Page 123 of The Ship of Brides
As Frances failed to reply, Avice asked, ‘No one told him in the end, did they? Not after all that?’
‘No,’ Frances said. ‘No one told him.’
On the other side of the door, where he had been listening, still holding two stone-cold tin mugs of tea, the marine moved his head gently away from the hard surface, and closed his eyes.
23
There were romances and several weddings took place and, as it was Dutch Territory, many pieces of paper had to be signed... The dentist usually made the wedding ring with his drill, and wedding frocks ranged from creations out of white mosquito nets to AANSward uniform... According to army policy, the bride returned to Australia soon after.
A Special Kind of ServiceJoan Crouch
Morotai, Halmaheras Islands, 1946
‘I know it’s irregular,’ said Audrey Marshall, ‘but you saw them. You saw what it’s done to her.’
‘I find it all rather hard to believe.’
‘She was a child, Charles. Fifteen, from what she told me.’
‘He’s very fond of her, I’ll grant you.’
‘So what harm would it do?’
The matron pulled open a drawer and took out a bottle of pale brown liquid. She held it up and he nodded, declining the addition of chlorinated water that sat in a jug on her desk. They had meant to talk earlier, but there had been an accident on the road to the American radar unit: a jeep had collided with a Dutch supplies lorry and overturned, killing one man and injuring two others. Captain Baillie had spent more than an hour with the Dutch authorities, filling in forms and discussing the incident with the Dutch CO. One of the men had been his batman; he was shaken and exhausted.
He took a sip, plainly not wanting to have to consider this new problem on top of everything else. ‘It could cause all sorts of trouble. The man doesn’t know his own mind.’
‘He knows he loves her. It would make him happy. And, besides, what can she do? She can’t stay in nursing now everyone knows. She can’t stay in Australia.’
‘Oh, come on, it’s a big place.’
‘Someone found her here, didn’t they?’
‘I don’t know...’
Matron leant over the desk. ‘She’s a good nurse, Charles. A good girl. Think what she’s done for your men. Think of Petersen and Mills. Think of O’Halloran and those wretched sores.’
‘I know.’
‘What harm? The boy’s got no money, has he? You said he had no family to speak of.’ Her voice dropped a little. ‘You know as well as I do how ill he is.’
‘And you know I’ve tried jolly hard to discourage this kind of thing. All that bloody paperwork for a start.’
‘You’re on good terms with the Dutch. You’ve told me yourself. They’ll sign whatever you hand them.’
‘You’re convinced that this is a sensible idea?’
‘It would bring him some happiness and give her a lifeline. She’d be entitled to go to England. She’ll make a superb nurse over there. What harm can that do?’
Charles Baillie sighed deeply. He put down his glass on the desk and turned to the woman opposite. ‘It’s hard to refuse you anything, Audrey.’
She smiled with the satisfaction of someone who knows the battle is won. ‘I’ll do what I have to do,’ she said.
The chaplain was a pragmatic man. Weary of the pain and suffering he had seen, he had been easily persuaded to help. The young nurse, a favourite of his, was a perfect illustration of the redemptive powers of marriage, he told himself. And if it enabled the poor soul beside her to be even partly lifted from the horrors of his last weeks, he felt pretty sure his God would understand. When the matron had thanked him, he had replied that he thought the Almighty was more of a pragmatist than any of them knew.
Congratulating themselves on their solution, and with perhaps the faintest curiosity as to how their plan would be received by its subjects, the three sat in the matron’s office long enough to celebrate their good sense with another drink. For medicinal purposes, of course, the matron said with a grin, remarking on the pallor of Captain Baillie’s face. She couldn’t stand to see a man with a pale face: she always wanted to check them for blood disorders.
‘Only problem with my blood is there’s not enough whisky in it,’ he muttered.
