3
Into Captivity
Once on board the Royal Crown, I discovered that there were several deserting Australian soldiers who had managed to sneak aboard. I was angry. Dad was getting on in age and just a lowly bank official. He was not as strong as he used to be, and these soldiers were hale and hearty. There were also other men, managers from The Ministry of Works who had been evacuated with us. I failed to understand why they had been allowed to leave when men like Dad and Reggie Hyde-Underwood had been left behind.
The Empire Star left before us, slipping out of Keppel Harbour, with two-and-a-half-thousand passengers tightly crammed on board, as soon as daylight allowed them to negotiate the mines the British navy had laid through the southern approaches to the island. It was a choice betw
