Page 7 of Sisters Under The Rising Sun

Others in the water have also noticed the Japanese aircraft heading straight for the stranded passengers. All around them, the sea begins to churn as bullets strike the water; some finding a target. Too many who have survived this leap into the unknown now float lifeless in the waves, their fight over.

‘Mummy! Mummy, where are you?’

Ena and Norah spot a girl of barely school age disappear beneath a wave. Swimming away from John, the pain in their damaged hands forgotten, they move towards the plaintive cries. A wave throws the young girl back to the surface and Ena reaches out and grabs her, pulling her close.

‘I’ve got you. I’ve got you. You’re going to be all right,’ she murmurs.

‘Hold on to her, Ena. Let’s get back to John,’ Norah calls.

‘Where’s my mummy? I can’t find her,’ the girl wails, taking in water and spluttering it out again.

‘We’ll find her, I promise,’ Ena says. ‘Look, just hang on to me and we’ll float. What’s your name?’

‘June. I’m June. My mummy’s name is Dorothy. I’m five years old.’

‘Nice to meet you, June. My name is Ena and this is my big sister, Norah. We’ll look after you until we can find your mummy.’

Ena grasps June around the waist and slowly they paddle over to John, who is swimming towards them. The current is dragging everyone away from the sunken ship, but not fast enough to prevent some from being engulfed in the oil bubbling up from the ship’s fractured tanks.

‘Can it get any worse?’ John laments as they try to brush the oil from their faces. With no clean water, their attempts are futile. ‘Let’s try to make it to the island.’

‘We seem to be moving away from it,’ Norah says.

‘It’s the current, it will keep pushing us out into the Strait. Let’s rest a little and gather our strength before we swim hard for land.’

With June clinging to Ena, they bob along, letting the current take them where it will, which isn’t where they need to be.

Nesta hits the water hard, sinking far below the waves. She lets go of her life jacket and, using both hands, fights to reach the surface. Bursting free, she gasps for air and is immediately struck by a floating body. Her instinct is to check for signs of life, but she soon realises there is no hope for this poor man.

Hearing cries of ‘help’, Nesta swims towards the needy. She sees several nurses clinging to a floating plank, but they call out to reassure her they are fine. She kicks her legs, heading for a lifeboat that is moving away from her. As she rises on a wave, she recognises Matrons Drummond and Paschke, along with several nurses, some of whom are injured. One of her colleagues has two small children draped around her neck. Hanging on to the sides of the boat are desperate men and women. Nesta is relieved: her friend Olive Paschke is safe, and Matron Drummond is with her. They are all doing what they’re trained to do: care for the vulnerable.

Betty Jeffrey swims towards her. ‘Nesta, Nesta, are you OK?’ she calls out.

‘Betty, yes, I’m fine, you?’

‘Uninjured, trying to find others, I don’t think we all made it,’ Betty says, her voice breaking.

‘Over here! Over here!’

The women weave around to see several other nurses treading water together. Without comment, both women swim towards the group.

‘Is everyone OK, any injured?’ Nesta asks immediately.

A chorus of ‘no’ comes back to her. But Nesta spies free-flowing blood from Sister Jean Ashton’s head.

‘Jean, I can see the gash on your head; do any of you have injuries I can’t see?’ Nesta asks of the young nurse.

Jean shakes her head and no one admits to being seriously hurt, other than the knocks and abrasions the salt water is doing its job to heal.

‘What do you want us to do?’ a nurse asks Nesta, acknowledging her seniority even as they float, shipwrecked, in the sea.

Clutching on to each other in a tight circle, the nurses hold an impromptu meeting to discuss any possible ways of helping the injured and vulnerable. ‘Assist where you can, but we need to make getting to safety our priority,’ Nesta assures them.

‘Let’s get ashore and take it from there. Did you see the matrons?’

‘I did, they’re both in the same lifeboat with some other nurses and civilians,’ Betty informs the group.

‘I saw them briefly; I don’t think they saw me before I was carried away,’ Nesta tells her.