smoke cleared someWhat after that awful expJ9- sion and everybody , white-faced , looked at everybody else , it was fOUndthat not a single soul was hurt . Then followed a scene never to be forgotten . The Colonel stood a . mong the men , white-faced , shaken , but brave as a lion . I was near him . Scarcely could anybody talk . Words dried up in our throats . It was a tense moment . The Colonel spoke his pleasure that nObody was hurt and looked at me appealingly . Up Went two brawny arms . They were those of the Chef with his huge tattooed chest , tousled hair , half-wild half-sobbing face with eyes popping Outof his h : ad . He grabbed my hands and roared : " Yecan thank these good men if we ' re alive ; we ' re not worth it , Father give me a rosary ." Igave hi . rnone . Ikept several in my pocket with medals . ' 1believe in God and in the Christian Brothers ", he said , and he kissed the rosary and put it round his neck .
' The Brothers helped me to distribute mo re rosaries and medals too . The Catholic boys had theirs already but now every man jack of the rest wanted them . Every . man , even the rudest and roughest , has a gOod Spot in his heart . This scene , the last before the sUrrender , which took place an hOUIafter the clock stopped , might be considered the culminating point of an official mission .
' Fear and death made men search into the depths of their SOUls . while everything was crumbling about us in the metaphorical sense , the only thing that matters , religion , had a clear field . The human had Collapsed , the Divine shone out .
' Before I pick up again the story of the battle and its consequences , I Would have a few words about
OUI shelter life . We practically lived in it day and night for the last week before the Fall . The kitchen was quite near it . We lived On OUI reserves of tinned food and cases of aerated water with three or fOUI of good old Dublin stout . Wewere hard putto it to get water at all . 1 ' 0 drink it , even after boiling , would be very dangerous . Experience showed tha tour foresigh t was wise on allcoun ts . Werisked
OUI liveS to satisfy the demands of nature : washing or bathing was out of the question . So we had to live in tne shelter with the sailors from the Catholic Club across the road which they were using as a picket station - forty of them .
' The " enlightening " bomb of which I have already made mention must be re-introduced here . It fell on the cement wall at the angle of the room in which they had constructed a rude shelter of mattresses on tables re-inforced by knock-down bed frames . It made a hole over their heads but exploded upwards and outwards . We got the benefit of the flying splinters , already recorded in detail ; and they got a close call . Over they came to us asking if we could give them a billet . Wedid . They looked very shaken and pale . We must have looked similar to their view . We became great friends and they , with the soldiers and the poor fellows , survivors of the " Prince of Wales " and the " Repulse " , stuck itou t to the end . Wetaugh t many of them the rudiments of OUI faith at their request ; the simple prayers , but above all the act of contrition , with great confidence in God .
' They said of us what was said of OUI Lord , " Never did men speak like this ( to us before )". Quite a number had no religion . They drank in what we told them .
' Several good lads asked my permission to attend masses said by the chaplains for the Catholics . They explained , " We know OUI pals are getting something good out of this , could we be with them 7 ". And they marvelled to see their pals going to Confession , hearing Mass , so fascinatingly strange to them , and returning from communion looking so happy . Above all they saw how they prayed ; they wanted to know how to pray like them and , with the chaplains , we helped them .
' I st : illlike to think of them , so simple and humble though so woefully neglected on the one side that matters . But what about that number nine shell ? It struck one of the pillars of the outer ground verandah near the road , killing three Gurkhas ( Nepalese soldiers ), and wounding many more . I have setits short story apart , because ithad noconnection with the parts of the buildings occupied by the hospital corps . There was not a single casualty there , though there should have been many . This preservation was truly supernatural . There is no other explanation . The idea of it so gripped the whole lot of us that OUI guests were loud in their wonderment and praise of the protecting hand of God and it touched them to their inmost souls . No wonder in their good heartedness they wanted to know about the good God who infinitely lovesus all .
' Now let us go back to Buck . itTimah . This last line was smashed by the [ ap after day and night assaults . Yamashita , of evil memory , said he would reduce the city to smithereens if surrender were not forthcoming ; and he ordered the demonstration massacre on the afternoon of the 14th to drive home that he meant what he said .
' The Governor , SirShenton Thomas , takingthe advice of his military advisers , ordered the surrender of the city to prevent further slaughter in a situation recognised as hopeless . The military commanders met the [ aps and formally offered unconditional surrender . It appears they parleyed for the concession of not allowing the Jap suicide squads to en ter the city . 1do not know ifthisistrue , but we are told that they were kept out .
' Of course nobody but the authorities knew what was taking place in these last four hours , though facts came to light afterwards . Wenoticed , however , thatthe bombing had ceased though the shelling was sporadic . That sad Sunday night we were all in the shel ter composing ourselves as best we could for sleep , when at about 8.00 p . m ., we heard the wailing of a siren which continued quite a long time ; then it ceased . Speculation was rife . It must be surrender . The growing quiet proved it ,
36 Memories ofSJI