大象传媒

I want to tell you about my husband, Richard Sanger-Davies.
Before the outbreak of WW2 Richards father Arthur was working in the Malaysian Forestry Commission. He had married a Chinese/Siamese lady and they had four children. The two eldest girls were at school in England when Winnie the elder of the trwo was diognosed with M.S. She was sent home to her parents and as Arthur had always dreamt of building a bungalow in Brestagi - Indonesia, they decided that now was the best time to do it. So he took early retirement and the family moved to Brestagi. Before long Arthurs wife Lee realised she was pregnant so before the baby was born she returned to Malaya to her mother in Bukit mertajam to give birth, so the baby would also have a British Passport. On the 9th August 1941 Richard was born. He started off his life living with his mother and grandmother on the farm owned by his grandmother (a widow) which grew rice, coconuts and rubber trees. It wasn't long before the Japanese thought they would come and pay a visit sending Lee, her mother and their neighbours into a frenzy as they all knew that Richard wouldn't last long with his blond curls and English name, so he was hidden in the jungle. We have a letter from his grandmother which has been translated into English where she talks about the difficulty of getting milk to a small baby hidden in a jungle. I can't even begin to image the terror they must have experienced. As Richard grew older he was brought back to the village and his mother along with the village children rubbed, dirt, food coulourings, anything to make him look more brown. Richard remembers that when they heard a commotion outside the village they knew the Japs were close so a trap door in the ground was opened up and he was placed in the dark hole where he had to keep perfectly still and silent. What an ordeal for a todler! Some time during the Japanese occupation Lee was tortured by the Japanese. She was lucky not to have been killed. Richard can remember asking his mother why her finger and toe nails were so different and she told him the Japs had pulled them out.

back in indonesia Arthur was trying to flee the country with the two younger children Robert 9 and Ann 10yrs.But, like so many others they were captured and taken prisoner. Arthur was taken to a mens camp and the children to a womens camp where they stayed for the duration, enduring all the terrors of two young children who clung together to survive in the most awful conditions. When Robert was 16 he was removed to the mens camp and after reporting to the senior British person there he was escorted to the hospital wing and shown a bag of bones with hollow eyes. robert didn't recognise his father who died within hours of Roberts arrival of malnutrition, dysentry, Malaria and beatings. Wheh the Japanese eventually opened the gates Robert ran all the way back to the womens camp to find his beloved sister. Some time after the Red Cross turned up and before long Robert and Ann were on a boat on their way to England as faily over here had sought their wearabouts. They never saw their mother again.

Richard grew up and stayed with his mother and grand mother. He never met his father and his mother never saw her husband or two younger children or Millie again. Millie had been in England during the war and she never returned to Malaya after the war or saw her mother again either. The eldest daughter Winnie had been taken in by Nuns when her father had been captured and she now came home to Malaya back to her mother. By now she was blind and bed ridden. Winnie lived for another three years dying at the age of 26yrs.

When Lee realised she had cancer she made arrangements for Richard to travel to England to be looked after by the English side of the family and for him to be with his brother and two sisters, non of whome he had ever met. His mother took him to Kuala Lumpur and after a tearful goodbye he was given into the care of an army officer who escorted Richard to Singapore. Richard can remember sitting in the back seat of the car with the Officer who had his hand on a pistol lying between them on the back seat throughout the journey as there were many bandits still around. Once in Singapore a Mrs. Fuller who worked for the Red Cross and had been visiting her injured son in hospital. Mrs Fuller looked after Richard throughout the boat journey home and at night he slept in a cabin with three army officers. She ship docked in Liverpool in August 1950, just before Richards 9th birthday. from there, he was taken to meet his brother and sisters and the cousin who was going to look after him. Richard never saw his mother again as she died within 3 yrs of cancer of the stomach.

It took a lot of persuading for me to convince Richard that he probably did have some relations in Malaysia and it was worth trying to trace them. We contacted the Malaysian Ambassador for some advise as to where to begin. He gave us the name of a reporter living in London who was on a years secondment. She took the details, promised nothing but said she would do her best. She sent us a copy of the story in "The New Straits Times" which was marvelous, so we waited and hoped,but we heard nothing for months, then a letter arrived,- six lines, poor English, but it was a start. Then another letter came, then another, and more, and more and more. There were so many, uncles, cousins, friends neighbours. It was overwhelming. I remember when the first letter arrived I tore it open and was dancing with delight. Richard was miles away in Cornwall so I rang the place I knew he was heading for and left a message asking him to ring me urgently. When he rang he sounded so worried and all I said was "We've had a letter"

In 1993 We visited Malaysia. It had been over 40 yrs. for Richard. For three years we had saved and planned this visit. We wrote continually to all those we had heard from getting to know them all.We were met at the airport by about 30 people - all family members. We arranged a grand reunion in Kuala Lumpur, In Singapore and in Penang. So many people, so overwhelming. Since that wonderful first visit we have been back 4 more times. each time we meet more family members, visit friends and family and some have even visited us including the reporter Padma who had followed the story from the start and become one of our best friends ever.

We have asked about their ordeals at the hands of the Japanese invaders and the stories of the torture, the rapes, the thefts, hunger and deaths are harrowing. I cried for them all as I listened.

This is just a very brief account of an extremely tragic story. How people like Richard ever lose that sadness to become the lovliest person in the world is beond me.

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