Elsa raised an eyebrow. ‘That I shall believe when I see it,’ she said briskly. She finished her cup of tea and reached for a file. ‘You’d better get a move on. The flying boat’s due in at seven.’

Jim left the office and eased his way through a large, chattering group of children who ranged in age from seven to fifteen. These were the youngsters who’d lost their mothers, and sometimes siblings, in the camps, and were now waiting to be escorted to the ship which would take them to England and the surviving members of their families.

He stood outside in the warm, rather muggy twilight and watched them boarding the bus. He knew that some of them were orphans now, for their fathers had also been killed during the war, and he wondered fleetingly how they would cope in England after all they’d been through. He suspected there would be great difficulties ahead for them and their families, but at least they were being given a second chance at life.

Seeing the younger ones clamber aboard the bus, he had a sharp memory of his own boys at that age, and thanked God they’d never had to experience the same terrifying war that these youngsters had gone through.

The bus trundled off and Jim returned the children’s waves until they were taken out of sight. Then he fetched the car he’d been allotted and headed for Elsa’s bungalow.

Sybil was waiting impatiently for him, dressed in a pale cream silk suit, high-heeled shoes and fancy hat. Her make-up was immaculate, her hair dressed in a neat pleat at the back of her head, but the worry and stress of these last few days were evident in the fine lines around her eyes and mouth. ‘I was beginning to think you weren’t coming,’ she said.

‘I promised I would,’ he replied, smiling down at the tiny Malay woman at her side. She certainly looked worlds better than she had when he’d first seen her outside Raffles, having been banned entry. ‘Delighted to meet you again,’ he said, not sure what to call her. ‘Are you coming with us?’

‘Well, of course she is,’ said Sybil impatiently. ‘Amah has looked after my girls almost from the moment they were born.’ She closed the front door, steadied the elderly woman down the shallow steps and headed for the car. ‘Amah will sit in the back,’ she said, climbing into the front.

Jim raised an eyebrow but the Malay woman seemed unfazed as he held the door open for her to climb in. Making sure her beautiful sari hadn’t been caught in the door, he slammed it shut and then climbed in behind the steering wheel.

As he drove away from the bungalow and headed for Singapore Harbour, he remembered the last time he’d seen Jane and Sarah. It was while he was home on leave before he’d been posted to India. However, he’d been so preoccupied with Peggy, baby Daisy, and the others who’d come from Somerset on a short visit, that he’d barely taken notice of anyone else.