A New Dawn part 3
Chapter 11
February 1944 – Saigon
Two years now they had been prisoners. They had to build more huts. Where they had first come here they were 1100 men, they were now at 2000 and more seemed to be coming in. Some by rail and some by sea. Not only were work details set up in the docks for loading and unloading cargo, they were having to chop down trees, collect palm leaves as they were having to build more huts for the extra prisoners coming down the line from Thailand, with horrendous stories about building a railway that stretched from Thailand to Burma, 258 miles of railway through jungle and mountain passes. They had also had to build an aerodrome and railway bridge themselves all the time being hit with rifle butts while the Japanese guards shouted "Speedo, Speedo" at them.
Charles was sure he had seen Alex Hodgson come through the gates but couldn't be entirely sure as he had never seen someone look so thin and starved, their uniforms in tatters but when they finished their work detail he would go and check if it was him.
They were being spread thin to cover all the extra workload, with the docks, the wood cutting for more huts, and general maintenance and repairs. With more men coming to camp they were bringing in new illnesses including their first outbreak of cholera and they had to make sure that they had a separate medical area for them and dispose of them quickly and everything they owned with them. Sometimes the Japanese provided Lime and others they had to burn the body first. It was something the men would never forget being on one of those burial details.
The morning Tenko's were observed daily and it was felt that the whole purpose was to demoralise them. Constantly being told that the Japanese had taken Burma, India and the Germans were winning in Europe and Africa; that they were losing. If they were good and worked hard they could get to go home and work for the Japanese Imperial government when they were ruling Britain with Germany. Charles and the rest of the officers were always trying to come up with ideas to keep morale up. Chess lessons as they had made a set from whittled wood, they put on plays, read poetry and some of them even sang or did magic tricks anything to boost morale in the evenings.
However, Sparks had been a gem and when he could he brought information from home, the tide of war was turning in Europe and hopefully soon it would here. They incorporated the information into plays or poems so that the Japanese didn't know but it gave the men a boost to know that they were being lied to and hope that they would get home.
"Had better be turning in our favour" said Beck "Before they've killed us all with starvation and disease."
"Do you believe all the things being said by the new men coming in?"
"Wouldn't put it past them" snorted Beck "Think about how many Allies they must have captured across Asia to build the bloody thing; with us and the locals they have an unlimited workforce"
Charles went wandering around the camp and caught up with Brian and called him over
"I am not sure but think in that latest batch of Aussie soldiers was Captain Alex Hodgson, did you see him?"
"No Sir, shall we go and have a look?" he asked, "I think they were heading for the cook house area when they arrived."
They scanned the area and saw a man with his head down and a small bowl of rice, Charles was sure it was Captain Hodgson and walked over
"Captain" he said and the soldier lifted his head, Charles could see the sunken tired brown eyes of Captain Alex Hodgson, almost unrecognisable he was so thin, virtually nothing remaining of his uniform to indicate he was a Captain and completely unshaven.
"Charlie" he smiled and tried to get up but Charles put his hand on his shoulder and told him to sit and joined him on the floor.
"I can tell it was bad Alex" who just nodded in response
"If you think we look bad, you should see what they did with the Chinese" he snorted and shook his head "just left them to die where they fell herded them into a hut when they got cholera, shut them in and left them to die." He half choked
Yes, Charles had been beaten badly, they had been starved and worked hard but not like this.
"I was one of 3,000 Aussie's to leave in May 42 a month after you" Charles looked up and around the mess at the men who had arrived today and there couldn't be more than 1,000 left.
"Wiggerty get him some Chai" and Brian shot off to get Alex some tea.
"You British and your bloody tea" Alex tried to laugh "Well you haven't tried it yet" smiled Charles at him "I use the term rather loosely" before continuing "and you definitely don't want to know how the lads make what they call coffee but we save that for the Nips."
"Look Alex, let me show you to a bunk so you can rest" and put his hand out to help him up "We can talk in the morning and fill you in on what goes on here" he paused "I'll get a detail to help your men, get them sorted with somewhere to sleep and help them out with kit"
"Thanks mate" nodded Alex with a smile "We'll talk tomorrow"
-OG-
They were now up to about 3,000 in the camp and rations were cut again. Beck wasn't that happy about the pilfering that was going on in the docks, in his opinion it just wasn't right.
So, Dave had a little chat with him to give a reality check. "When times is good I agree you don't steal and never off your own, but we know people who work in the docks in London, Brian and me. In the first year when we was all being bombed there was no coal and it was bloody cold I can tell you" he laughed "one of the barges had been hit and was being taken out of service so a few of the lads went down there after dark and had the wooden decking away, shared it out with all the neighbours, took it in turns to light a fire and kept warm. The port authority were going to send it for scrap so what harm if they took a bit first"
Charles and Beck looked at each other, it wasn't a lifestyle they had lived by but in fairness they could see the logic, it wasn't done out of greed but necessity to keep them all warm and they shared it with everyone.
"So, if we can nick a bit and stop the Japs having it then that's all good in my book" Alex had walked up and joined the group and picked up the conversation
"Yep, I would have to agree, them or us"
Beck sighed "Right! we keep sabotaging the oil and weapons leaving the docks but if you can pilfer food then we turn a blind eye and keep this among ourselves don't tell the other officers" Dave smiled keeping his own counsel about toffs who seemed to have morals when they had food and clothes.
"Alex" said Charles "I need a word" and the two men walked off together "I need to tell you something about the ship that the girls were on"
Alex stood still on the spot and looked at Charles, momentarily closing his eyes and hoping against hope it wasn't bad news.
"It was torpedoed a day out to sea" and Alex inhaled deeply "But she is on the survivor list" and Alex released the breath he was holding.
"Has there been any news since" and Charles shook his head
"Molly and Jacqui were on that ship too weren't they" and Charles nodded fiddling with his wedding ring again, it had almost become a nervous habit lately "Beck's wife too"
"Crickey" snorted Alex "That's going to be tough on the old bird" Charles looked down and smiled. He was glad that Alex was here, someone his own rank and age to talk with, while he had Brian and Dave here he had to remember that they were subordinates and he couldn't have the rest of them thinking he was showing any favouritism. Beck and he had always got on well but sometimes it was like talking with his father. Charles and Alex may have grown up on opposite sides of the world but they had a lot in common.
"One thing Charlie" asked Alex "What's with all the dogs here" Charles threw his head back and laughed
"Well the first one Bessie came in starving and bedraggled and injured so the men stroked her; got the doc to fix her up and gave her some of their rations. When one of the guards hit one of the soldiers the dog growled and went for him so now she warns them by growling whenever a guard is nearby, she's their lookout and in return they feed her what they can." He grinned "She is also an excellent ratter."
Alex howled with laughter "Only you Brits" and shook his head laughing "so where did the rest come from then"
"She keeps having puppies" trying to keep a straight face but his eyes were twinkling
"So now you have lots of lookouts" and Alex burst into hysterical laughter and slapped him on the back "Yeah! but the Japs are starting to get a bit annoyed and threatening to shoot them if she has anymore, so the men are hiding them all over the place and bringing out different ones and saying it's the same one" both men laughing
"Security doesn't seem that good here and what with the French over the fence any chance of escape"
"Don't even consider it Alex" Charles responded sternly "Remember Captain Harte, he thought the same thing along with four others"
"Did they make it" and Charles shook his head "No, they are in the graveyard we think" inhaling deeply "and the punishments afterwards affected the whole camp" and remembered some of the beatings he and the men took as a result not to mention the cut rations.
"We have a contact here that gets information in and out for us when he can" said Charles "He gets us news from Europe and sends names of the POW's to the Red Cross so that at least our families know we aren't missing and are still alive."
"But not our wives" Charles looked down and shook his head "No but they survived and were taken prisoner. I know she's still alive"
This time it was Alex to nod "Wish I had done what you did now and got a ring, something to hold on to" watching Charles twist his wedding band on his dog tag chain.
"Yep glad I did too" he smiled "Come on let me show you the godowns and how the men operate here"
They were just in time to see the current rota being marched out of the godowns all the men looked particularly tired after having just finished the night shift. For some reason today the Japanese wanted them to march back to camp with their hands up above their heads, so Charles asked one of the guards for a reason and it would appear to stop them stealing.
He and Alex were watching the men file past all of them appeared to be grinning as they held their hands high in the air. Alex and Charles were both tall men themselves and they instantly noticed that one of the soldiers who had been nicknamed Lanky for very obvious reasons at six foot four inches was carrying a rather large dead fish in his raised arms. The Korean guards at a paltry five foot seven did not look up once and were oblivious to the apparent stealing of a fish.
"Looks like the men might eat well tonight" grinned Alex
Charles shook his head and looked down smirking "Yes let's hope they get it back there without being noticed"
It would appear that the fish being carried in by Lanky was not the only one and several of the men had been rather inventive with the smuggling techniques. So, most of the camp got a small portion of fish with their rice that night.
-OG-
February 1944 – Somewhere in Sumatra
It had been a tough year working in the factory and they had lost a few more women on the way. They tried their best with the children to at least try and give them the education that they were missing by not being in school. There were a couple of teachers in the group so the basics of maths, geography, and English were taught. They used the sand as their writing boards. The hardest part was getting enough food for them. There was virtually nothing left to sell in the camp now. They hadn't much to start with and now the Dutch had sold all their belongings to traders to try and get extra supplies.
There was no Quinine to be had and Malaria had taken a few, along with dysentery. When they were forced to work even a minor wound could become infected really quickly causing tropical sores and ulcers.
As nurses Molly, Jacqui and Katie it was agreed they never had to deal with the burials, other than the preparation. When someone died in the Alexandra, the orderly came and took them away. They were so short of things here, that glasses any clothing were taken for someone else. It felt like grave robing when they first did it but they knew it had to be done Dr Mason said so and although she had mellowed over their incarceration and was not quite the tyrant they remembered in the hospital she said they had to conserve everything.
They got snippets of information from Blanche as she was friendly with the guards and she also snuck out sometimes under the fence and met up with a local trader and managed to get a few necessities, the odd egg, some milk and goodness knows where it came from but a small jar of Bovril.
Mrs Ashburton and Georgina Harte had both died from Berri Berri halfway through 1943 and the camp seemed quieter without them. Molly wondered if Johnathan Harte was still with Charles and wouldn't know that his wife was dead.
Molly was sitting with Blanche and Jacqui they had formed a sort of friendship as they were all from London. Turns out that Blanche had come from Shoreditch and got the opportunity to work as a hostess out here.
"That's where I met Lauren, the Aussie girl" she said "How did you know her"
"She was our next door neighbour in Singapore, shared a bungalow with Katie" replied Molly
"We thought she was a nurse or that's what Katie said" added Jacqui and Blanche whistled then fell about laughing
"None of you noticed or worked it out"
"Well we did wonder why we never saw her at the hospital" said Molly sheepishly Blanche was holding her sides now she was laughing so much "She could've been on a different ward"
"Would've thought a pair like you two would have worked it out"
"Didn't think of it out here what with all the toffs and that" added Jacqui
"Oh, Jac you're so funny, who the bleedin hell do you think our biggest customers were" Blanche laughed "Why I came out this way in the first place, better class of client than Limehouse" and all three girls nodded knowledgeably.
"Anyway, how is the old dear?" asked Blanche asking after Edna
"Getting better I think, she's over the worst of the fever and at least Dr Mason didn't give her the mosquito net". There was an unwritten rule that the ones that were really bad got the nets.
They heard a roar of engines and looked around before seeing what looked like a number of large planes flying over the camp
"It's the Yanks" said Blanche "look you can see the star" There were a series of large explosions in the distance
"Seems like the Japanese are lying to us and we haven't been abandoned" smiled Jacqui just as one plane dropped his bomb on the camp. There were minutes of silence where everything just seemed to stop, stand still and there was silence. Just before the screaming started.
Two of the huts and the latrine were gone and there were injured Japanese and women running round the compound.
Blanche ran to the hospital hut to get Dr Mason while Jacqui and Molly started running to the injured.
It was absolute chaos, it was clear that some had been killed and they could see Lauren bending over the guard that she had always been friendly with, a quick look by Molly and she knew he wasn't long for this world. Not that she was going to tend him instead she went to the children.
Fortunately, none of them had been killed but one had been left an orphan as his mother seemed to have shielded him from the shrapnel. She and Jacqui were really struggling to hold it together over this, to take the little boy away while they covered his mother.
The Japanese for their part seemed to blame the women for the attack and there were a few beatings and rations yet again cut, the surviving women now having to move into the already overcrowded remaining huts.
For the rest of the day they were treating injuries, cutting up a few remaining sheets to make bandages, anyone that could move and was in recovery they moved out of their makeshift hospital. Blanche came into the hospital very late at night and slipped them a small bottle of laudanum she had acquired and Dr Mason actually hugged her she was so grateful. Blanche gave one of her cheeky smiles and a wave to Molly and Jacqui.
As she was leaving Molly quickly called her over. "You might want to keep an eye on Lauren, think she might be a bit upset about the guard that was killed"
"Ok will have a word but she shouldn't have got attached, she needs to remember he was a client not a bleedin friend but the enemy"
"Thanks for the laudanum though Blanche we have nothing to relieve their pain"
"No guarantees ducks but will see what I can do" and winked as she left
As Edna had improved enough to go back to their hut Molly was helping her walk to get there
"Why did they do that to us Edna" wailed Molly when they were on their own walking across the compound "They must have known we were 'ere"
"They may have done dear" replied Edna weakly "No different from the bombings in London, they probably didn't intend to hit Jacqui's house but overshot their target" She sighed and looked up into the darkness "But we know they are coming our way now" and she wrapped her arms around Molly who after a long day and the image of that dead mother still in her head burst into tears. She held onto Edna as if her life depended on it and all Edna could do was stroke her hair while she listened to Molly tell her what she had had to do that day. She wished with all her heart she could take her pain away and not for the first time wished she had had a daughter like Molly.
After the bomb blast things got a lot more difficult for the women. The work details got longer, they were expected to rebuild the huts and rations were cut again.
It was a week after the blast and two more women had died from their injuries along with another guard. The Commandant was relentless in his orders for work parties and a number of women were now coming into the hospital with black eyes and broken teeth.
Blanche had been under the wire again and came back with news that the war was turning in Europe and that the Allies had landed in France. She also managed to get some hooch and they were all treating themselves to a cup all thinking if they were winning in Europe it wouldn't be that much longer and they would be saved too.
"Well it's not quite a gin sling" coughed Edna smiling and looking a little unfocused "But rather nice all the same, don't you think girls" Jacqui, Katie and Blanche all laughed while Molly laughed along with giving her a hug "Well dear" she hiccupped causing sniggers from the younger women "Wouldn't mind another of those if it's on offer" holding out her cup
"Are we leading you astray me old china" laughed Blanche
"No dear" she smiled at her "I'm sure that Roger would say I can't be led anywhere"
"Are you saying you don't do what the Lt Colonel tells you" laughed Jacqui and Blanche whistled
"Lt Colonel aye" smirked Blanche "You'll have to put us all up when we get back to Singapore" and Edna patted her on the cheek "You're all more than welcome dear"
"You're alright you are" smiled Blanche and Jacqui and Molly grinned knowing that she was she'd never made them feel beneath her, always treated them well.
"A toast then" said Katie in a loud Aussie accent causing the rest of them trying to shush her "Friendship and getting out of here" she finished and they all raised their cups coughing at the rough tasting hooch before laughing.
"Soon" they all said together