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The Story of Christine Edmondson (née Bean)
My
father was George Philip Bean who worked for Malayan Tin Dredging at Batu-Gajah
both before and after the War. He and my mother, Frances Elizabeth Bateman
were married at St John's Church, Ipoh in February 1940. I was born in
June 1941 at Batu-Gajah Hospital. At around this time my father joined
the Federated Malay States Volunteer Force as Sapper No13498.
In December St John's Church was bombed and destroyed by the invading Japanese forces. My mother received a telephone message to say that the Japanese were only two hours away so she packed the car with luggage, Cow& Gate tins of milk, the amah and myself and set off for Kuala Lumpur. The amah decided to stay put in Kuala Lumpur whilst my mother and myself set off by train to Singapore.
There we met up with other women and children who had escaped from the Japanese. Apparently we waited six weeks for a passage to Australia. Unfortunately I never asked my mother the name of the ship that took us to safety. I think that we went first to Melbourne where we stayed with a friend from Malaya. After a while my mother and another friend decided to go to Rockingham, Western Australia where a small house was rented near the beach. My mother said that I used to visit the Sunset Home for Elderly Men which was opposite our house. The friend's child, possibly called Jennifer, and I had very few toys but amused ourselves clattering pots and pans.
We
were invited to stay with my father's cousins, the Thoms at their sheep
station, Wydgee Station at Mount Magnet, Western Australia. I'm not sure
how long we stayed with them but eventually my mother heard from her friend
in Rockingham that she had decided to return to Scotland.
My mother then decided to return to England as she could not afford to rent the house on her own. In any case as I was under three I travelled free - an important consideration.
Our trip back to England took us via South Africa and Freetown, Sierra Leone where we had to 'swing on the tide' as my mother put it, for three weeks whilst we waited to join a convoy.
Eventually we reached Liverpool without mishap and were met by a family friend who travelled with us by train to Norwich. The Daily Telegraph printed an article about us as we were amongst the earliest people to return from Australia and the Far East. Unfortunately this newspaper cutting has gone missing.
My father became a prisoner of war on 15th February 1942 and spent the remainder of the war in Changi. My mother had the very occasional card from him with a few brief words to say that he had received letters from her and that he was keeping fit. I have a certificate which was issued to him on board 'SS Monowai' on 28th September 1945 saying that he had been fully interrogated by an Intelligence Officer and that he was not to be re-interrogated.
My mother received a letter from the Colonial Office (Enquiries and Casualties Dept) to say that 'SS Monowai' was due to arrive at Liverpool on or about 8th October but she was advised that it 'would not be possible for relatives and friends to meet the ship'. However my father made his way to Norwich to be re-united with wife and daughter and to meet his in-laws whom he had never met before.
My sister, Sheila was born in Norwich in July 1946. Later that year my
father resumed his employment with Malayan Tin Dredging at Batu-Gajah
and we followed on after him sometime in 1947.
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