Singapore Grip - J. G. Farrell [243]
And still, as the days went by, more refugees continued to arrive so that soon new arrivals were obliged to camp in the compound. Now the centre of the city was thronged with refugees from up-country, milling about aimlessly all day in the hot streets in the hope of coming across someone they knew who might be able to help them. Many of them were women with small children who had been separated from their menfolk in the upheaval and had no idea of how they could make contact with them again. The Major, gazing at these shattered-looking people, was appalled and angry at the inadequacy of the arrangements which had been made to cope with them. But at this late date, with the administration of the city already in chaos, what was there to be done?
There was, however, one newcomer to the Mayfair whom everyone was pleased to see. Returning early one morning from an exhausting night at the docks, Matthew saw a familiar figure sitting on the verandah chatting with Dupigny. It was Ehrendorf.
‘You’ve got thin, Matthew,’ he said with a smile, getting to his feet. ‘I hardly recognize you.’
‘So have you!’ Matthew was taken aback to see the change that had taken place in his friend’s appearance in the few weeks since he had last seen him. Ehrendorf’s handsome face was deeply lined and shrunk, as if he were suddenly ten years older. His cheekbones stood out sharply and grim little brackets which Matthew had never noticed before now enclosed the corners of his mouth; as he was speaking his eyes kept wandering from Matthew’s face, as if he were trying to estimate, by the sound of the ack-ack batteries, the course of the raid which at that moment was taking place to the south.
Ehrendorf’s voice was firm, however, as he explained that he had been ill with dysentery in Kuala Lumpur. Later he had been to Kuantan on the east coast, then back to Kuala Lumpur to find that it was being evacuated. He had no specific idea of how the campaign was progressing but it was clear that it was going badly. The roads throughout Johore were jammed with reinforcements and supplies going in one direction and refugees going, or attempting to go, in the other. It had taken him many hours to get through the traffic by car to Singapore and there was a danger of the whole line of communication seizing up. It was already a sitting target during daylight hours for Japanese bombers. He had heard one piece of good news, though. Last Tuesday it had rained providentially and a convoy of reinforcements had managed to sneak in, thanks to the bad weather, without being taken to bits by the bombers which now prowled the sea approaches to Singapore. Provided there was some way of getting the new men and equipment into the line quickly enough … Ehrendorf shrugged.
‘I shall probably be going back to the States in a few days if I can get transport.’
‘In the meantime, you can stay here and lend a hand at the pumps.’ Noticing Ehrendorf hesitate he added: ‘You haven’t seen Joan, I suppose? Mrs Blackett and Kate have left for Australia. Joan’s still here, I believe, but I haven’t seen her recently. Come on, grab your kit and I’ll show you the few inches that are your ration of floorboards. We’ll soon make a fireman of you.’
54
LEARN TO DANCE AND DROWN YOUR WORRIES IN CABARETS!
Success guaranteed to anyone after two and a half hours
private coaching at the
Modern Dancing School
5A Ann Siang Hill
(the road is diagonally opposite to the Hindu Temple
of South Bridge Road).
Straits Times, 16 Jan 1942
PROGRAMME FOR SUNDAY, 18 JAN, 1942,
at the Sea View Hotel popular concert
11 a.m. to 1 p.m. by Reller’s band
1 Overture The Beautiful Helena Offenbach
2 Waltz Wine, Women & Song Strauss
3 Fantasia Faust Gounod
4 Selection Showboat Kern
5 Rhapsody Slavonic Rhapsody Friedman
6 Selection No, No, Nanette Youman
7 Medley Somers Scottish Medley Rijf
8 Selection Tommy’s Tunes Pecher
Tiffin