6
Adapting
In peacetime Mum had shown no inclination for singing or for music in general. Yet she became an enthusiastic member of the camp choir. Her pre-war interests had centred around regular bridge games, the voracious consumption of English detective novels, a daily crossword puzzle after breakfast, and baking. Easing aside our cook, Mum would take over the kitchen in a flurry of flour to make delicious scones, Victoria sponges and Dad’s favourite flapjacks. The crossword puzzles, the supply of reading material and of course the baking, were no longer possible. Singing, on the other hand, was something that puzzled the Japanese, but which they felt powerless to prevent – and eventually came to grudgingly accept and even enjoy.
Mum and her friends also played bridge, two of them ha
