A New Dawn

Chapter 8

The news was getting worse as the days went on Hong Kong had surrendered on Christmas Day after many days of bombing, and news of atrocities were already filtering across to them. The troops were retreating in Malaya so fortification was increased in Jahore, but it was still felt in some ways that the war was far away. A New Year's Eve ball had been organised in Raffles. It appeared that half of Singapore was in attendance, it was crowded and hot. Katie had refused to come as Alex wasn't there, he was still somewhere in Malaya and they were fighting their way back. They knew it was intense as they were seeing the battle casualties every day now. Great gaping wounds from shrapnel and bullets and the doctors were working round the clock in the operating theatres. Molly and Jackie were looking forward to their night out although they both agreed they didn't know how they would stay awake till midnight they were so tired. Maybe Katie had had the right idea in the first place and just gone to bed.

Brian was getting to make use of his tuxedo again and this time had no problem with the tie, the two girls had made themselves beautiful evening dresses from silk purchased at the godowns. Charles picked them up promptly for the drive back to Raffles which was lit up in preparation for the New Year celebrations.

They had a fine dinner the four of them, Charles looked at the woman sitting next to him and knew that not only had he found the love of his life here but had found people he could count on as friends. After having been introduced to Tiger beer by Alex both he and Brian found it to be a refreshing drink over their whiskey and the girls stuck with what they were insisting was fruit juice no matter how much Charles tried to tell them that they were thoroughly alcoholic.

Charles had organised a room for him and Molly at Raffles for the night, he wanted to make it special for her, remind her of their wedding night and leaving Jacqui and Brian to the bungalow and privacy of their own. He knew that they might not be meeting up with their wives that often after this. The war was moving closer to them every day and he still had to keep his promise to Alex that he would try and convince Katie to go back to Australia and he was rather hoping she would take Molly with her.

"Have I had enough lessons, am I ready for a bit of Ginger Rogers dancing Charlie?" Molly whispered into his ear her warm breath tickling his skin

"I think we could manage a Tango, if you avoid my feet" he grinned at her and she threw her head back with unrestrained laughter

"Not sure mate, I've had a couple of them fruit juices again" and he howled with laughter with her.

The clock struck midnight and the band played Auld Lang Syne and they all linked arms and sang.

Lt Colonel Beck and his wife Edna came over to say hello

"Have you had a lovely evening dear" she asked

"Oh yes Mrs Beck, its beautiful" her smile wide and eyes shining at her happiness

"Call me Edna dear" she patted her hand "Frances, his mother" pointing to Charles "Is really looking forward to meeting you when we get home" Molly's face dropped, her smile completely wiped from her face

"But I'm not going home"

"I think we will have to soon dear" she held Molly's hand "We can't have them losing concentration worrying about us being here while they are fighting this war" Molly looked around trying to see Charles, he was talking with Beck and laughing about something when he looked across and saw Molly's distraught face. She tried to smile at him but couldn't

"It's best we all go" she continued

"When?" Edna shook her head "Well if you are anything like me dear at the last possible minute"

Molly looked into the sad but friendly blue eyes of Edna and nodded her own eyes full of unshed tears. All she could do was nod.

Charles walked up to her and put his arm around her shoulders "How's my beautiful wife, missing my company as much as I'm missing hers?" he smiled down at her "Would she like to dance with her husband?"

She was still saddened by the conversation she had had with Edna; she didn't want to leave Charles here. She wanted to stay with him. She could feel the lump in her throat and her chin quiver as she widened her eyes to stop a tear from falling. Charles could read her like a book and knew she was upset by something, trying to not cry, he looked across at Edna who was now talking with her husband, looking back at him Beck shrugged in his direction.

He held her tightly in his arm while his other hand was holding hers as they started to dance.

"What's the matter Molly" he whispered gently

"She says we will have to leave, that you'd worry if we didn't" her head pressed against his chest taking comfort from hearing his heartbeat. She felt him chuckle

"I've been telling you that for ages Molly, so why when Edna says it do you believe her?"

"Because" and she looked up at him her eyes brimming with tears "I wanted to stay with you, I didn't really think it would be a worry if I did"

"Of course I would, all I want is for you to be safe" she nodded and put her head back on his chest and he could feel a slight wetness as a tear fell.

He tightened his hold trying to protect her not wanting her to be sad. All he wanted for Molly was for her to be happy and safe.

The party was breaking up now and he guided her off the dance floor. They said their goodbyes to the Becks and Jacqui and Brian then went up to their room.

She clung to his waist "Can I stay with you for as long as possible; to the end?"

He cupped her face and put his forehead to hers "For a long as possible" then kissing her his arms moving down her body and of their own volition hers moved to around his neck and into his hair pulling him closer to her.

With incredible ease he swung her into his arms and carried her to their bed and the mattress dipped with his weight. He brushed his lips over her face and neck as he gently removed her dress and continued to stroke her soft skin.

"I meant all my vows to you Molly" he whispered kissing her soundly "and I intend to keep them" as he worshipped her body.

-OG-

The Japanese were still advancing and were already in Kuala Lumpa and executed the first of many daytime bombing raids. From up at Woodlands Charles and Beck were watching and could see parts of Singapore burning.

"Looks like the Chinese sector again Charles" said Beck "Send troops to help, get the casualties to the hospital, help with the clear up"

"Sir" and he walked away to speak with Captain Harte and organise parties from both their regiments to help with this atrocity.

"Charles" Beck called after him "It won't be long now; they've already started the evacuation but there doesn't appear to have been much of a take up so far" Charles nodded and carried on walking he will need to talk with Molly again soon. With this bombing raid she is bound to want to stay and help, so will Jackie and Katie. He'll enlist Brian and Dave to help.

He went across to Johnathan Harte's office to see how many men he could spare

"Well as you know most of them are in Jahore but I still have some here you can have Corporal Wiggerty and he should be able to tell you who else is available"

"What about Lance Sergeant Dawes"

"Sorry Charles, I know he is your wife's father but he has already been sent to Jahore"

He didn't know that. He hoped he would be alright; he too had seen the injured soldiers coming back and some of their stories about the way the Japanese fought didn't bear thinking about.

He gathered his Sergeant a man named King, and any spare men to meet with Corporal Wiggerty and other spare men from his regiment. Everyone was loaded into trucks and made their way into the Chinese quarter of the city.

"Don't make it any easier having seen this first-hand before in London" said Brian shaking his head "In fact this looks worse in some ways, the wooden buildings have just collapsed and burnt"

"Start looking for survivors and get them to the hospital" he'd been a soldier for a long time but the heat, dust and broken bodies were something he didn't think he would ever forget. They weren't even legitimate targets, just women and children.

The Military Ambulances were busy ferrying both the living and the dead to the hospital, the heat and humidity making it imperative this was done quickly before disease set in

"I hope we get an opportunity to get to the hospital and check on the girls" said Brian "I hate to think of the conditions in there at the moment" he shook his head "Jacs used to tell me sometimes what they saw after the bombing raids ….

Charles shook himself and silently agreed he wanted to see Molly make sure she was alright. Perhaps they weren't the only ones who had jobs where you couldn't un-see what you have seen. That had not occurred to him before.

"Sergeant King" Called Charles "I think we have done what we can here today take the troops back to barracks in the Leylands. Corporal Wiggerty will accompany me to the hospital to see if more assistance is required. We'll take the Bedford MW"

"Sir" replied King and started ordering the men into the trucks

"Wiggerty you drive" he ordered "Sir"

They made it to the hospital and there was total chaos everywhere they looked with orderlies carrying in more and more wounded from the bombing. Charles spotted one of the British doctors and asked after the nurses and Molly.

Molly saw him and came over

"I won't be able to leave Charlie we're far too busy" he could see dark circles under her eyes and splashes of blood on her white uniform

"How long have you been here Molly?"

"I don't know, what's the time now?" he raised his eyebrow at her with a stern expression. "How long Molly?"

"About 18 hours" he nodded and pulled her by the arm to a bench in the grounds and got out his water bottle

"Sit have something to drink, just for 10 minutes Molly" he put his arm around her shoulder and she leaned into him exhausted. There was nothing to say, he knew what she would've seen, her uniform was testament to that.

He held her hand and started twiddling her wedding ring

"Tomorrow I expect you Jacqui and Katie to be home for 6.30" he looked at her with his soft dark brown eyes "I'll get some food from the market and we'll have a proper dinner, I'll bring Brian he can help" to which Molly started sniggering and Charles shook his head "we need to start discussing things"

She wrapped her arms around his waist and pressed her face into his neck

"I want to stay with you" her eyes glistening with tears "You promised not till the last minute"

"The armies are retreating Molly; they are nearly here" and she sobbed into his neck while he held her tightly. He didn't want her to go either but she had to, he needed to focus on the task ahead and not be worrying if she was safe.

-OG-

It was nearly the end of January and the Japanese were coming down the Malay Peninsula at a remarkable speed. More British soldiers were being sent to Jahore to provide cover for the retreating British, Australian and Indian soldiers. The RAF, RAAF and RNZAF had already evacuated so that military equipment didn't fall into enemy hands even though they were old and discontinued planes, but the downside was that now there was no air cover at all for the soldiers or Singapore.

Beck had called Charles to his office and poured them both a drink

"On 31st January we will be calling in the Engineers to blow the Causeway to stop the advance. We are leaving it till the last minute so as many soldiers can get back as possible"

Charles nodded "Should we not send more up to Jahore and fight on"

"NO" said Beck vehemently "Seems the Japanese don't follow the Geneva Convention. We now have proof that one of the reasons they have been able to make such fast progress is they are not taking prisoners of war anyone injured or surrendering is killed, there are thousands up there already" he shook his head "No we get them back and make a stand here"

"It's time Charles, get the wives out and as many of the civilians we can" Charles nodded knowing the conversation with Molly was now final and he needed to say goodbye to her.

"I want as many men as possible on this side of the causeway before it blows, give every opportunity for the men to get back" finished Beck quietly and looking down into his whiskey glass.

As promised Charles had brought Brian and between them they had got vegetables and a chicken and were figuring out how to cook it. Fortunately, there had been a very helpful Chinese lady in the market who had sorted the preparation of the chicken.

"Not sure I would have wanted to do that" said Brian with a rather disgusted look on his face "It's put me off eating it a bit now" and Charles sniggered

"Indeed, maybe women aren't the weaker sex after all" looking equally perturbed at what was now happening to the chicken.

"Don't say anything like that in front of my Jacs" laughed Brian "She already thinks there should be a woman prime minister" and both men laughed as they left the stall with the plucked and gutted chicken in a bag.

Katie was the first one back and popped her head round the door. Laughing at the mess and glad it wasn't her bungalow and taking all the pans off the boil as they seemed to think that peas, carrots and potatoes would all take the same time to cook as a chicken. Both men were secretly glad she had turned up and taken over as they hadn't a clue what they were doing but it looked alright to them.

Molly and Jacqui arrived shortly after giving Katie an opportunity to pop back to her bungalow to freshen up and change. Brian had brought a number of bottles of Tiger beer with him and they were having a nice evening eating and drinking but at the back of Charles mind he knew he had to bring up the subject of evacuation.

Molly knew he was trying to tell them something so she thought she would start the conversation especially as Dr Mason had already said that she was starting to evacuate nurses it was too dangerous to stay now and they would be needed elsewhere.

"Come on Charlie spit it out" he looked across to her his eyes dark with sadness "We had the chat today, it's time to go ain't it?" and he nodded

"It's alright Charlie" she held his hand across the table, "Dr Mason told us, the first wave are leaving on the Emperor Star and the rest are leaving on the Vyner Brooke the next day." Charles nodded and Brian gave a sigh of relief that they were going.

"When" Charles asked

"13th February is our ship leave date" said Katie "we can all go together then and I can show them the sites of Australia, they'll love it"

The evening continued in its relaxed atmosphere now that everything was sorted and Brian and Charles knew that they were going.

"Can I ask you something Charles?" asked Katie

"Of course," he replied

"See if you can find Alex, let me know he's safe. Send word somehow"

"Of course, I will Katie" looking at her straight in the eye and not saying that he had promised Alex the same thing in the Long bar at Raffles to make sure his girl was safe if he wasn't here. He truly hoped that he could get back in time before the Causeway was blown in a couple of days.

Lying in bed with Molly, his arms protectively round her, her head on his chest with a leg and arm wrapped around him he knew he would miss her.

"I'll come down as often as I can before you go"

"You're going to be here till the end ain't you Charlie" and he could feel a lump in his throat knowing that they would be, they had direct orders to stay till the last man but she didn't need to know that.

"You won't forget me will you" she asked and he could feel the tears on his chest and stroked her hair that always felt so soft

"Never" and he lifted her face to his so he could kiss her

-OG-

The 31st came soon enough. The Highlanders and Argyll's had made it back marching to the pipes trying their best to show that they were still in sync, the Indian and Gurkha regiments following. The Australian divisions were slowly coming across while they guarded the Singapore side and provided cover along with the battalions still in Jahore. Charles could see they were battle weary, tired injured and defeated. In the large group of soldiers, he saw a face he was very pleased to see – Captain Alex Hodgson

Charles moved forward to greet him and they shook hands enthusiastically

"How's Katie"

"Good Alex, they've been busy obviously but she's OK" Alex put both his hands to his face and wiped them up and down partly with tiredness and partly with relief that she was OK.

"I'm up here waiting for the last to come across before we blow the bridge" he said "My quarters are only down the road at Woodside do you want to use them save going back to Roberts Barracks. Freshen up and pop down and see Katie"

"You're a gent Charlie" he smiled

"Not you too, calling me Charlie" smiled Charles in response

"Well you know us Aussie's don't stand on ceremony" he grinned back "Thanks mate I'll take you up on the offer" and Charles handed him the key and told him where to go.

-O-

"Right lads" shouted Captain Harte on the Jahore side of the causeway "That's it, time to go – destroy everything we can't carry – can't have them getting hold of it and using it against us"

"Right" ordered Lance Sergeant Dawes in response "Chuck the searchlights in the swamp and anything else too heavy to carry back"

The searchlights, heavy guns and even one of the trucks that wouldn't start had its handbrake released and pushed into the swamp and they all stood looking at them floating

"I don't bloody believe it…Fuckin shoot em" screamed Dawes "put so many holes in em they have to sink" and all the men gathered round and fired indiscriminately into their equipment, very slowly they thought they looked like they were starting to sink

"Well at least their fuckin useless now" whispered Dawes to the private next to him who sniggered looking at all their equipment pebble dashed with holes.

"Right lads" ordered Harte "Move across the causeway we don't have much time", instantly they ran in formation back across the bridge. One hour later it was blown and the siege of Singapore had started.

-O-

Charles had seen both Harte and Molly's father come across the Causeway before they detonated and he hoped that they had held off long enough for everyone to get across and they had left no one behind.

"Thanks for waiting Charles" smiled Harte

"You cut it fine" he replied

"Problem disabling all the equipment, held us up a tad".

"You OK" he asked his old friend although he didn't feel as close to him as he used to.

"Yes, have you seen Georgina at all" and Charles shook his head "Well best I freshen up then and join her at Raffles for a Gin Sling."

Charles raised his eyebrows; he didn't think his friend realised the seriousness of the situation even though he had been on the Malaya side. Hadn't he realised they had been bombed too and even the Lt Colonels wife had been down to the hospital to offer help and open her house to people who had lost their homes in the bombing. Not once had he seen Georgina involved and he had been to the hospital a lot to see Molly.

-OG-

The bombing was relentless some high level and other low level dive bombers and they could see the Japanese working on the bridge trying to fix it, trying to cross in metal dinghies. The Japanese hit their petrol dump in one of their air raids and huge columns of smoke rose up into the sky. They bombed the godowns so food was going to be in short supply and their dive bombers took out roads and water supplies. The fighting was intense, they fired their Bren guns, anti-tank guns even rifles while all the time Singapore was being bombed by aircraft. The large coastal guns did turn from the sea and swung North pointing towards Malaya unfortunately they only had armour piercing shells for firing into the hull of a ship and pretty ineffectual at infantry targets, but they tried.

Everything they had pointing to Jahore trying to shoot at them and halt their progress while they continued trying to evacuate as many as they could. Charles hoped they would be able to find at least five minutes to say goodbye. He had told Alex what ship, what day and he was also hoping he would be able to do the same.

"Look Brian" said Dave "My wife is safe in Sussex" he shook his head "Well she and the little bleeders had betta have stayed there and not gone back to London once me back was turned, I'll do for me brother Arthur if he brings em back in his car"

"Anyway Brian" he continued "I'll cover for you, say goodbye to your wife"

"You think I could"

"Yeah mate and I bet you that Captain James will give you a lift in his Lagonda" and Brian grinned

-OG-

They were right Captain James did offer to drive Alex and Brian to the docks to see the girls off.

Much to Charles surprise he also saw Lt Colonel Beck there with his wife and out the corner of his eye was Captain Harte and Georgina. He couldn't help but snigger at the amount of luggage she thought she could take on an evacuation ship. They were told one suitcase. She was screaming at him to put the rest into storage or tell someone that she needed it all and let her take it on board.

There were thousands still trying to get out. Men, women and children who thought it was safe to stay, hadn't taken any of the earlier ships leaving throughout January.

He spotted Molly and she gave him one of her impressive smiles and ran to him throwing herself into his arms so he lifted her till she was head height to him and kissed her with a raw passion he never thought he would do in public.

Her eyes large and full of unshed tears "please don't be a hero Charlie, come back to me" he grinned

"I will" and kissed her again "Enjoy yourself in Australia and tell me what a Koala looks like"

"I'll write" and the tears fell. He released her so her feet were on the floor and cupped her face with both hands wiping the tears with his thumbs and their foreheads pressed together.

"Take this" he said "My parent's address, if you need anything, write to them and they will send it" he held her face "Katie will help you settle in until I can get there"

She knew he would be here till the end so just smiled knowing he wouldn't be joining her in Australia but hoping they would be together again when all this was over.

"Stay safe" she said and held onto him as if her life depended on it.

He kissed her again and wasn't worried about the audience everyone was saying goodbye to someone they loved.

"I'll adore you for always Molly"

"I love you too"

-OG-

Two days later they were ordered to surrender and Charles was one of 80,000 British and Australian soldiers taken as Prisoners by the Japanese when Singapore fell. In addition, to the tens of thousands of civilians still left in Singapore after the evacuation. They were marched through the crowds, the Japanese hoping to humiliate them. For a day they marched with no food or water, back to the Changi area in the heat and humidity to Roberts barracks where they were imprisoned with no food and little water for another day. They weren't sure of the exact numbers but the Gurkhas were lined up on the beach and asked to change sides and support the Imperial Japanese Army they refused and were marched into the sea machine gunned in front of the Soldiers. All of them now wondering how long this would go on for, what would happen to them. His only solace was that Molly was safe.

What he didn't know was that the ship her Jacqui, Katie along with Beck and Harte's wife was torpedoed a day out to sea and they were already POW's.