Peter never asks his mother, what life was like when she was young and as a result he is blind to her suffering. Only after she died could he appreciate her strengths and question what had happened to his father Ken after he became a prisoner of war of the Japanese. Two weeks before Singapore surrendered as she escapes with Peter in her arms on a filthy troop ship, she and Ken vow to meet again. Under attack from bombers she fled with 1000 women and 400 children to South Africa. On her return to post war England she sought news of Ken. News that told of the Japanese POW camps, where brutality and starvation were the order of the day. No information ever emerged for her to find closure. She brings up Peter in post war England to become a doctor. Though bound together by a deep love their independence kept them apart but after she dies Peter discovers the Where and the When. Most of this story is based on fact; much is surmise. The historical figure existed but their words and actions are mine.