Tom Smiley arriving in Singapore May 1940

Photos found in the letters of Singapore

I've had a few comments from you about my father's blog entry (Ceylon 1940) including my brother who had never read any of his letters before. As a family growing up, we just accepted that my father,with his atrocious handwriting, was incapable of writing.... so imagine finding out otherwise. The collection of over a hundred letters was found in a plastic bag at the bottom of my mother's wardrobe after she died in 2009 at aged 91 years old. None of us knew of these letters and they remain intact, written in small, practically illegible handwriting - 15 sheets of blue airmail paper per letter - filled with daily detail and of course longing and love for our mother. My family and friends know only too well that I became obsessed with reading and transcribing these letters with the plan of publishing them along with my father's war story. They are still waiting.... however I have started looking at the letters again and then on Radio 4 this week , I heard another daughter of a POW who had recently published her father's diary from Changi prison and I realised that I must relate the amazing love story of my parents during the war. (The Silver Cigarette Case, blog entry 2 Dec 2012) As to what form it will take I am not sure but I am determined that their story will be told. Here is another letter written a few days after Ceylon. My father, a strict methodist Ulsterman and his best friend Humphrey have arrived in Singapore...

24 th May 1940                                                                                    Singapore

            My own Darling fiancée, it was such a lovely letter – I've only had time to read it three times so far but I'll live on it until your next letter arrives. Your letter was just YOU. I really  do believe you love me – isn't it wonderful and aren't we lucky? Humphrey and I went straight away to the Post Office and the fellow missed it first of all and then the second time he saw my name and I felt that I was in heaven. H. and I couldn't wait to open them and were reading our letters along the street bumping into people! I'm missing you terribly and your letter has made it more real. I'm sitting here imagining you sitting in the chair opposite looking so beautiful and I'm afraid it's making me sad.

            Anyhow let me tell you about our goings on. I'm just flabbergasted and don't feel capable of any coherent thoughts. All of my travels and the arrival in Singapore has been the fullest experience I've ever had in my life. We got off the boat at 12 o'clock after some trouble with coolies getting the luggage off. A whole reception commitee was there to welcome us! They were expecting several colonels and majors to staff the new hospital and I think they were very disappointed to see the six of us - only lowly Lieutenants of 2 months! We were then taken to the Aldelphi Hotel where we are now. It is a beautiful hotel and would certainly rank among the « posh » hotels. All the rooms open via a balcony onto the street or a quadrangle. The quadrangle is beautifully laid out in a lawn and flower beds and the foliage is very lush with rich vibrant colourful flowers. The rooms are very luxurious with a bathroom and an electric fan keeping everything cool. After a delicious lunch we went to a tailors to get another pair of shorts and a shirt. They were very dear – $3.50cents each ( a $ equals 2/4). Luckily we only ordered 1 of each as we have since been told that we can order them through the army! Then we went to Raffles Square which is the main square in the town. Sir Stanford Raffles took the island of Singaore from the Dutch many years ago and nearly all the important places seem to be named after him!There we were greeted by two majors that we had met this morning and they insisted on us going round the town with them in their car and then finally taking us to the European Swimming Pool. It is a marvellous place with a dancing band, floodlit at night etc, etc......Humphrey and I bathed and the water was lovely Hugh and Humph. seemed very impressed with my diving. ( we hadn't a board on the ship). Then the Majors and Humph. had a few drinks while Hugh and I looked on. They then took us back and we had to quickly change for dinner which was lovely in a very beautiful dining room. A captain came up to talk to us and the others are still there chatting but I wanted to be with you so I slipped away.

     Well I'd better try and tell you my first impressions of Singapore. It is a beautiful city with the European part having a big broad street lined with trees. There is no black out and all the shops and cinemas are lit up. I saw a big sign saying « Gone with the Wind » coming next week! We haven't visited the shops yet but the Majors showed us  some of the principal building which are very grand and in a similar style to those in Bombay – the British influence is very evident. Then we saw the hospital- not the new one, which isn't ready yet, but the Tanglin . They were very keen on my E.N.T. work! One of the majors is a Medical specialist and we saw some cases of malaria and dengue fever. Then we saw around the Military depot and there is a golf course in the military grounds! It costs $5 a month sub so that isn't too bad. The work done in the hospital doesn't seem to be much in the surgical line at the present -most of the cases being sent to the civil hospital. The biggest operation they do are hernias – not even appendies are done. The Swimming Pool Club can also be joined for $2.50 per month . It would seem on first impressions as if people here just live for the social life. One of the majors advised us to lie low for a few months until we got our bearings. I think I'll be lying low most of the time ! Thank goodness I have your moral support and love backing me – never fear darling I won't let you down. I'll not only save but work very hard too. Yes I'll take lots of snaps that we can go over together. Humphrey is talking about buying a car but I'm closing now so I can post this early tomorrow.

                        All my love, thoughts and prayers darling,

                                                Your Tom

Sri Lanka - Resplendent Island

 Yes indeed Sri Lanka is a  very resplendent island but yet it is not long since it was involved in a  bloody civil war which endured over 25 years which we in the West mostly chose to ignore, probably because there was no oil supply threat involved. Growing up and living through the "Troubles " in Northern Ireland, I felt that I could identify a little as to what it must have been like living through those years. Most of the people would just have been trying to live their lives as normal but of course "normal" during civil strife means suspicion of neighbours, army checks, road blocks, bombs, murders, terrorist attacks, torture.... which causes hidden strain that until it stops you are unaware of. It is hard to imagine that these lovely people could be so harsh to each other. There is no doubt that the Tamil minority were unfairly discriminated against and the Sinhalese, who are mostly Buddhists, dominated them, but we don't have to look far to find other examples of humans not living in peace together wearing a badge of religion do we?

Anyway on Monday evening Andrew and I were taken out to a beach restaurant by the partners of the accountancy firm, Andrew was working with. They were a Sinhalese and a Tamil and they both seemed optimistic that Sri Lanka would never return to war and I certainly got the impression that this country is booming with buildings and hotels appearing everywhere in Colombo. On Tuesday morning I had my last hotel breakfast and Andrew went off to the airport and I with slight trepidation, (as I wasn't sure where I was going - apart from Gen's instructions), set off to Kandy in the train with my rucksack. I needn't  have worried for a second as travelling is so easy and as soon as you land in a place there is always a tuk-tuk driver who will take you to a hostel and I felt very safe on my own. I realise at this rate that I'm never going to finish the blog if I keep rambling so I'm going to give you a shortened version.

Tuesday - wonderful train ride to Kandy with lovely Sri Lankan family beside me - Kandy is a delightful colonial town around a lake with the Temple of the Sacred Tooth - a very sacred pilgrimage for Buddhists - bombed during the war and searched to get in just like N.I.. Visited the temple and then watched wonderful Kandyan dancers who walked on fire at the end.



Wednesday - got up early and took local buses to Sigariya - the Lion Rock which 1600 years ago was the site of a palace and town- urban planning extraordinaire. The rock was covered in frescoes - some of which still survive today. Climbed to the top and spent the day with a lovely Japanese girl.

Thursday - took the train to Ella from Kandy which was a 6 hour train ride through jungle, hours of tea plantations, mountains.... - amazing scenery but very wet until we arrived in Ella. The stations reminded me of stations in Britain but the station masters were always stunning in their white uniforms and caps. I found a lovely homestay.

Colonial stations

Friday - left at 7 am on the local bus to Galle which took about 6 hours coming down the mountains and along the coast to Galle. Very arid vegetation and beautiful coast. Found a delightful " Marigold" Guest House in Galle and wandered around but felt sick so went to bed early.

Saturday - Felt better so had a lovely walk along the wall of the fort in Galle. It is really delightful and full of the most gorgeous colonial style houses. Very touristy and expensive but lovely. Got train to Colombo and had no seat but sat by the open door and had a lovely view of the coast.I got bus out to airport and stayed in a grotty hotel ready for the flight in the morning.


Sunday - The day of travelling back to Sabah and saying farewell to lovely Sri Lanka and the memory of their sparkling white uniforms and robes will stay with me. I managed to travel for 5 days by local transport for about 10 euros which was less than the taxi cost from the airport!

Sri Lanka September 2014 and Ceylon May 1941

Colombo 14th September 2014

Yes here I am in Colombo staying in a brand new hotel called Cinnamon Red, with all the trappings of "infinity pools" and roof-top bars. To cut a long story short I missed my connection to Colombo and ended up paying an over-inflated price and arriving at 1.30 am Sri Lankan time and 4 am Sabah time. Anyway I got here and it was lovely to see Andrew and yesterday we spent the day walking along the sea front; getting ripped off by a passer-by;  visiting a buddhist temple; feeding an elephant with biscuits; wandering around a lovely park watching fruit bats and families and young lovers all enjoying the buddhist public holiday; culminating in delicious strawberries and cream and a g&t on the roof-top bar - not bad for a first day! 
   My father arrived in Colombo on 21st May  1940, on his way to Singapore. He celebrated his 23rd birthday on the luxury liner that sailed from Marseilles and took the route via the Suez Canal (shortly after closed) calling in at Aden, Bombay before arriving in Colombo. He had joined the Royal Medical Corps as a newly qualified doctor and much to his horror he was sent from Europe to South East Asia and the day before he left he became engaged to my mother who was still a medical student. They were parted for 5 and a half years and years of emotional and physical hardship that would change them forever. On my father's return voyage to England in October 1945 on the "New Holland" carrying the remnants of men from the POW camps, the ship docked in Colombo and he bought her wedding ring. They were married on 27 October 1945, a week after the New Holland docked in Liverpool. I would like to share parts of the love letters written by my father about his first visit to Ceylon.

20th May 1940
Good-night dearest one. This is just to be a very short note to let you know I didn't forget you to – as if I could! We've had the most magical and interesting day. I don't know if I'll be able to remember everything all at once and anyhow I'm not going to start tonight. We have just left Colombo and there is a full moon and how I wish you were here beside me. We took a tour to a place called Galle. We were supposed to go to Kandy but the roads were flooded so this was the next best. All along the journey I kept thinking " Oh I wish Beth was beside me"......

2:30pm 21^st May

Well little one we are well on our way for our last lap. Tension is mounting as to what S... will be like. I do so hope I'm posted to a hospital. Anyway let me tell you about yesterday. Ceylon, what little we saw of it, is really a most beautiful, enchanting place. We arrived there on the birthday celebrations of Buddha. I think it falls on the first full moon of May – it was their equivalent to our Christmas day. We went along roads which for miles were gaily bedecked with flowers, bunting and white streamers. The coconut and palm trees lined the roads with the turquoise sea on one side and perhaps a lagoon on the other – it really was delightful. All the people were in their Sunday best – mostly in very clean white. The women wore the long white flowing robes – from the waist downwards to the ground and then on top they just had a sort of vest. Some of them had headgear but many didn't and the men mostly wore the same « skirt » as the women but nothing on their upper parts though some had vests too. I'm afraid I can't describe them very well but the roads were thronged with people. All along the roads we saw little coconut huts that seemed to have little inside. Then we would come across a modern bungalow with a car outside! We saw rubber plantations with the grooves cut spiralling down the trees to collect the rubber. We saw a group of ten to fifteen elephants bathing of which I took a snap. I can't describe how exciting it all was. We were in a Budhist temple and saw the service – three large statues of Budha with many ornaments. The temple was not very big but there was three or four different rooms. On the table in the centre there were all sorts of fruit – bananas, pineapples, mangoes, etc.. (all of which we saw growing) – as well as bread baked in all shapes and sizes. A little oil stove was burning and the priest was burning the gifts of food. We had to take off our shoes to go in and the ladies had to take off their hats. I got a photo of the three Budhas in the temple but it was very dark and I don't think it will come out.

            The roads were simply wonderful in the way they were decorated. There were even Union Jack flags here and there, fairy lights, arches and the air was perfumed with the most beautiful scent. We stopped at a roadhouse in the morning and had our photos taken in a group. There was a railway line running just below the house which looked so incongruous in amongst the coconut groves and the sea only a few hundred yards away. The train came along and then stopped. The driver and stoker had a good look at us and then they went on again! We arrived at Galle, which wasn't anything out of the ordinary by Ceylon's standards. We came over the hill and lying beneath was a typically British scene with about 20 cows grazing in a green pasture. They are smaller than our cows – little bigger than a donkey. Of course there are hundreds of oxen everywhere, some carrying carts with heavy loads, others in the « family » trap taking the family for an outing – complete with their bells which make a lovely sound. We had a very good lunch all included in our fare – tomato soup, salmon, beefsteak and onions, fresh fruit salad and tea.We didn't stay very long at the hotel  before we started the return journey.On the way back it reminded me of the 12^th July! The drums were out and the people were following them. We passed through many villages and it was the same everywhere – gaily decorated streets; all the roads crowded with people and people on platforms haranging the people and singing or rather chanting « hymns ».

            Then we met a procession of elephants with all their splendid head dresses and paraphaenalia, followed by priests who were disguised in hideous looking masks, then the drummers and then followed by a throng of people. Our bus stopped and I got out to take some snaps and before I knew it I was swept off into the crowd. Amazingly the procession, if you please ,stopped while I took my snaps and even posed for me while I took them!The driver of one of the elephants asked me to get up on the radiator of the bus and take a snap of them all which I did with the whole populus looking up at me! I'm sure you would have been embarrassed to see me. Anyway I hope some of the snaps come out well.

            We stopped later on for tea and by the time we neared Colombo it was dark but what a beautiful sight. It was a full moon and there are no clouds to hide the moon like at home. The houses were all lit up – the poorer houses had about 40 candles burning outside and the bigger houses were elaborately decorated with electric light bulbs. The huge trees in the gardens had about 20 lights of  many different colours and all the houses were just ablaze with light. A few houses hadn't any lights and this was ,we were told , an indication that they were hindu - most of the people are buddhists. We arrived back on the boat at 8pm, very tired but completely enchanted and enamoured with our day. Ceylon is another place we must visit!

Sarong & Ko is born!

Sarong & Ko

You can say you heard it first on this blog when Sarong & Ko is a household name ! Well that is perhaps a little optimistic but small steps and who knows..?! Now I had better explain about what Sarong & Ko are selling and who we are! We, are my next door neighbour Sophia and myself and the plan is to design and make clothes out of sarongs and we're both really excited about it. Sewing is something that I have always done and even though there have been times in my life when I haven't had time to sew, it is a hobby I am always pleased to return to and since I have been in Sabah the beautiful batik material has inspired me to make many different variations on the 2 yard sarong.

Sophia cutting out the sarong

The finished tunic !

 We are intending to start small and have a stall in the Sunday market when we make enough stock to look like we have something to sell! It is interesting that local people find it difficult to imagine a sarong in something other than a useful garment to have a shower or wear at home so I am encouraging Sophia to think outside the box and use it for other things. The other good thing is that I can continue to buy sarongs without feeling too guilty !

   The exciting news of this week is that I am going to Sri Lanka next weekend! I can't believe it really as I've only just booked the flights. Andrew is on his way to Sri Lanka as I write and he leaves on Tuesday week. I have a short school holiday next week and so we will overlap for nearly 4 days so with cheap Air Asia flights I decided to go for it. I will be staying for a week and hopefully travel around on my own for a few days with Gen's itinerary from her  recent trip there. Next week the blog will be from Colombo!!