大象传媒

MADAGASCAR

The master took our ship slowly but carefully to Antsiranana landing stage and we all left the ship with our kit. Then we had to wait until places to sleep were found. We were lucky for after midnight our RSM called for us to go with him; he had found a place where the French military had been. He warned us that they had been a horse brigade. When we arrived we realised what that meant. The men had kept their horses in the same sleeping quarters; the smell was terrible. The first thing we needed to do before anything else was to clean the place. We stayed there to sleep for about 3 or weeks. After that a marquee had been set up in the hospital grounds and we transferred to it. It was tidier, near our work and near the beach and the swimming pool. The commandos who had captured this north part of the island about a fortnight before, did not stay very long. Our officers were in part of the hospital building. The QAIMNS did not come at all.

In the first few days I met the Malgasy radiologist, a fine looking man. Unfortunately he spoke only Malgasy and French. He laughed when a wardmaster鈥檚 clerk and I approached him and asked his help saying "Nous desirons une blanciseuse". He replied "Vous avez BESOIN d鈥檜ne blanciseuse鈥�. We joined in the laughter as we realised what I had said.

I came to know this man and his family in the next few weeks and we became very good friends. His name was Rakoto-arimanana ("the eldest son who must work for his living"). I was invited to his house in the hospital grounds one evening where I met his wife, Rozanamihanta ("the girl who is loved very, very much鈥�), and their five children. We became very good friends. I learned to speak French a little better.

Sometime later the "other ranks" went off in groups for a week鈥檚 respite in the hills to the north. It was a very welcome change. The air was much fresher here. One day when we were there we went up to one of the lakes. It was an old volcano and the water was lovely and cool. The water tasted and smelt of ashes. A soldier passing by called to us to get out. He said there were crocodiles in the lake. We told him that he must be wrong as we had been in the lake for at least half an hour and had seen no such visitors. Rakoto told me later that there was a yearly ceremonial by lower-cast tribes who chose a young girl to sacrifice to the crocodiles in one of the lakes in the mountains.

Three things stand out in my memory of the friendship with Rakoto. The first was his asking me to accompany him one Sunday morning to church with him. As we walked through the village I found it difficult to keep up with him for he was very athletic. In fact he was a very keen tennis player. In the church, women and children sat on the left of the central aisle and the men on the right. The only thing I recognised in the service, apart from one or two of the hymns, was the Creed. As we were going out some people dressed in white were coming in. I thought it must be a wedding about to take place. Not at all, it was to be a
funeral.
I was also called one morning before duty started to go with Rakoto back to his house. When I went into the house the lady who did all the housework and looked after the younger children came forward with a baby in her arms. The baby had been born earlier in the morning; a girl whose skin was quite pale, only slightly brown. Rakoto explained that she would gradually get darker through the day. Indeed when I went back in the evening she was darker but not quite so dark as her mother who had her in her arms. Rozanamihanta was not quite so dark as her husband for she was one caste higher than her husband; she was of royal blood. The other children were thrilled to see the baby; the two elder boys wanted to hold her. They were allowed to, but not for long as the child was put in her cot. One thing that those children were taught was good manners and obedience.

It was not long before I was introduced to the dentist for the hospital. He also lived in the hospital grounds. He was Rozanamihanta鈥檚 cousin; he spoke some English. He too was a Christian and one evening a week he held a Bible evening with some local boys. I went along occasionally when I was not on duty.

Perhaps the most difficult of problems came one evening when Rakoto said that the eldest boy had a problem to ask me. He wanted me to explain what 鈥渟now鈥� was. He knew 鈥渋ce鈥�, they used it in the house and kept it in a refrigerator. I was puzzled but could not explain it, then I realised that his father standing behind me was laughing quietly. I realised that he was responsible for the question.

As time went on Cliff Jones learned to swim in the part of the shore that was surrounded by a wall to keep out sharks. He suggested that I went with him to the platform about halfway from beach when the tide was in and I could at least jump in the water there and float. So I went along with him. He went ahead in to the water to give me confidence and then called me to jump in. I did, and down I went and slowly I came to a stop and then rose to the surface. Cliff was then between me and the diving board. He said 鈥淵ou are all right, you are floating. Now face the shore and swim towards the shore and I鈥檒l keep with you鈥�. So I did. About half way to the shore I felt rather tired, so Cliff told me to drop my legs and rest. Very nervously I did so and found that I could tread water and not sink. That was the beginning of our early morning swims when the tide was in.

At Christmas time Rakoto鈥檚 children family sang carols around their Christmas tree. The one I remember most of all was 鈥淛e suis la lumiere a dit le Signor鈥�, for this was one I was used to singing at home in England - in English of course. In the Army on Christmas Day the 鈥渙ther ranks鈥� did not work 鈥� we had a day off and the officers waited on us at table. I spent my time on the beach with my friends. A number of them tried their best to get me in the water to be 鈥渢otally immersed鈥� for what they considered was a true baptism. I refused because I had been baptised as a young baby. This did not suit some of them until Ted, one of my friends who was a very strict Plymouth Brother, told them to 鈥渟hut up鈥�. In spite of his very strict views he understood my point of view. He acknowledged baptism of any who had already been baptised whether before or after their coming to faith. The rest of the day went well.

Things went well in the New Year until the day came for us to leave the island. In a way it was a sad day. The young boy who had run errands so willingly was in tears as he sat at the end of the furthest point waving to us as our ship sailed to the opening in the far distance. Our ship turned south when it entered the Indian Ocean in the late morning. When night came the skipper was wondering which way to go. He had learned that a monsoon was arriving ahead if he turned to go directly towards Durban, but if he kept the ship going south he would still be liable to meet the storm. He made up his mind and steamed south. It was very rough throughout the night. About 7 or 8 of us decided to bed down on deck under the shelter of the captain鈥檚 bridge. The ship rolled from side to side and as it did so first one wheel was lifted out of the water and it raced and then the other and in turn we saw the ship lifted high and then drop into the pit.

Next morning the storm was clearing and we eventually arrived at Durban. This time we were taken out of the city to a large open place where there were a number of troops in groups of tents. To get to and fro from the city we travelled by train and were given 6d a day for that. We spent much of our time on the shore and in the sea. Several times we went north along the coast; there was one particular beach which was extremely beautiful.
Of course all good things come to an end and we boarded a hospital ship to go north. The hospital men kept to themselves mainly; most of them spoke only Afrikaans.

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