The bitter and brutal winter was replaced by the most glorious of summers, with temperatures reaching 90 degrees Fahrenheit in the first three days of June. On the evening of 2 June, Basil took Madge to a Burma reunion concert. The heat in the Albert Hall was so extreme that the audience couldn’t help but be reminded of the jungle conditions in which they had fought in the Far East.
‘I just hope there’s enough beer for everybody,’ General Sir William Slim joked.
The show’s line-up included Jack Warner, Lynn Burnett, Noël Coward and Tommy Handley, who paid moving tributes to the Forgotten Army. The performer who caught Madge’s eye, however, was the fourteen-year-old daughter of Ted and Barbara Andrews who stole the show. Madge laughed when she reminded Basil that the girl’s mother had actually asked the audience if it would be OK for her young daughter to sing.
‘Remember the name because I think we are going to see a lot of that young lady,’ she told Basil, as she praised the enchantingly pretty and talented Julie Andrews.
The headline act was forces sweetheart Vera Lynn, who received a standing ovation after several encores, which included many of the favourites she had sung to the troops in Burma.
‘That was an evening I will never forget,’ Madge told Basil as they left the concert hall.
‘It certainly brought back memories,’ agreed Basil, who told Madge he had had the privilege of attending a Vera Lynn concert in Chittagong in 1944. ‘She’d flown from London and even brought her own pianist and piano! Watch these steps, they’re quite steep,’ he said, as they walked hand in hand from the Royal Albert Hall.
‘It was only two or three months before you arrived in Chittagong,’ said Basil, ‘and she wore khaki trousers and a long-sleeved shirt because the mosquitos were such a problem and it was an open-air concert. She sang non-stop for more than two hours, encore after encore. The whole audience kept chanting “We’ll Meet Again” in an effort to get Vera to sing one more time, and hot and exhausted as she must have been, she nodded to her pianist and off they went again.’ He smiled at the memory.
‘Just like this,’ asked a smiling Madge, who quietly began to sing, ‘We’ll meet again, don’t know where, don’t know when. But I know we’ll meet again, some sunny day.’
‘Bravo,’ said Basil.
Madge’s life had settled into a happy routine. She was thrilled to find out, weeks later, that owner Hetty was so pleased with the way she and Grace had organised the maternity home she told them she had a surprise.
‘This is my way of saying thanks to you girls,’ said Hetty, as Madge and Grace stood wondering what on earth she was talking about. ‘I know you’re both still young but I don’t think you will ever get the opportunity again in your lives to see a future Queen of England being married. I’m giving you the day off so you can be part of the celebrations.’ Madge and Grace clapped in excitement.
Not only did Hetty give them the day off to travel up to London for the marriage of Princess Elizabeth to Prince Philip, she also paid for return train tickets and a hamper full of goodies for their special day. They didn’t really see a lot when the royal procession went past because there were such huge crowds, but Madge thought the atmosphere was amazing. It reminded her of that exciting week in London before the journey to Chittagong.
On the train back to Birchington, Madge asked Grace if she remembered the problems with trying to buy those three pairs of shoes in Darjeeling.
‘I certainly do,’ she replied.
‘Well, just the other day I had a letter from a Darjeeling solicitor saying that I’m going to be sued for refusing to pay and I’m going to be arrested if I don’t attend the court case!’
‘Heavens above!’ said Grace. ‘What are you going to do?’
Madge said she was so upset she had asked the advice of a wily old lawyer who acted for the maternity home. ‘He told me not to worry because he would write on my behalf saying that I would be only too happy to comply with the court ruling. All they had to do in return was send funds for my air fare. Oddly enough, neither I nor the solicitor have heard another word from them!’
The next day, Madge received an invitation from Basil to join him for a family weekend in Woking. He had settled quickly into his new job with Vacuum Oil in London. The invitation was just what Madge needed because she was concerned they weren’t seeing enough of each other, even though they had had a vague discussion about a future together in the capital.
Oh, the thought of another weekend together has really cheered me up, Madge said to herself.
Basil told her there was going to be a big family dinner on the Saturday night and as it was going to be a special occasion, she decided to take her favourite dress from Poona.
‘It looks so elegant and I love those stripes,’ said Basil’s Auntie Mabel. ‘I haven’t seen anything like it. Did you buy it in London?’
‘It’s a long story,’ smiled Madge, as the evening drew to a close.
The following night there was a knock at the door of the single room where Madge was staying.
‘Come in,’ she said, and there was Basil with two cups of tea on a tray. He put the tray on the dressing table then turned and handed her a beautifully wrapped little parcel with a
