Escape to Pagan by Brian Devereux Page A

refugees. I felt safe for once. We would be in the queue for the flight to India tomorrow. That night the edge of the airfield twinkled with small fires as people cooked their evening meals. The following day we were pleased to see that everything was being conducted in an orderly manner. There were both British Army and Air Force personnel present, moving among the crowds of refugees keeping order. They told everyone not to panic as there were plenty of planes scheduled to arrive. Soon we would all be safe in India; the Japanese were still a long way away.
    â€œThose not in the queues waited patiently to join them at the edge of the airfield; today or tomorrow we would all be on a plane to India and freedom. Some of the children played together while they waited, but we kept you in-between us in case you got lost.
    â€œThe transport planes began arriving at regular intervals and the people in the front of the queues climbed aboard. My God, so many people got on. l watched the planes slowly take off and head towards India and safety. I was scared; I had never been in a plane before.
    â€œI could see my mother was worried about leaving her other children and members of her family behind in Burma. I was determined not tolet her suddenly change her mind once I was on the plane. I told my mother: If you suddenly change your mind and don’t get on the plane, I won’t go to India on my own.
    â€œWe met some families we knew that had escaped from Rangoon. They told us Rangoon was a madhouse. The Gloucester Regiment were patrolling the city in jeeps and were forced to shoot looters and arsonists. Every shop window had been smashed; even the military were seen taking what they needed from the shops. Armed dacoits were operating in the suburbs. Brand new American vehicles were being burnt at the docks by British soldiers. Everyone seemed to be panicking, there was no organisation and hundreds of people including soldiers were escaping along the main road.
    â€œAll the dangerous animals in Rangoon zoo had escaped when it was bombed. The same happened with the lunatic asylum and Rangoon jail. Mad people and criminals were looting the shops and roaming the streets laughing and shouting and setting fire to everything. It was total bedlam. Fortunately the Japs had not entered the city as yet. The refugees also said that Mandalay was being heavily bombed. Thank God our family were no longer living there.
    â€œI prayed my eldest sister Grace’s house in Rangoon had not been bombed or looted. The refugees told us the trains were still running but the station gates had been shut as most of the carriages had been reserved for the Civil Service and the Colonial department. Desperate civilians were climbing on the roofs of the carriages and were being beaten off by Indian police with long canes.
    â€œThe following morning the transport planes began arriving again; by midday we were standing in the middle of the queue in the full heat of the sun but there were hold ups as the organizers were giving priority to large groups of new Indian arrivals. We heard later that these people were paying for their passage. The planes loaded up quickly and then took off.
    â€œDue to the loud noise of the planes on the runway, we did not hear the approaching enemy bombers. We all fell to the ground terrified. It was our worst bombing experience up until now. You and all the other children were screaming with fear, even grown ups were crying in despair as they lost members of their family. When the enemy planes left we stood up to find mutilated bodies all around us and hotshards of shrapnel burning the grass. I can still hear the cries for help. Queues reformed again and a few planes began to arrive but now there was no order; it became a free for all. My mother and I prayed for a miracle. Some men fought their way onto the planes that had recently landed; once there, they found their wives and children were missing and strangers were