Page 20 of Sisters Under The Rising Sun
John looks at his shirt and shorts. ‘Yes, the British Navy, by the looks of it. Well, given the amount of time I’ve spent both on and in the water lately, I do believe I’m qualified.’
‘It’s great to see you’ve still got your sense of humour,’ Ena says, grinning widely. ‘Why don’t I give you a few minutes alone.’
As Ena walks away, Norah guesses she is thinking of her own wonderful husband, Ken, and her heart aches for her sister.
‘What’s the matter, darling?’ John asks.
‘It must be hard on her seeing the two of us together. She hated leaving Ken.’
‘Well, she has you.’
‘That’s not enough, John. Ken isn’t here and she doesn’t know where he is.’
‘I’m sure he’s with your parents, taking care of them like he promised.’
‘But for how long? And Sally?’
John finds the strength to place his arm around Norah. She rests her head on his shoulder.
As the sun sets on their first day in the barracks, Japanese guards arrive carrying a few large cauldrons of rice and a small quantity of tin mugs.
‘This is not enough food!’ is repeated over and over as the women take a mug containing a single ladleful of rice. When one woman complains directly to a guard, she is slapped in the face and knocked to the ground.
Margaret Dryburgh walks along the line of women and children. ‘Just take what they give you and say nothing,’ she repeats.
‘Is this all we are expected to live on?’ one of the women fires back at her.
‘We don’t know yet. This is just our first day – we’re going to have to be patient and see what tomorrow brings.’
A couple of days later, the nurses cheer when Sisters Betty Jeffrey and Blanche Hempsted, who had been with them on theVyner Brooke, enter the camp. Betty has terrible rope burns on her hands, and both women are badly bruised.
‘Come with me,’ Nesta tells them both. ‘We have a small hospital set up. I want one of the doctors to take a look at you.’
‘A hospital?’ Blanche asks.
‘Well, I’m using the term very loosely. There’s a hut we intend to turn into a hospital when we can get beds and supplies. In the meantime, we’re calling it the hospital; in reality, it’s where the three doctors are camped and where we go to help.’
‘What supplies do we have?’
‘Nothing. We boil what water we can get hold of, which isn’t much, and have torn up spare clothing, mostly petticoats. No one here needs a petticoat, and they make good bandages.’
With Betty’s hands bandaged and their other wounds treated, they return to the nurses’ hut, where everyone gathers around to hear their story of survival.
‘We got on a raft which was terribly overcrowded,’ Betty begins. ‘Several of us took shifts in the water clinging on, but our progress was so slow. The two of us and Matron Paschke took turns rowing all night. When Blanche and I weren’t rowing, we got in the water.’
Pausing, Betty reaches out to Blanche with a bandaged hand. ‘I’ll never forget how you looked after everyone. She was just wonderful,’ Betty tells the nurses. ‘Whenever she wasn’t rowing, she was in the water, checking on those clinging to the raft, swapping them out with those on board to rest. If she couldn’t fit them on the raft, she was keeping their spirits up, showing them how to paddle to conserve energy, and insisting that it wouldn’t be long before we were rescued.’
Blanche wraps her arms around Betty, wiping away the tears that flow unashamedly down her face. The nurses wipe away their own tears.
‘We saw fires burning on the beaches,’ Betty continues. ‘And smoke from what I presume were other ships, but none of them came near us. I told myself that surely the British Navy was looking for us, that they’d find us soon. One even got close enough for us to shout at, but they didn’t see us. Each time we got near to the beach and I thought this time, this time we’ll land, the current got hold of us and pushed us back out to sea.’
‘Did you see anyone else in the water?’ Nesta asks.
‘A ship’s officer floated past us on a piece of wreckage and told us where we should head to make land. He wished us luck as he was dragged away by the current,’ Blanche says.
‘We finally saw the lighthouse and tried desperately to paddle towards it,’ Betty continues, ‘but the current was just too strong. Next thing we know, we’re surrounded by several large motorboats with Japanese soldiers. They circled us, one came up really close, then they all turned and left us there. We saw and heard guns firing and watched as we floated past Muntok. We realised we were getting nowhere but tried to keep the conversations lively. We were both in the water clinging to the raft when a huge wave hit us and snatched the raft away. I can still hear Matron calling us as their raft sailed away, and … and they’re not here.’
Blanche takes over.
