大象传媒

My father, Charles Haddon Lines born 1901, was a regular serviceman in the Royal Engineers Regiment. In 1938 he was a sergeant and was posted to Singapore. I was seven years old and an only child. As we left England I remember my aunt Liza saying "If war does break out, you will be safe there!" . After about two years in Changi, where I went to the army school, my father was posted to Penang, to Glugor (Gelugur), where I spent a very happy time. I went to the Anglo-American girls school as there was no army school. It was a very happy school, an American Head Mistress who was so kind as were all the teachers. I was the only white child in my class and made friends with an Indian girl who studied with a private tutor when she went home. Another friend was Chinese and was the aunt of our teacher. I became ill with a serious bout of typhus. On leaving hospital I returned home to find that an air raid shelter was being built at the back of our home. It appeared to be a very strong concrete building where we duly sheltered when the sirens went. We could see and hear raids but nothing came very close to us.

It was late in the afternoon, in the army barracks at Glugor, when I overheard two officers saying " For God's sake get the women and children out" My mother told me to pack my case - a beautiful hide one - with clothes as we were going to Singapore. Whilst I was doing this, the Medical Officer arrived and asked my mother if she would look after a lady who, two days before had given birth to a baby boy. She would be moved on a stretcher and she already had a little girl of four. I remember waiting for such a long time. Then, at 3am, my mother carrying the baby in a basket, the mother - whose name I think was Mrs James , and me in charge of the four-year old, being piled into an army lorry with various other people - all with cases. We were told that we had to wait until it was safe to travel. We arrived at the ferry area to take us across to the mainland, mother fully occupied with the baby, two soldiers carrying the stretcher and me holding on to the little girl. My mother shouted at me to keep up but I couldn't because the little one kept falling asleep and I was having to drag her along! Hearing this, Mrs James told me to bring her daughter alongside the stretcher; she then kept smacking her to keep her awake!

Arriving at the dock, it was discovered that there were no crews to take us across. Then a miracle happened: surviving sailors from The Repulse and The Prince of Wales arrived and assured us that they would get us across safely. We started to board when an air raid began. Bombs were dropping, the ferry was bouncing, one sailor said that it would be better for us to go below where we wouldn't feel the vibration so much. I remember thinking that if we were hit, being below would not be a good idea!

We had another long wait until the raid was over. Then, eventually getting to the mainland, we were taken to a train packed with refugees, however space was made for the stretcher; my mother and the baby, the four-year old and I were squeezed onto a top bunk. Room had been made for us by Mrs Attenborough and her three children (Joan 18, Harry 14 and Moira 8) who had boarded earlier. These were friends who lived quite close to us in Glugor. The heat from the weather and bodies made me decide to put my head out of the window when a hot and painful smut in my eye made me withdraw . I was startled to feel the train suddenly speed up and then screech to a halt inside a tunnel. It was another raid but we were safe in the tunnel. My mother was very worried about the baby as Mrs James had no milk. Ever resourceful, she went to the toilet where she got some water and kept the baby alive . I must have fallen asleep as the next thing I remember is waking to an almost empty train. We had reached Kuala Lumpur where the Salvation Army had taken people off for a wash, food and drink As I was asleep it was thought that it would be better to leave me with my mother. Gradually people returned, the Salvation Army bringing food and drink for my mother and me and dried milk for my mother to feed the baby. We eventually arrived in Singapore and were again met by the Salvation Army with refreshments - and clothing for me as my case had been left behind and I had only what I was wearing. We then went to Changi where we were allotted the married quarter of a family who had already left the island.

I hadn't realised that it was Christmas until a lady asked me what I had been given for Christmas. When I replied "Nothing, all my presents were left in Penang" she immediately produced a box of necklaces and rings and said we could choose something. I chose a pearl necklace, afterwards discovering that it was Ciro. Moira chose a ring with a jade stone.

Mrs Attenborough decided that we would have Christmas lunch - Japanese or no Japanese! A few chickens had been spotted not far away and Harry was delegated to catch one - but the chicken had other ideas! The chickens were not very large and my mother declared that by the time Harry caught it there would be practically nothing on it. Eventually the poor bird was caught and killed. It was plucked and dressed by my mother - a farmer's daughter. Harry appeared with a couple of yams; we didn't ask where he found them! Soldiers turned up with some bully beef and large, very hard, biscuits. That was my Christmas 1941!

We experienced several air raids with bombs dropping very close. However Japanese bombs were relatively small: shrapnel was the danger and the house generally had a fair spattering of it after a raid. The air raid shelters in Changi were not as sophisticated or complete as those in Penang so we usually took cover under the stairs but there was an open window so it was not safe from shrapnel. My father was able to see us once whilst we were there. My mother decided she would have something to remind us of our years in Malaya so we went into Singapore town where we found people sweeping up after the previous raid. A jeweller was selling his stock at a considerable discount so my mother bought a tray and teapot damaged by shrapnel: these I now have.

My mother was asked if she would like to go to the UK, South Africa or Australia and she opted for them in that order. Mothers with large families were evacuated first,
as I was an only child we were amongst the last to leave. We were unaware of our destination until we reached the ship when we were told that we were being taken to Australia as that was nearest - and we had to leave as the Japanese army were getting very close. We boarded the Narcunda to find that there were not many cabins and these were already occupied, so we were taken to the mess deck and it was explained that we would be sleeping on fixed tables . It was quite a large area with a lot of women, children and babies.It was in fact better than the cabins which were unbearably hot and stuffy. The sailors gave each family a mattress and a blanket. My mother and I slept one at the head of the table and one at the foot . I found it quite comfortable or perhaps I was too tired to notice! Until one morning I was woken by machine gun fire and looking out of the porthole at the head of our table, I saw a mine bobbing up and down it seemed to be perilously close to the ship. The sailors on the deck above were obviously trying to explode it before it touched us. Just as I was beginning to think that it would touch us, it exploded and we were all thrown from our tables on to the floor. Fortunately no one was injured apart from bruises.

The rest of the voyage was relatively uneventful. We reached Fremantle and we were told that we could stay in Perth or go to Sydney. My mother and I consulted -I just wanted to get off the ship, put my feet on solid ground and stop running away!

We were taken from Fremantle to Perth where we were lodged with Toc H until accommodation could be found.We were taken in by a family called Bretherton who were extremely kind. My mother told Mrs Bretherton that finding somewhere to live was the best birthday present I could have had; I was 11 years old the next day when we moved in and a daughter of the household came home with a birthday cake. My face and neck were covered in herpes and both my mother and I lost the hair off the top of our heads. Good climate and excellent food - Mrs Bretherton had been cook to a titled family before she went to Australia- soon put us on the road to recovery. Before we left Penang, my father put money into my bank account as my mother did not have one. It was a very complicated business getting any money but the West Australian banks were very good, loaning the British wives money until such time as the fate of their husbands was known and the British army sent money through. To tied us over my mother had a job making sandwiches in a hotel.

My first school in Australia was not a happy experience as my handwriting was not good and the teacher said that she thought it wasn't my fault - but that of my country. I went home in tears to my mother who promptly went to the school. My country was not mentioned again! I was much happier at the secondary school where I met my very dear friend, Dorothy Hancock, who remained in touch until sadly she died on Christmas Eve 1994; Dot , as everyone knew her, had visited us with her husband Malcom for three months that summer.
We would have our lunch in a nearby park; sandwiches which my mother would wrap in lettuce to prevent them from drying out.

Occasionally we would go up into the bush for a picnic of cold roast rabbit.
We would catch the train, which ran on a narrow gauge line, and whenever the gradient became a little steep the passengers would get off and walk picking wild flowers.For a long holiday we would go into the bush to a homestead miles from anywhere and stay with Mr and Mrs Brown and their son Sydney, who worked at a sanatorium. You had to tell the train driver where you wanted to get off and he would stop by a marker in the bush for you ; you had to tell him when you were coming back so that he would know when and where to pick you up. We had quite a long walk to the house, me carrying our case and mother carrying a side of a pig as a gift. Mr and Mrs Brown were extremely grateful for this as money was not easily come by. The house was built of corrugated iron with sacking for doors. The loo was quite a walk away, again made of corrugated iron, sacking and newspaper! There was a large arbour where food was kept in meat safes in an effort to keep it cool. Shopping was done by taking a list to a hollow tree trunk two miles away. The post and any provisions were then delivered some days later. At this time,I was introduced to "On Our Selection" by Steele Rudd. I read it by the light of a hurricane lamp and laughed until my face ached. Sometimes in the evening we would go for a ride through the bush on a horse and cart with candles on each side of the cart - although a full moon provided all the light we needed and for certain we would not meet anything!

On one occasion Mr Brown decided to clear some land so we went out burning the bush - a very hazardous and dirty job, but great fun.Arriving back at the homestead we washed in well water as rain water was too precious for anything but drinking. Mr Brown also decided to dig another well; a water diviner suggested a likely spot. The digging just went down and down.Mr Brown told my mother that she needn't bother with taking a ship to England as he would soon be there himself! One day he came back and said that at last he had struck water. It was supposed to be lucky to be the first person who drank from a new well. My mother flatly refused to climb all that way down so the honour of the first drink was given to me! I climbed down several ladders. At the bottom was a little pool, about two inches across, of grey, very unappetising water. However, drink from it I did!

Occasionally we would go rabbit shooting at night, Syd being very proud of a contraption he had made to hold a torch to his rifle. Once we went kangaroo hunting, my mother being promised the skin as it made excellent bed covering. Unfortunately we did not see a single kangaroo!

One time when we were there that my mother received a telegram telling her to return at once to Perth. This meant that we had a place on a ship to England. My mother was overjoyed: I was devastated as I wanted to stay in Australia where I had been so happy. The place was on a ship leaving Sydney. We hurriedly packed and said goodbye to our very dear friends on 24th January 1945. When we arrived at Perth station they were all there again with gifts and tins of sausage rolls, cakes, sweets and other food to last us on the journey across the desert to Sydney. As we left the station all the trains hooted.

We had to change trains once we moved from narrow gauge track to a wider gauge which meant more room in the carriage. Now, we had bunk beds, four to a carriage, and a wash basin. It was extremely hot but if you opened a window you were immediately covered in red dust. I remember making one stop in the desert when the train was surrounded by aborigines bartering their crafts. I exchanged two handfuls of sweets for a primitive carving of a kangaroo made by a boy of about twelve. It did not stand up but I keptit as he had made it. He was ecstatic at getting the sweets!

We had brief stops in Adelaide and Melbourne - then on to Sydney where we stayed for several days before boarding the ship Athlone Castle. This time we did have proper cabins. We went to Wellington in New Zealand to pick up a consignment of frozen lamb to take to England. Unfortunately it rained for 2 weeks preventing the loading. When it did stop the people of Wellington organised picnics and outings for us. We also went shopping for warm clothes. In New Zealand there was clothes rationing of a sort so we were given coupons and when we ran out of these the shop assistant gave us some of hers.
The ship's Padre thought that a school on board would be good for all the children. The New Zealand government promptly came up with educational materials including a projector, slides and notes for older children to enable them to give lectures to each other. There was also material for basket-making.The padre was educated at Rugby School and decided that each morning before school started we would sing a school song. He chose was the theme from Elgar's Pomp and Circumstance March No.4.
We crossed the International Date Line with all due ceremony then on through the Panama Canal to New York where we could just make out the Statue of Liberty through the fog. We anchored for a short while and then continued on to the Azores where we stayed well away from the land. I asked why we didn't go any nearer and was told that if we did, the ship would be interned. Then one day, all of a sudden, what seemed like hundreds of US soldiers were clambering up the sides of the ship. You were stepping over them as they were sleeping on the decks.

We docked in Liverpool and then went on to Chelmsford, which turned out to have just had its last air raid. We lived with my aunt and family and her sister and family until the end of the Japanese war. A period of anxious waiting followed until we heard that my father was safe, however having been released by the Americans they took him to Manila to nurse him back to health as he was suffering from paralysis of one side of his face and was, of course, very emaciated. The Americans said that his family would never recognise him. When he did arrive back it was a wonderful time for all of us.

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