2
Flight from Singapore
Like most of the civilian men, Dad was expected to get involved with the civil defence efforts. Together with Reggie Hyde-Underwood and many others we had known in Penang: officials, professionals, planters and businessmen – Dad was sent to dig ditches and fortifications on the northern shore of the island.
When he came back to the hotel after his first stint, I could see he was finding it hard. I glanced at Mum and could tell she saw it too. Dad looked haggard, older than his years, and the dark rings under his eyes indicated his exhaustion. Not a tall man, he appeared visibly shrunken since we’d left Penang.
‘Why are you having to dig trenches? I thought they’d been building up the defences for months if not years.’ Mum sounded irritable.
Dad sighed. ‘They bu
