the air, delighted to see the Stralteden safely home again. She was a Clyde built ship.

It was now mid May; they had been on the way home for 3 months and it was at Customs in Glasgow that they experienced their only sour note: My father had taken pictures of Singapore burning as the Gorgon sailed out and probably more during the course of the journey home. Two Customs Officers were interviewing them. They confiscated my father鈥檚 film(s) (understandably 鈥� they may have shown something of military interest) and then turned their attention to his wad of tobacco wrapped in oilskin; he was a pipe smoker but did they think he was also a smuggler?! Having discussed it between them they pushed it aside dismissively, and one said; 鈥淥h well he鈥檚 only an engineer鈥� at which point, my mother said she wanted to jump over the counter and hit him!! Though very relieved to be home they were both exhausted and could have done without this little episode.

They bought a smallholding, 18 acres, near Edenbridge in Kent, got furniture from second hand or antique shops, collected me and my younger sister from my mother鈥檚 parents in Sufftown, Banffshire, who had looked after us for 4 years since we had come home from Singapore in Jan. 1938 to go to school.

My father became Director of Opencast Coal production for the Ministry of Fuel and Power, my mother looked after us and the animals and did G.P. locums for doctors in Edenbridge.

Then, of course, in 1944 came the doodlebugs and rockets 鈥� but that鈥檚 another story 鈥� we all survived.

Neither of my parents ever returned to Singapore. They never knew what became of their local household staff or the firm鈥檚 staff. Their abandoned possessions included all their wedding presents, my father鈥檚 organ music (he was assistant organist at the cathedral) my mother鈥檚 violin and a nice brass bound grand piano, which I can remember 鈥減laying!鈥� Saddest of all was the cat. As they left their house in Caldecot Hill my mother looked back and saw the cat sitting on a window sill washing her face. I think that image haunted my mother for the rest of her life.

Afterthoughts

The trouble with memories is that so many questions arise when there is nobody left who can answer them!

Q. What was the Gogon鈥檚 normal routine?
A few weeks ago I heard a man on the Home ? Truths programme on Saturday morning saying that as a child he had waited in Batavia for the Gorgon but she never came. Presumably Batavia was part of the normal run but perhaps the engine failure episode made the captain think he should get back to Freemantle as quickly as possible.

When they boarded the Gorgon in the chaos in Singapore my mother, who had been working at the Mother and Child Welfare clinic, introduced herself to the ship鈥檚 doctor to see if she could be of any help. He was delighted because, although he was used to coping with sailor鈥檚 ailments and accidents, the thought of having to cope with a baby with dysentery made his hair stand on end!! 鈥� and there were a lot of very young children aboard.

Q. Was it normal for a coaster to have a ship鈥檚 doctor?

A couple of other things come to mind: On the Stralteden the passengers did shorthand classes and one of the passengers was the tenor Heddle Nash and/or his son? John.

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