Escape from Malaya by a planter's wife

This is an extract from the personal diary of Mrs Ruth Irving-Bell and covers the period from early December 1941 to her arrival as a refugee in Australia.
Ruth was the wife of a rubber planter, Roy Aston Irving-Bell. Jonathan is their son who was 1.5 years old at that time.
"On Kru Estate, in spite of warlike rumours, life went on placidly with our household of Timothy the Indian cook, old Chinese amah devoted to Jonathan, aged 18 months, when quite suddenly, Roy was summoned to the Malacca volunteer force, and ordered to go to Singapore on a 'training exercise'. This was about December 5 th or 6th, and the wives who lived round about, miles from each other, gatheredd on Tampin Station to see the boys off. I had a rugger ball thrust into my handds to present to them, I suppose to make things look just a game! Having seen the train start off, I dashed into the car and drove at speed to get a last look at the train, and hopefully Roy, at the level crossing at the end of the estate road, but by that time, it was going at speed and Roy did not see me. So I went sadly back to a somewhat empty bungalow.

A day or two passed with news getting worse, and then my radio battery went flat. So I 'phoned my nearest neighbour, who told me she had already packed all her valuables, silver etc, and was sending them down to Singapore to be exported to Australia, and she advised me to do likewise. All most depressing and I really couldn't believe her. However, in the next day or so, Japanese bombs landed on Singapore, one of them right through the (Guthrie & Co)company office in Raffles Square, but it was at night and no one was killed, 'though the old Sikh 'jaga' on his charpoy outside, got a shock.

Meanwhile the elderly manager of the estatecame over to urge me to go down to Singapore, as he felt somewhat responsible for us. But I still had confidence in the Forces to protect us! A friend 'phoned to ask if I would like to share a house on the coast road very close to Malacca, as she too ewas left with her two small children on a very isolated Dunlop estate and was allowed to move into the Dunlop town house, which had been shared by two young fellows who were with the volunteers. So we took a few necessities and moved in with the children and 'amahs'. The house had a Chinese cookie and Dorothy and I used to go backto the estates every so often to get eggs and chickens etc.. Things began to deteriorate on the war front as the Japs hadlanded up on the north coast, and each news bulletin spoke of "our forces retreating to prepared positions". Dorothy was verynervous and scared that the Japs would land on the beach on the other side of the road, but I persuaded her that, unless Penang fell, we would be safe. But of course very soon the Japs took Penang, and then could land by boat in Malacca.

Christmas came and we had drinks with a boozy pld man next door, and a few days later the rail junction at Tampin was bombed. Dorothy had been back to her estate and returned terrified, saying I must go down to Singapore with her. So I dashed back to the estate and quickly threw some things into a trunk -- as many warm clothes as I could find, as it seemed to me , at last, that we might have to leave Malaya, even if only temporalily. It was awful to leave the Indian servants and house and garden. Amah was in Malacca with me, but I knew she wouldn't want to go to Singapore, so I found a 'syce' (driver), in case anything went wrong with the car, an op M.G., as there had to be someone to hold onto Jonathan!
Dorothy's amah went with her and we had loaded as much food etc, as possible. I didn't have very much, but she had quite a few bottles of whisky. Very early next morning we saw the Red Cross lorries going past. The Aussies had had a Red Cross camp about seven miles out of Malacca, so we knew it was time to set off down the central road to Singapore (about 150 miles). We stopped a few times, hiding the cars and ourselves under the rubber trees when planes came over. The whole thing seemed unreal. Mine was the faster car so I arrived at the Causeway and waited for Dorothy, and together we went into the city to a friend of Dorothy's, who had a large house and had already sent his wife home.

Many more women and children arrived ---some from up north withonly what they were wearing, and we and the children slept on sofas and on the floor. Dorothy's friend advised all of us to leave Singapore as soon as poosible.

It was by this time, early in the New Year and Dorothy and the two little girls got on a ship to Australia about January 8th. I didn't want to leave, as I still had a feeling that, with all the troops in Singapoer, surely the city would not fall. So I found a guest house, and a temporary Chinese amah so that I could take some cakes etc to Roy at his machine gun post, for afternoon tea. His post was just behind a seaside bungalow, and he and his friends had dug a trench against air attack, and had planted canna lilies around it!

The Jap air raids to begin with were almost all at night, and we were not much disturbed out at the guest house at Oxley Road. But when they found there was little opposition, they began day bombing and, of course, everyone was shattered when the two battle cruisers, 'Prince of Wales' and 'Repulse' were sunk.

The RAF 'Brewster Buffaloes' were no match for the Jap Zeros, and it was pathetic to see them buzzing helplessly around, unable to go as high as the Japs. There was the danger of typhoid, when the water pipe line from Johore was bombed, and I began to realiz that, as I could do nothing for Roy, or be of any use as a nurse, I must get Jonathan away.

It was a weekend, and on a Saturday morning, I drove out to the shipping office, which had been evacuated to a large country house. I found an enormous dining table with naval officers in their white and gold uniforms, sitting around it, and a very resplendednt chap at the head, to whom I addressed my request for a passage to Australia. He said, "Well, we might as well begin with her", and a chair was found for me between two sailors. A piece of paper, face downwards, was passed along 'til it got to me, and I had to look at it secretly, rather like a card game. On it was written "S.S. Markunda" sailing at 7 a.m. the next morning, January 18th.

I was somewhat horrified as it was a Saturday and I had no cash, and Roy at the beach post had no idea about what I had done. It was about midday, so I found my way to the Guthrie Co. office in another country house. (They had been bombed out twice in the city). The Singapore director was there and asked me how much money I wanted, and I told him that the rule was that we were allowed only £10 to take out of the country. How very absurd that sounds these days!

My next job was to drive down to the beach post near Kallang Airport to tell Roy what I had done and beg him to see us onto the ship the next morning, eben if he had to go 'AWL'. Anyway the officer gave him leave immediately and we returned to Jonathan at the guest house and told amah that her job was finished. Roy helped me to pack one trunk and suitcase and drove us in the early morning to the docks, where the quay was a mass of women and children -- quite chaotic.

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