She regarded him with deep affection. ‘You and I go a long way back, Jack, and you can come to me any time you like. Goodness knows we’ve put the world to rights ever since we were at school together, and seen each other through good times and bad. As for my worries, they’re very few really. Jim might not be here, but at least he’s not in the thick of fighting, or stuck out in some jungle somewhere.’

She reached for his hand. ‘We’ll get through this together, Jack, just as we did all those years ago when you lost Maria.’

He lit his cigarette, blew smoke and then sipped his drink. ‘Thanks, Peg. I knew it was right to come to you because you always say the right things.’ He looked around the shabby kitchen and smiled. ‘I’ve always loved sitting in here, you know. It’s the heart of the home and like nowhere else.’

Peggy just managed not to blurt out that she was planning to rip the place to pieces and change the entire downstairs, and instead sipped her own drink. ‘Come whenever you want, Jack, and I insist you spend Christmas with us. I’m not having you sitting up there on your own in that bungalow with a plate of Spam and a beer.’

‘You’re looking a long way ahead,’ he replied with a smile.

‘Someone has to,’ she said, knocking back the last of her gin and tonic. ‘Christmas takes a lot of organising.’

11

Singapore

It was the second day of September, and Jim and Jumbo stood with seven hundred other men in the glaring sun on the deck of the escort carrier, HMS Hunter. The massive convoy of ninety ships sailed majestically down the Strait of Malacca, passing the Raffles Lighthouse, and into Singapore Harbour with their flags fluttering and all the hooters and water cannons going. They knew they were making history and were a spectacular sight for the swarms of people watching and waving excitedly from the shore, and Jim felt his heart swell with pride. This joyous freedom was what they’d fought so long and hard for – this was their reward for being away from home and loved ones for years.

It was an exciting moment, made even more so by the arrival of nine Royal Australian Air Force Catalinas coming in low over their heads to land on the water and slowly make their way up the beach. These were the seaplanes that carried medical supplies and personnel documents in preparation for the Japanese surrender and the liberation of thousands of POWs. The Australian ship HMAS Hawkesbury blasted its hooters in welcome, and the crew on the repatriation transport Duntroon whistled and waved.

According to the debriefing that morning, the smaller British naval force which had sailed from Trincomalee in Ceylon had liberated Penang with very little opposition, despite the fact the Japanese surrender had come as a surprise to Itagaki, the Japanese Commander in Singapore.

General Itagaki had evidently ordered the remnants of his army defending Singapore to resist the Allies and fight to the death – indeed, there had been rumours of orders to massacre all Allied POWs on the island – but his commanding officer had overruled him by following his Emperor’s orders and sending the signal of surrender to Mountbatten. It was rumoured that hundreds of Japanese officers had committed ritual suicide rather than lose face by surrendering and being taken prisoner.