‘Marvellous, absolutely marvellous news,’ said Madge in the nurses’ mess. ‘I will miss it here but we’ve all been away from home for so long and the thought of seeing Mum, Doris and Doreen is just wonderful.’
‘It really is,’ said Vera. ‘I can’t wait to get home and see my parents.’
‘And as we’ve all become accustomed to packing and moving within hours, it’s also going to be something of a treat to have a little more time to get our things together,’ said Phyl, to which the other girls nodded in agreement.
Madge had been summoned once again to Matron Ferguson’s office the day before the initial announcement. Surely it’s not going to be another ticking-off, she told herself after knocking on the door.
‘Come straight in,’ said Matron who had looked out of her office window to see Madge walking down from her basha. ‘I haven’t got much time, Graves,’ she said, ‘because there are a lot of things going on at the moment, but I just want to thank you for everything you’ve done at 56 IGH since you arrived. That includes some of your bloopers because even though I tried not to they always made me laugh.’
Madge was lost for words as Matron handed her an envelope and told her to ‘have a browse through this when you get a spare moment. You’re a bonza nurse. Even if you are a Pom!’ With that she pointed to the door and said, with great affection, ‘Shoo, go on, off you go. You’re late for your shift!’
It wasn’t until later in the morning when she had a ten-minute tea break that Madge had time to open the envelope and read the handwritten note it contained, which said:
Miss Graves has done outstandingly good work in this unit during the last eighteen months. She has gained a great deal of experience in surgical and medical nursing and has been called in to take heavy responsibility when there were few trained sisters. This she has accepted cheerfully.
She has had the management of busy wards, with the added difficulties of untrained nursing sepoys and ward servants as staff.
She has taken complete charge of a sisters’ mess of forty members and her book keeping was faultless. She will be efficient at any work she chooses to undertake.
Olive Ferguson
Principal Matron
56 IGH (C)
Chittagong, 31/3/1945
Madge wiped a tear from her eye before placing the note carefully back inside the envelope.
After the initial excitement over the news that they would be returning to England, Madge set about sorting out what, and what not, to pack. She couldn’t believe some of the things she had accumulated and ended up giving lots to Ahmed, her bearer, who had been so kind and supportive throughout her time in Chittagong.
That night of the official announcement she wrote to Basil at his address on Labuan Island, Borneo, to tell him the good news and added that she was counting down the days until his return to England. Next she wrote a lengthy letter to Mum, Doris and Doreen to say that she would be leaving India in June, but realised she would almost certainly walk back into the family home, 168 Union Road in Dover, before the letter arrived.
I’ll leave a little bit of my heart in Chittagong, thought Madge as she packed up the last of her belongings. It was a bittersweet goodbye because there had been lots of very happy times as well as a wonderful team spirit at the hospital to make up for the dreadful injuries and illnesses the nurses had had to deal with on the wards.
Her happiest memory, of course, was of meeting Basil and she wished he could have been there at the farewell party that took place in the nurses’ mess. Sister Blossom, the endlessly supportive, endlessly patient and endlessly smiling defender of her beloved young VADs, broke down in floods of tears when she was thanked for being ‘the most wonderful foster mother to a group of very grateful girls who will be forever in your debt’. The nurses had secretly accumulated numerous boxes of dresses, skirts, shoes and jewellery that would be far from suitable attire back home in the UK where the average temperature was less than half of that in Chittagong. The boxes were presented to Blossom so she could share them with the rest of the hospital staff.
On a normal day in the mess the sister would be constantly on the go, but at the party, which was dedicated to ‘Mother Blossom’, the grateful nurses wouldn’t let her lift a finger. There was one last surprise when she was told to close her eyes and hold out her hands, into which a large brown envelope, loaded with a volume of rupees that underlined the VADs immense gratitude, was placed.
The ever reliable Ahmed, Madge’s bearer, made sure that the party ended with laughter instead of tears when he marched in wearing one of the dresses she had given him for his sister, a big floppy sun hat and bright red open-toed, high-heeled shoes.
The voyage back on the Georgic was very different from when Madge had sailed out. They could sit and sunbathe without having to wear life jackets, people could smoke on deck at night and the boat was lit up like a Christmas tree after dark instead of operating under strict blackout regulations.
The girls travelled first class and Madge was delighted to find that the food was simply magnificent. Steaks, roasts, bananas and a huge choice of fresh fruit and butter were all available. There was a shortage of nothing. The war was over and
