Madge consoled herself by joining Basil in ordering a gin and tonic in the bar of the Great Eastern. As she sipped it in the sultry heat she couldn’t remember having had a more refreshing drink in her life.
The couple then went through to the dining room where a prominent notice stated: ‘Owing to Rationing – NO A LA CARTE. Under the Bengal Meat Control Rules 3 Items Only Allowed Each Person.’ Madge chose the hot buffet which started with a thick French vegetable soup, followed by a very tasty steak and kidney pie and vermicelli pudding. Basil opted for the cold buffet with chicken pâté, sirloin of beef and the vermicelli.
‘This has been both a rather lovely and a very interesting day,’ he told Madge over dinner that night. ‘But most of all today has made me realise just how lucky I have been to meet you in Chittagong.
‘When I volunteered at the recruitment office in Surbiton I would never have dreamed that I would be posted to India, and never in a month of Sundays would I have imagined meeting someone like you out here. Madge, I can honestly say this holiday has been the most wonderful week of my life.’
As Madge hung on his every word Basil reached for the wine, made sure both their glasses were full and added that he would like to make a very special toast.
‘Here’s to us. Whatever the future may hold.’
22
A Painful Goodbye
The peace and calm of the holiday was soon broken once Madge and Basil returned to base. When Madge joined Vera for breakfast in the nurses’ mess Vera said that she had been to a cocktail party thrown by one of the US Air Force squadrons the night before and everybody was talking about a German radio report which claimed Adolf Hitler had committed suicide on 30 April, along with his wife, Eva Braun.
‘To begin with everybody was really sceptical,’ Vera told Madge. ‘We all thought it sounded more like wishful thinking than reality.’ However, Vera explained, as the evening drew to a close a pilot and his crew, who had just flown one of the giant US transport planes in from Calcutta, arrived at the party for a beer. He had the latest copy of Stars and Stripes, the American military newspaper, which confirmed the story on its front page. ‘Unfortunately,’ added Vera, ‘it was made very clear in the paper that in spite of Hitler’s suicide there’s still no end in sight for this blasted war.’
Vera was then asked by another of the nurses if there were any more details about Hitler’s death.
‘Surely it could just be an elaborate hoax?’ the nurse suggested.
‘No. Apparently he shot himself,’ Vera replied. ‘But it was difficult to find out too many details as everyone was desperate to read the article so I had to try to read it over somebody’s shoulder.’
During the first week of May whispers began to circulate that Allied troops were on the fringe of liberating Rangoon from the Japanese, who had been in control since March 1942. The key, according to the widely repeated rumours, was to get it all sorted out before the start of the monsoon, which they did with just hours to spare. The rains began late on the afternoon of 2 May but the city had been secured by then and the official announcement of the liberation of Rangoon was made the following day.
Back at HQ Movements, Chittagong, it had been so frantically busy that it was a couple of days before Basil was able to get away to celebrate the 14th Army’s triumph with Madge, who was delighted to see him again.
‘It seems like forever since we last met,’ said Madge as she gave him a welcome kiss and a big smile. ‘Thank you again for that wonderful week in Calcutta. I’ve already started wondering where we can go next,’ she added with excitement.
However, there was no response from Basil to her enthusiasm and Madge was concerned that something was wrong, but put it down to the fact that he had been so busy and working virtually round the clock. He must just be tired, she thought.
‘On our next leave perhaps we could go up to Darjeeling,’ she suggested. ‘I’ve been told that you can even see Mount Everest from there and that the views of the tea plantations are out of this world.’ But still there was virtually no response and Madge’s tummy turned in despair. What on earth has gone wrong? she thought.
Then Basil sighed deeply before gently putting an arm round Madge’s shoulders and telling her he had been included in a Movements unit that was being transferred to Rangoon. ‘I leave by sea in forty-eight hours,’ he said, ‘but I’ve been given tomorrow off to get my things in order.’
A long and loving hug that seemed to go on forever said more than words could ever express as it suddenly dawned on Madge that it was highly unlikely that she would ever see Basil again in the Far East. She turned away and shook her head so he couldn’t see the tears that were slowly trickling down her cheeks.
The heartbreaking thought of such a lengthy, or potentially even permanent, separation made her all the more determined to ensure their last day together in Chittagong was one to remember. She suggested they spend the precious hours on a secluded beach.
What Basil didn’t know as they parted company at the end of lunch was that Madge didn’t even have the following day off, but when Vera heard about the dilemma she instantly agreed to swap shifts. The kitchen staff loved the little memsahib for her good humour after her brave battle with the kite hawk and when Madge explained why she wanted a picnic to take to the beach the following day they were only too keen to help the blossoming romance along.
When she
