89
I was overwhelmed with my success. By asking the ladies to register at the Country Club he was assuming the responsibility of putting them on the coveted list of repatriates. The Columbia Country Club was the particular assembly center where outport and Shanghai repatriates were being assembled for repatriation formalities. Registration there was tantamount to a steamer ticket to freedom. While I was speaking I thanked God in my heart. Then I asked Banjo about our own children, "Will they be going with me?"
He laughed and said, "Yes, but not on the same steamer."
There was to be a second ship. He gave me a piece of news that we had thought was Japanese propaganda when we had read it in the Japanese press. It was about the disturbed state of India. As a sop to the Indian Government the British Government insisted, through the Swiss representatives, that 150 European British be dropped from the repatriation list and 150 British Indians substituted. I expressed a doubt that our children's names were even on the second list in the hands of the Swiss. He replied, "Their names are on the Japanese list, and that is the one that counts." He then explained how the children would travel from Chefoo to Shanghai. I thanked him profusely - another true gentleman. It meant more to you and me than to the children themselves. His very gesture was worth thanks. I had not felt so happy in years. Previously to coming to the Consulate I had telephoned to the Norwegian ladies to meet me downtown after the interview. Mrs. Salvensen met me. Before I opened my mouth she knew the answer. We nearly hugged each other! We went to a favorite team room, the Chocolate Shop, to celebrate. We had coffee and cake. She paid. I had nothing. From there we telephoned Mrs. Bang. She spluttered back to me in Norge. They forgot themselves and often spoke to me in their native tongue when they were excited. Their husbands were sailing the high seas in the Allied cause. Their three children seemed almost like our own as you had been teaching them in Hong Kong with our own.
Made with FlippingBook flipbook maker