大象传媒

Again as in the previous chapter I must mention Penrith and Trowbridge - forthere are folk who in the counties of Cumbria and Wiltshire still have family connections with the people involved.

It was late afternoon before we started, so we had to go over the enemy lines after dark. We flew very low. At times we could make out the shapes of the hills towering above us, and it seems as if the planes's wing tips must surely be able to scrape the rocks. At times, in air pockets, we seemed to drop very sharply. At one point it was evident that we were in trouble. We were instructed to make the emergency procedure of fastening our seat-belts, with the plane behaving as though we were in distress. As I huged our wee Monica I whispered to Andrew "Safe in the arms of Jesus"

In spite of yhis the plane carried on and over Yunnan amd Burma. Planes in the 1940s were not at all like they are today, and many of the misionaries from the China Inland Fellowship were killed when the plane they were travelling in went down. While we were waiting in Kumming, three of our missionaries were being evacuated ahead of the Japanese advance. The plan crashed and they all were killed. Andrew attended the funeral while I looked after the children.

We were pleased and relieved to land at Assam, and after a short stop were thankful for a smooth flight to Calcutta, with the dangers of the flight'over the hump' behind us. We had no friends in Calcutta, but a kind and thoughtful missionary had had it laid on his heart to wait all night at the airport, as he knew that all missionaries had by now been advised to leave China as swiftly as they possibly could. So, in case any assistace was needed, he was waiting there, and he was there for us. How glad we were to see him. Bundled into a lorry, we drove the eleven miles to the city. Our kind friend took us to a school where, after making some porridge on my little primus stove for the children, we went to sleep on the floor.

In the morning we wondered what we could do, and Andrew had the idea of visiting the Church of Scotland Mission. This was indeed an answer to prayer. The missionary there was Miss Robbie, a teacher from Edinburgh, and I had trained at the Royal Infirmary with her sister, Nan. She told us at once that we could stay there for as long as we needed to. We had been advised by a message from the Consul not to go to Bombay for the passage home until we had word that a boat was arriving. I had had no other news from home, and the last letter I had received was about four years previously. I did have a snall parcel from Charlotte Chapel in Edinburgh about four years before...butit had taken one year to arrive!

Within three weeks, news came that a ship would soom be in Bombay, so I had to pull myself together for further aarduous travel. We caught the Bombay mail train for the journey across India. Having spent forty-three hours on the train, we arrived in Bombay and word came for us to board the ship. It was war-time and we really had an unpleasant voyage. We were on a Dutch liner which had taken troops to India in readiness for attacking the Japanese in Burma and the Far East. The boat was crammed with civilian refugees ordered out of that area of Burma, India and China. It was jammed with people. Andrew was in a cabin with nine other men. I had a small two-berth cabin with Heather and Monica, two other women and four children - nine of us in all. Heather and Monica had also developed whooping cough. When the children, in distress, were coughing ,these women swore. They were so rough and unkind. The nights were dreadful and I had little sleep. The crew were solely concerned with themselves, and I was not allowed to take the children to the dining room; nor was Andrew allowed to our cabin because of the other mothers. However, a member of the crew - a young black boy from Borneo - took pity on us and each morning he parked himself outside my cabin door, and when I opened it, ran off to fetch something for the children to eat.

Our ship crossed the Indian Ocean and through the Red Sea alone, as this Dutch liner was one of the most modern, and we depended on our speed to get us out of the way of danger. Each morning we had to line up for boat drill, and all day we had to carry life jackets everywhere we went. The children were given them too - adult sized! I wondered if there was anything I could do to make them fit, but it was hopeless. From time to time the crew also had firing practice, but the one ime they let off the big gun - although we had been warned - it gave me such an enormous shock as to be almost hysterical for the only time in my life. I had survived the threatening whirlpools of the Yellow River, had the windows of my bedroom blown in by bombs, seen bomb and gunfire all around me in China, walked alongside men with plans to end my life. resisted the terror of our flight over the darkened mountain peaks - yet all that did not break my nerves in the way that the thundering bang of this long distance gun affected me. I will never forget it. (Monica adds that her parents later told her that if anyone had fallen overboard into the sea, because of the great danger from U-boats the Captain would not have turned the ship around for any search or rescue attempt)

For the final lap of our voyage we were in a large convoy, with an aircraft carrier, all the 'Empress' boats, and others of all descriptions. We zigzagged along in our crocodile line, day after day. It was reported that a U-boat was near us, but still we pressed on...when would we see England? Andrew commented that we would soon be at the North Pole if we carried on in the same direction for much longer. Everything was veiled in secrecy. Up on the deck one afternoon, as I had got the children to sleep for a few minutes, I was standing by myself rather miserable, Just the, as one of the ship's crew walked past (who must himself been feeling fairly happy to speak to me!) turned and said, "Do you see those ships there in the distance? They left Glasgow this morning". Glasgow! So we were nearly home! We had travelled steadily northwards to come in around Ireland and into the Clyde. During the night I could tell we had stopped, and then in the morning - how wonerful to see the bare hills of Scotland on a January morning! We could not send any kind of message to our folks, and had to remain quietly on on board for three days, as Glasgow was teeming with refugees. One day, a gentleman came on board to inquire if anyone needed somewhere to stay in Glasgow, and so Andrew obtained an address from him. It was fortunate, for when the CIM representative met us in Glasgow he told us they were unable to accommodate any more as people were already sleeping on the floor. As a result we went to the address given to us. What a sight we must have looked, wearing old Chinese clothes. People turned to stare. I had got a coat in India, and a pair of shoes, but they still looked extremely odd in Glasgow.

More to follow.

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