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"This story was submitted to the People’s War site by Roger M Judge on behalf of Mary Elizabeth Tregenza and has been added to the site with her permission. The author fully understands the site's terms and conditions."

1939 When war was declared in September 1939, I was 6 years old. With my mother and father we three children were living in Shanghai, China. My father was the manager of a small British Import and Export firm whose main office was in Britain. At the end of 1936, we should have gone on leave to England but my father who was in the S'hai Volunteer Corps., felt he should stay and help defend the International Settlement, against possible Japanese aggression. The Japanese were already in China north of S'hai. During 1937, my mother with three children travelled to Tsing-Tao on the coast, for a prolonged holiday, away from danger. My eldest brother Geoffrey, other family friends, went to school there. During 1938, I started school at the Cathedral School for Girls, in Shanghai — Geoffrey was already attending the Cathedral School for Boys and sang in the Shanghai Cathedral Choir. J G Ballard, who was also a pupil there, used this background for his novel "Empire of the Sun" which was made into a film.
In September 1939 my younger brother Donald joined me at the Cathedral School. We used to go to and fro in a private rickshaw, from our home in the French Concession. In August 1940, my third brother John was born. 1940 was a terrible year in the war for those at home, and in China there was a great deal of uncertainty. By 1941, Europeans were beginning to try to get out of China. Most of my parents friends had already gone either to Australia, South Africa for Canada. My parents had written to schools in Adelaide and decided that my Mother, with four children aged 11, 8, 7 and 1 years old would go there. She had been used to servants, especially an "Amah" — now she was to cope alone. In August 1941 we embarked on a very small tramp-cargo boat for Hong Kong this was to be a very rough journey of three or four days as we hit the tail end of a typhoon as we steamed down the coast. In Hong Kong, we joined other passengers on the S. S. Neptune, bound for Melbourne, Australia, via the Philippines and Rabaul, New Guinea, and Sydney. From Melbourne, we took the overnight train to Adelaide. In Adelaide we stayed in the Grosvenor Hotel for at least a week, whilst my Mother looked for accommodation to rent.
It must have been a difficult time for my Mother. She didn't hear news of my Father in Shanghai for over a year. I enjoyed life in Australia, as did my brothers. The climate in Adelaide was one of long, dry, hot summers and warm, wet winters. We had two Summer Terms, and only one term for hockey and football! Although we had food rationing it was minimal. There was enough meat for our favourite chop-picnics! We soon helped our Mother pack food parcels for relatives in England. My eldest brother made huge nets, (which were used for camouflage) to help the war effort. He was a keen Scout, and also a cadet in the Scotch College Cadet Force. I went to the Presbyterian Girls College, by bus each day, as I grew older I often cycled to School. Myself and Donald went to Sunday School and Geoffrey sang in the choir of the local Church, St Columba's, C of England.
By late 1942, huge events in South-East Asia had taken place. The Japanese had swept through China, Hong Kong had fallen around Xmas 1941, Manilla and then Singapore, Indonesia and Borneo, all taken by the Japanese. But we had some good news. my Father was one of 100 (in S'hai) Allied nationals on a list to be exchanged for Japanese nationals. He had only been under "house-arrest", not yet interned, and found himself on a ship bound for South Africa. On reaching Lourenço Marques, in Mozambique, he was able to send a telegram to my Mother. We were overjoyed when he eventually arrived in South Australia, and we were able to greet him on Adelaide Railway Station. My Father's war was to take him as an Intelligence Officer, in the RAAF, through the campaigns in New Guinea, where he was very ill with malaria. He was posted to HQ US XV Corps as RAAF Intelligence Liason Officer. He was with them in the recapture of the Philippines, including the relief of Manila and the infamous civilian Internment camp at the Santo Thomas University campus, and met friends from S'hai and Hong Kong who had been imprisoned there, including my God-mother. He was in the Pacific Island battles, north to Japan itself, ending the war not far from Tokyo, a few days after the surrender of Japan.
In late 1945, my parents decided to send my eldest brother, Geoffrey home to England. He enjoyed the voyage, a long way to go at 16. He was met at Bristol by an uncle, who went with him to Oxford, where he lived with an aunt and uncle and cousins.We sent him food parcels; he was always hungry in England! During 1946 my Father had been demobilised, and returned to Shanghai to try and open up business there in October. My Mother made great efforts to return home — eventually she managed to get an "assisted" passage (by the British Government as we were technically "evacuees/refugees in Australia). It was in Adelaide an extremely hot Christmas in 1946, but shortly afterwards in January 1947, we boarded the S.S.Otranto bound for Europe from Melbourne. We were under "troop-ship" conditions. My brother Donald, now 12, had to sleep with the men passengers, and my mother and I and John 6½ were in a cabin of 24 women. In the holds were 3000 Italian P.O.W's returning to Italy. The food was dreadful, but it improved after Naples, and the Italians had disembarked. Many of them didn't want to return to war ravished Italy — they had also liked living and working in Australia!
We arrived in England sailing up the Thames to Tilbury in a snow storm, we hadn't seen snow for many years, and my Mother hadn't been home since 1933. Everyone looked grey and tired, it was a very cold winter, with still a bit of rationing, Bills and shortages, but we were home and ready for new adventures. My Father joined us in Essex.

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