chapter 7

We left our decrepit bedding furniture at the camp when it became our turn to go home. I do not remember much about the trip, which was by train. When we got back to Tsingtao we were taken to the Edgewater Mansions hotel by a US Army truck. There we were treated like royalty.

We had a good lunch with white linen tablecloths, silverware cutlery and we were attended to by servants in long white gowns. Strangely, I don't remember the menu but it was a beautiful meal. White plates, serviettes and finger bowls. The lot. It was a great treat.

After this welcome we all had to go downstairs into the hall of the hotel where American officers were seated. They marked off our names and asked whether we required accommodation or not. Pop told them we would be staying with our friend Freddie Gensburger and his father who owned a big house opposite our family home in Iltis Huk. Freddie, who was French, had not been interned even though France had been overrun by the Germans [54]. He was an optician by profession and a good pianist. He taught me how to play the piano.

[54] The mid-1944 list of internees shows that citizens of other countries overrun by the Germans, such as Dutch, Belgians and Poles, were interned at Wei-Hsien.

NDLR > June 22, 1940: French Marshal Philippe Pétain capitulated in front of the German invader.
= known as the Vichy regime ... (GoTo: wikipedia!)
As a result, the French citizens in Asia were not considered as "enemy alliens" by the Japanese. That is why the only French speaking prisoners in Weihsien were Belgians ... and NOT French citizens ...

My parents were anxious to see how our house had fared during our absence and of course the first thing they did was to examine the built-in cupboard where they had hidden mum's jewellery. The jewellery was still there. I have some of it to this day. We found that Japanese officers had occupied the house and left it in an awful mess. All of the furniture was gone and the bath tub was in the yard filled with water and algae. It had been used to water horses. We could not live in our house until it was cleaned up and repainted. I don't know who did this work or who paid for it.

In the meantime we left the Gensburgers and went to live with my uncle André. There was some ill feeling between my parents and him. I remember my mother having a row with him in Russian because he had disposed of my doll house, dolls and our dog Sally. We recovered Sally who had been renamed Mutze. My mother never forgave her brother for his actions and for the rest of her life she reminded him about what he had done.

My uncle André had a wife named Olga. Aunty Olga was lovely. Their house had an outside light which needed replacing. Because clear globes were then difficult to get Aunty Olga found a red globe which she used to replace the broken light. One day she was telling my father that all these US servicemen were knocking on her front door and she could not understand why. Pop saw the red light and said: "Wait a minute, you've had all these servicemen coming here and finding it was a wrong house." We did not know what a red light meant. Pop obviously did because he took it down and the visits ceased. I know now that a red light is often used to indicate a brothel.

We found the Japanese had taken all the good furniture from many homes as plunder for transport back to Japan. However, because of chronic shipping shortages from Tsingtao to Japan, the furniture had been stored in godowns (ware-houses) at Tsingtao docks waiting for transport. Local householders were invited to search for their furniture at the godowns and eventually my parents found our lounge suite and the front verandah cane suite which was brought home together with my green dressing table. A lot of the property in the godowns was unclaimed and because furniture was scarce Pop was later invited to select some. That's how he restocked our house with furniture.

In Tsingtao, we were given Red Cross supplies. We could go to their store and pick up good used clothing sent from America. I was also issued with a card authorising me to wear US Military-issue clothing [55]. After we moved back into our house and got our lives back together again, our two amahs Niong Niong and Da Niong came to visit us and mum employed them. We took on another cook because Niong Niong's husband (Chang) who had been our cook before the war had since died from tuberculosis. We also employed a man for house and garden work.

Life was almost as it was before the war, but it was different. There was more of a feeling of egalitarianism, especially with the servants. Mum changed long-held attitudes. For instance, she used to help in the kitchen.

We were present at the official surrender ceremony of the Japanese at Tsingtao after our return. It was held on October 25, 1945 at Tsingtao racecourse. We watched US General Leumel Shepherd accept the Japanese surrender. There were plenty of American soldiers and 6th Division US marines [56] at the ceremony. There were also many US Navy and Air Force personnel. There is a photograph [57] of my brother Eddie in an American tank at the ceremony. After the ceremony we never saw another Japanese soldier. I didn't miss them.

[56] Most of the US forces which initially came ashore at Tsingtao were Marines of the 6th and later 1st Divisions. The major wave of seaborne troops arrived in early October. The 6th Division troops at the time of Japan's capitulation in mid-August were being readied in Guam for the invasion of the main islands of Japan which was called off because of the Japanese surrender. The 6th Division had earlier participated in the Battle of Iwo Jima. Japan's capitulation meant the 6th was diverted to northern China to handle the surrender and repatriation of sever-al hundred thousand Japanese soldiers and citizens.

Separately, the presence of the US forces served as a bulwark against Japanese arms falling into Chinese Communist Army hands and units of that army seizing control of strategic assets such as the significant coastal ports and railways nearby. US forces patrolled major roads and rail lines throughout large areas of Shantung province because the Eighth Communist Route Army was very active in the hinterland regions of Shantung province.

Jardine Matheson's Shanghai office told Pop to resume management of Jardine Matheson's office in Tsingtao and it gradually started to profit. As I was by then a young woman, I wanted to get a job. Although I could take dictation in shorthand at the rate of 60 words per minute, I was not a trained typist. My father told me there was a vacancy for an office girl at the International Club building which had been taken over by the American Red Cross.

I went there and applied. At this time it was a drop-in centre for US military personnel. I was offered a position as a receptionist in the information section which I was happy to accept. After a while I was offered a job in the music record room which contained a library of gramophone records. I found the job easy. All I had to do was hand out the records to servicemen who wanted to play them.

After a while I was asked if I would go into a show called Blind Date. It sounded fun so I volunteered. It consisted of Red Cross women workers standing on a stage screened from the participants. The participants selected a screened Red Cross worker to take out to dinner by asking questions. The questions were along the lines of what we liked to eat – which was the best part, I thought – our favourite actors and other general questions.

Once during one of the shows I became a little impatient with one of the servicemen's question. He was supposed to ask the usual questions about my favourite foods, film stars and the like but he kept probing me about personal details. In the end, I became frustrated and said: "Look, come to the point. What do you want from me?" To my astonishment this brought the house down. There was wolf whistling and stamping of feet. I was at a loss to understand. I felt embarrassed. So I went to Corporal Bill Cooney, a married man in his 30s, after the show was over. Corporal Cooney was the driver for General Clements, a friend of my parents. I asked Corporal Cooney: "What did I do wrong?" He put his arms around me, hugged me and said: "You are just so sweet."

Unsuccessful Miss Singapore candidate - 1953

I received my share of dinner dates with marines, sailors and soldiers. I got the impression that Americans lived on steak because practically all my dates ordered steak. Possibly this was because steak was rarely on US military menus and steak was comparatively cheap in China. I preferred seafood and I invariably ordered that.

Nearly all the American servicemen were young and all were extremely homesick. None of them liked being in China. Most of them had photos of their girlfriends in their wallets which they showed me. I found they missed female company very much and just wanted to talk. They talked mostly about their families and what life would be like back in the States when they returned there. It was an interesting experience made more interesting because I liked the food and I liked the company. I found most Americans were good articulate communicators.

The Red Cross also conducted beauty contests ― which were fun ― using photographs of the servicemen's girlfriends. The winner's photograph was displayed on the centre's notice board. Very proud was the soldier whose girlfriend took the winning position. My photograph never went up on the wall. On the day of each contest the judging would be done by visitors and members of the staff including me.

The centre was well run and the men were well behaved. Managing the centre were American Red Cross women who were regularly rotated back to the US. Many of these departing women gave me their civilian clothing as they left. The Red Cross women wore an attractive uniform while on duty in the club and consequently their civilian clothing was not often worn. Their uniforms consisted of a dark grey dress with Red Cross badges, epaulettes on their shoulders or stripes denoting their rank on their sleeves. They wore a tie or a little red ribbon instead of a tie.

I was happy working at the centre. I was well-paid and wore fashionable clothing. I could wear the American Red Cross workers' donated clothing because I was thin. Their clothing to my eyes was in the latest fashion. They also had nylons which the women occasionally gave me because they felt sorry for me because of what I had been through.

My mother looked after many servicemen. They were welcome at our place. There was always home-cooked food for them and someone to listen to them. One of the Marines, a nice man from New Orleans named Sergeant Nathan Greenberg, who was about 21 or 22, often visited us and he taught me how to touch type. He used Pop's Reuter's news agency typewriter. As a result, I became a passable typist and later became a stenographer thanks to him.

One day, I was with my mother in the main street of Tsingtao when a truck convoy of US Navy and Marine Corps personnel came by. I was wearing shorts that attracted their attention. They whistled at us. Some of them jumped out of their trucks and approached us loudly asking for dates. We were afraid and we both hurried to my friend Zartousha's place which was nearby. I borrowed a skirt from her and wore it home. Never again did I wear shorts in the main street of Tsingtao.

I only had one real fright with a US servicemen. I met a US Navy Ensign whom I eventually invited him to our house. He appeared to be a nice fellow and he invited me to the officers' dance held every Saturday night at the Edgewater Mansions hotel. A US military band provided the music. Ensign Riley picked me up in a jeep and after the dance he invited me to his room for a drink. I naively went and had a soft drink. He began to make advances and when he wouldn't stop, I jumped out the window. I ran to my uncle André's home half a block away and uncle André drove me home.

After about six months of working for the American Red Cross many US military personnel were withdrawn and the Red Cross centre closed. It was a sad day for me because I was thoroughly enjoying my job there. A US serviceman who visited our home suggested I try for a job with US Navy Port Facilities as a typist.

I visited their office and applied. I was offered a job and was assigned to Lieutenant Gordon LeRoy Johnson as his secretary. He was classified as land crew because he got seasick aboard ships. Gordon's job was to make sure all the visiting ships were supplied with provisions, clothing, food and other items. Each vessel had a PX (post exchange — a shop) and Gordon had to ensure it was fully supplied. I had to type out lists of what was needed. Every time ships arrived they had to be re-supplied. They were always short of something. Gordon took me aboard US Navy ships moored in Tsingtao harbour to attend to the stores supply.

Gordon became my boyfriend. He later became known as `Gordon after five' in my family. This was because during working hours I had to call him Mr Johnson but could call him Gordon after 5 p.m. Although I was considered his girlfriend, he had a photo of his American girlfriend in his office. When I arrived at work, he would turn the photo to the wall. It was good fun being his girlfriend. It meant I had a steady date at dances, movies and dinners.

My mother liked Gordon but I always knew there was nothing serious in our relationship even though he wrote me poetry. He once wrote about a young man's fancy turning to love in the spring but I did not understand. So I asked my father what it meant because I thought it was so romantic and I was happy. I know now Gordon's poetry was not even original. He was quoting Alfred Lord Tennyson's famous poetic line: `In the spring a young man's fancy lightly turns to thoughts of love.'

When Gordon was transferred back to the States he sent me a parcel of nylons, hair ribbons, a pair of shoes and some bobby pins. Our correspondence ended shortly after I first arrived in Australia.

'Gordon after five' and author in Singapore - early 1950s.

About five years later, I was in Singapore. To my amazement, I met Gordon in the street after I heard this loud yawn which sounded familiar to me. It reminded me immediately of Gordon and I turned and saw him before he saw me. He didn't recognise me. I said: "Remember me?" and he said: "Don't tell me, don't tell me, Bangkok?" He mentioned several other Asian cities but not Tsingtao. When I mentioned Tsingtao, he threw his head back and said: "Oh, I've still got the jumper you knitted me in Australia and sent me." Gordon said he was working for the US Government. I went back with him and his boss to his hotel and he showed me the V-neck pullover that I had knitted for him. He said it was nice and warm and he took it everywhere. He told me he was happily married with two children. He had not married his American sweetheart but a French woman. He took me out to dinner. I have not seen or heard of him since.

At least two Tsingtao Russian nationality girls married US servicemen in Tsingtao and went to the States with their husbands. One returned to Tsingtao a year or so later. I was told by a friend the Russian thought her husband, who was about 20 years older than her, was wealthy. But she found he was quite poor and his parents did not make her welcome. As a result she left him and returned to Tsingtao. Another Russian girl who was a good pianist married and went to America. She found her husband lived in the hills. I was told she called him a hill-billy and was very disappointed with his family's lifestyle. She was stuck in the hills and she could not wear her good clothes. So, she too left and came back to Tsingtao.

A number of Chinese girls in Tsingtao had babies to Americans and some were literally left at the altar when their betrothed servicemen's ships left on the day they were to be wed. Some were jilted after having their wedding dresses made. I know a number of Tsingtao girls received marriage proposals but declined them for various reasons.

I only received one proposal and that was from an enlisted sailor who said he was madly in love with me and wanted me to go with him to America as his wife. He used to visit me at my home which was a couple of miles from the town centre. Because he could not obtain a motor vehicle, he used to hire a large white horse and come riding like a medieval knight but without the shining armour because he was wearing his sailor's uniform. He arrived one day with a large square-shaped solid silver ring with some Chinese characters which he said was my name.

Author taking a break as US Red Crosss worker in Tsingtao - 1946.

I accepted the ring because I liked the look of it and wore it with pleasure. When I told my mother she absolutely forbade me to marry him saying: "You can't marry him, you're too young, you don't know what family he comes from. You are not even to think about it ― you are only 17." I subsequently told the gallant sailor I was not going to marry him but I kept the ring because I liked it. I gave the ring to our amah's daughter when I left China.

In China throughout 1946, there were increasing signs of Chinese Communist forces everywhere taking over the Government of China. One day, my father said: "We will have to leave China because when the Chinese Communists take over China, British and American people will not be welcome. They will throw us out."

Earlier that year, we had a representative of the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA) staying at our home. He was there because he wanted to find out how European and other foreign national families were faring in China. He knew we had to leave and he suggested to my father that we ought to go to Australia, saying: "It is so far away. You will not get mixed up in another war there." Pop said to my mother: "You take the children there and have a holiday. Find out what Australia is like and maybe we will go there if it is all right." So, in November 1946 we left for Sydney. Because we were supposed to be on holiday we did not bring any possessions other than everyday clothes. In my bags, I packed my souvenirs from the internment camp. I must have suspected something.

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