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When Singapore fell to the Japanese in February 1942, almost 15,000 thousand Australian troops were taken prisoner.
Families back home waited anxiously for news of their loved ones, needing to know if they had been killed in the fighting or had become prisoners of war.
Many waited in vain. Details of casualties were spasmodic and mail from those taken prisoner was almost non existent.
Daisy Boyden was devastated by the disappearance of her son Arthur who had been in Singapore during the Japanese invasion. She had no idea if he was still alive but decided to hope for the best and wrote regular letters to him.
She was advised of a forwarding address for Arthur but the letters she sent to Singapore were never delivered (these were returned later). Then she was told not to send any more letters until they had news of Arthur's whereabouts. But she kept writing the letters without posting them, and this gave Daisy a focus and helped keep her optimistic.
She was a highly religious woman and peppered her letters with quotes from the bible such as 'God helped him...He was marvellously helped. 2 Chron 26.7.15'
Her first letter, dated 25 January 1942, was in response to one received from Arthur, written while he was still in Malaysia. At this stage Daisy was full of hope and described a family outing. "We all slept well, of course. I wake up very often through the night and pray for you, & the dear children say their prayers after our prayer. It is just lovely hearing them pray their prayer for you after their usual 'Jesus tender shepherd hear me'.
"I let Dai [Arthur's wife] have your letter and she sent it back with Beverley [Arthur's daughter]. She was very interested and we think your suggestion very good, passing on letters to one another. I copy those I get into my "War letter book". I think of you day and night and I commit you into God's special keeping and I know He will keep you and surround you with His mercy and loving kindness." A few days later she wrote again after hearing that the Causeway between Malaya and Singapore had been destroyed by the Japanese. "What a lot you will have to tell us when you write. We are putting our whole trust in God, knowing that He is able to help & supply all you need.
"I hope you got my letter and the children's we sent last mail dear. I will put down here what I sent in the parcel: 1 Johnson's powder, box of muscatel raisins, Jordan almonds, 2 books, Hayes Nook and Sweik, 1 pair khaki cotton socks, Log Cabin fine cut tobacco, 4 pkts cigarette papers, pkt safety razors, cake of Erasmus soap and powder puff." On 5 February she wrote after Dagma had received a cable from Arthur in Singapore. "What a joy we had when Dai received your cable from Singapore. She phoned me and with such a thankful heart. I passed on the message to each member of the family. Stewart [Arthur's brother], I could hear the tears in his voice when he said 'thank God'.
"Much love from us all, specially from your loving and devoted mother. I have never once missed writing to you since you left, each week. 'The angel of the Lord encampeth around about them that fear Him and delivereth them.' I have 102 names on my prayer list and pray for each one separately every morning and all thanks to God, they have been kept safe through the love of Jesus." Her next letter described the "most anxious and terrible week" knowing what the Allies were going through in Singapore. "What awful suffering. I can scarcely bear to read it & yet feel I cannot miss a word," she wrote.
"This morning we went to the 11 o'clock Holy Communion Service, Paul [another brother] & I. How earnestly we pray for you and Lance [another brother] there.
"St Jude's looks so strange. Each Sunday, while the people are in church, two wardens are in the tower, i.e. in the gallery. There is a little blue light fixed so that directly there is a raid coming, the blue light flashes out so that Mr Abrahams can see it. He then asks everyone to stand, telling them a raid is coming & he just pronounces the benediction & the congregation goes out in sections so there can be no crowding. They are to be 'cool, calm and collected'.
"There are four large cards painted in scarlet: Area 1, Area 2, Area 3 and Area 4 and we know which entrance we have to leave the Church, Paul & I by No 2 Area door." On 22 February, after the fall of Singapore, Daisy Boyden wrote how anxious they all were for Arthur. It was at this stage she was advised not to post any more letters. "We do not expect to hear just yet, but we are not to send any more parcels or letters to S [Singapore] but I will be writing each week and I expect they will all be taken care of for you and you will get them in a heap." The next week she wrote again. "It seems so strange to write a letter to you and not be able to send, but I am going to write a few lines every Sunday, hoping when we hear where you are, we will be able to send all our back letters by air mail, if we put by the 9d, so that you get them as soon as possible.
"This will be the last letter I will be writing to you from our dear little flat as we find in these days we cannot keep it up. But we are not moving from Randwick, in fact, only 10 minutes walk from where we are.
"We have taken a large room on the ground floor which will do for a bed-sitting room for me, and Paul has a small bedroom next to mine and we are going to board. The house is a large kindergarten school but all the children have been evacuated to the country until after the war.
"Oh Arthur darling, if I had not committed you into God's keeping and trusting in the name of Jesus I could not go on, but I believe God will bring you back again, after all you must have gone through." On 8 March she wrote; "The address above will show you we have left the dear home flat. We arrived here last Friday, March 6. Dear Stewart [Arthur's oldest brother] and Queen kindly came and called for me at Avoca Street & brought me in the car. It was such a help & Paul had come with a man to have the furniture put in the right place to look as much like home as possible." Her daughter Lilien moved into the flat above Daisy's room.
The following week Daisy Boyden was feeling more optimistic. "Another week gone, one nearer to your homecoming. Oh what a day it will be," she wrote. "I'm not going to write you any more long letters because when I read them over, I think you will be weary - so I will try to condense the news.
"We have not been able to find a place for everything yet; they are put into a shed as we unpack. It is so nice to have Lil and the girls walking about overhead. Every man, woman and child has to register their name, their duties, their age, what they would be willing to do in war work. Lil has offered for munition work part of the day. That is for married women who also have domestic duties. Alice is on the switchboard at the university several nights a week; she gets very tired but loves the work. Helen is at war work at her position." The lack of news was now beginning to tell on Daisy Boyden. "This silence between us is very hard to bear, but we must be brave & patient until we get word from each other. I am still writing each week to keep you in touch with all that has happened since we said goodbye.
"We are getting more settled but the meals here are dreadfully haphazard - I've not had anything since my tomato juice and milk, which I had before Paul left. I am simply longing for a cup of tea which I expected at 11; it is now 12.37. I am dreadful complaining when perhaps you have nothing to eat or drink (May God forgive me." On 6 April she wrote about attending church for the Easter service. "We all went to St Jude's & had a lovely communion service. The Rector was so reverent and seemed to feel every word he said.
"Paul's case at the Military Court comes off next Friday. He applied for exemption on account of my health and we are praying God to guide him." Paul's case with the Military Court was the subject of her next letter on 12 April. It was her eighth letter to Arthur since the fall of Singapore. "His case was put off for a fortnight but he said the Magistrate seemed favourable. The doctor had given him a certificate to say what I was suffering from & my age & he stated that it would be very detrimental to my health if he was taken from me. Of course, dear, we are making it a matter of prayer." On 26 April she wrote: "Yesterday being dear Dagma's birthday, Paul rang her up to know if it would be convenient for him to come up & bring our gifts. She had promised to go to No 9 for lunch & they asked her to bring Paul with her, which she did, & later on in the afternoon, she, Paul, Beverley and Ian [Arthur's son] came to see us all. Oh my dear one, how you must long to see them all again, please God it will be soon.
"You will be glad to know Paul got his exemption from military service - oh I am so glad. Being 43 and in the NES, the court said they would grant his request." It was Arthur's birthday on 30 April. "I am going to send a cable of enquiry to the Red Cross, because by the SMH I see they are able to send an enquiry cable (only a few at a time) to find out about dear ones who are in Japanese hands," Daisy wrote.
"There were a list of names of civilians and prisoners in yesterday's SMH. The lists are being released today through the International Red Cross in Geneva, more lists to be released soon. Inquiries for servicemen & prisoners-of-war. I do pray through this we may hear good news of you my dear one." The next few letters were mostly sad news, people ill or dying - but one bright note was the visit of Arthur's daughter, Beverley. "Beverley found her way from no 9 Springfield Avenue to our house. Freda put her on the train.
"Her stomach is a bit upset so we could not go to church this morning. I was so disappointed but never mind. Better luck next time. She looks such a lady in her new coat and hat. She is growing quite tall." On 4 June she wrote again. "We all thought if you on your 12th wedding day. I do pray that you both may have a very happy anniversary for the next.
"I had four of my letters I had written to you returned to me. I did feel sad they never got to you. One had a letter from Beverley and Ian enclosed but I am saving them all to go in the packet I am sending you when we can get them through to you." On 21 June 1942, Daisy Boyden wrote what turned out to be her last letter to Arthur. She was saddened by the death of her closest friend, Mrs Chick. "I shall feel her loss very much but she suffered so much in her last year of life - we can only thank God for taking her over the other side.
"I am writing this in bed dear, so you will excuse the cramped letters dear heart. All your brothers and sister and sisters-in-law, nieces and nephews enquire after you and send love. May you soon come back to us all." Daisy's health continued to deteriorate and she was confined to bed. The death of her closest friend, Mrs Chick, and the heartache of not knowing what had happened to Arthur, all contributed to her end. She died on 1 December 1943 from oedema, aged 79.
But her prayers must have been answered for Arthur survived being a prisoner of war, despite being forced to work on the infamous Burma-Thai railway, and returned to Australia at the end of the war.
The material for this article was supplied by Beverley Boyden of Queensland, Arthur's eldest child.
08/01/2002
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