Battlecruiser (1997) by Reeman Douglas

Author:Reeman, Douglas [Reeman, Douglas]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: WWII/Naval/Fiction
Published: 2003-09-01T23:00:00+00:00

10

Survivors

The uniformed doorman examined the girl’s official identity card and letter of introduction, and said, ‘If you’ll wait in the office, miss . . . er, Mrs Meheux, Captain Thorne will not keep you waiting too long.’

As she walked through the other door he glanced at her approvingly.

Very nice. Some people have all the luck.

She sat down on a chair and looked around the office, like so many places commandeered for wartime use.

On the door a small sign stated, Director of Naval Information – Restricted. It was afternoon, and she had walked here from her old office in Grand Buildings, Trafalgar Square, where she had been concluding Sir Graham Edwardes’ affairs before handing over to another woman who had seemed totally disinterested in the work, or what it might offer.

She stuck out one leg and regarded it critically. This was her last good pair of stockings, and yet the girls she had shared rooms with had never seemed short of a supply. The Americans could be very generous, she gathered.

She smiled to herself. That had all changed. This new position was described as promotion, but what was more important to her was the small flat that went with the job. It was in Chelsea, off the King’s Road, where lodgings were even harder to obtain than good stockings. She could not see the river because of surrounding houses, but it was pleasant simply to know that it was there.

She loosened her blouse. The change in the weather was amazing, and she had walked here without a coat. The sky was overcast, with low cloud, so that the barrage balloons were invisible, but it was April. Another spring of war. Where had the time gone?

She had written to her father, about the new job, about London, and concerning the most recent letter she had received from the War Office. She allowed her mind to explore its subject. Philip . . . There was still no news of him, and it seemed that the only sources of information were the Swiss Red Cross and other neutral agencies. Lieutenant Philip Meheux, Royal Engineers, had last been seen with his unit, or what had been left of it, on the day Singapore had fallen. He had not been reported killed or captured, and there had not even been a rumour of it. He was simply missing. The War Office had told her that there was still hope, but she wondered if anyone in her situation really believed that.

In her previous work with the hero of the Great War, she had searched through all the records released on Singapore: many, she knew, would remain classified. She had learned about the navy’s part in that hopeless attempt at defence, and the tragedy of those two great ships, Repulse and Prince of Wales. With their destruction, the balance of naval power had shifted. Singapore had been as good as lost from that moment.

She had been thinking of Singapore when she had visited Rosyth. Reliant was Repulse’s sister ship, but she could not remember if she had merely read that, or if Guy Sherbrooke had told her.

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