大象传媒

At the beginning of December 1941 I was one of four nursing sisters at the General Hospital in Alor Star, which is the capital of the State of Kedah in North Malaya.

大象传媒 was most interesting. We looked after people of numerous races; chiefly Malays, Chinese and Indians, but we had a few Europeans too. The nurses in training were local girls. There were also a number of male nurses known as "dressers". Many of the patients had tropical diseases such as malaria, beri-beri and yaws. There was a busy maternity ward and some lunatic cells, so we had a variety of work.

Some British Army officers and RAF personnel were stationed near Alor Star and we had quite a gay time when off duty. They asked us to numerous parties and dances, and we also played golf and badminton. On our days off we sometimes drove down to Butterworth, some 60 miles away, then over onto the ferry to Penang Island. I had many friends there and we used to go to the swimming club where there was a lovely view of Kedah Peak across the water. Sometimes we had picnics on one of the beautiful beaches.

All this came to a sudden end on Monday 8th December. Japanese aircraft came over in waves and dropped bombs quite near us. Our few British planes went up to attack them but were hopelessly out numbered. We heard anti-aircraft fire; then there was silence.
Suddenly an ambulance arrived. In it was Pongo Scarf, a young RAF officer we knew well. His plane had crash-landed in a nearby field and he was badly wounded. His wife Sally was one of our nursing sisters. She offered her blood for transfusion but it was too late. She left Alor Star before his burial.

I was determined that Pongo would be buried properly. We managed to get a coffin from the jail. Another sister came with me in my Morris 8 and we followed the ambulance bearing his coffin to the local cemetery, where a grave had been dug. On our way we met two Army padres driving towards us. I stopped the car and asked if they would come with us to say a prayer. Later when I saw Sally I could tell her that we had done all we could.

All the European women were told to leave and go south, though hospital staff remained another four days. We heard that some Japs had parachuted into Malaya and some had crossed the Siamese border and were already behind the British and Indian lines. Our matron said we must barricade windows and doors at night as the enemy could easily creep into our unlocked wooden bungalows.

December 11th and 12th were dreadful days, for we hardly had any sleep with air raids and casualities being brought in at all hours. The guns firing, shaking the house, joined the constant noise of trucks rumbling by as the army retreated. Most of our patients were sent home; any remaining being evacuated by putting onto lorries and sending south to other hospitals. One motherless baby I handed to an Indian amah as no relations came to collect it.

Most of the local inhabitants fled from Alor Star. Many of them piled all their belongings into carts or old cars, with mattresses on the roof as protection, but often planes swooped down and machine-gunned these unfortunate people. Workers in the outlying paddy-fields and men digging trenches near the hospital were also shot down. Faring best were those who followed the Government Order: "Pergi ulu" (go into the jungle). They didn't attempt to return to their homes until the bombers had gone.

We nursing sisters were told to pack two suitcases and be ready for the password
"Curtain fallen". Hearing this over the telephone we were to drop everything and go. This we did on the evening of December 12th. I took one of the other girls with me in my small car and we went in convoy south to Kulim.

[Continued in "Overland to Singapore"]

(PK)

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