CHLOE ELLIOTT

 

British Commonwealth troops fought the Imperial Japanese Army in Malaya from December 1941 to February 1942. When Japan invaded Malaya, Britain did little to defend the peninsula, concentrating their defence on Singapore. The Japanese remained in occupation of Malaya until they surrendered to the Allies in September 1945. The British remained in Malaya and set up a British Military Administration. They ensured the devaluation of the Japanese currency, leading to severe food shortages and a huge spike in inflation, and leaving the population vulnerable to famine.

There was great resistance to Britain’s attempt to control Malaysia and reassert colonial rule. The Malayan Emergency (1948-1960) saw a guerrilla war between the Communist Party of Malaysia (CPM) – who wanted independence – against the Common Wealth. The British declared a State of Emergency and engaged in brutal tactics against the National Liberation Army, including scorched earth tactics.

This sequences reworks and responds to one of the Calling Blighty films, a series of short films made between 1944-1946 that featured British soldiers recording messages for their families and friends. The discussed film is CALLING BLIGHTY NO. 241, produced by The Directorate of Services Kinematography for the Welfare General in India. It runs at 11 minutes and 31 seconds with a description that reads: ‘Malaya, Christmas 1945 – servicemen from Wigan, Cheadle and Gatley gather to send their messages home. They end by singing ‘ Show me the way to go home’.’ It is accessible from the North West Film Archive. The poem reworks one of the mentioned relatives in the film’s transcript – Rose.

Chloe Elliott

 

CHRISTMAS 1945

Here’s to this new country:

Bald and without center – Jenny Xie

I

Now it’s all very easy

you can see all the cameras

microphones sound waiting

and all you have to do is make yourself comfortable

about the place

and the camera will come around to you

 

you’re not nervous are you?

 

who are you

going to talk to?

 

your wife

there she is in front

there she is in the bath

 

hello my darling girl

it is nice

to have the opportunity to talk

to you like this

 

you’re all

wet cement

fly ash bound

with water

a total of sea or foam

 

but I’m afraid you’ve got all the advantage

cause you can see me and

I’ve got no chance whatsoever

 

it shouldn’t be very long now before

you’re out here with me

I hope

and then we’ll be altogether again

your sewing kept together very well

 

how’s tony getting along?

I hope he’s keeping a good eye on you

even if he is a little terror

that’s just about all I can manage

no darling this is giving

me jitters

and now here’s jack

to talk to his missus from Hadfield

 

 

II

 

why are you nervous jack?

 

all I can manage is this little terror

I’m damned by what I can say

 

she is in the bath       mouth

underneath round and flat

like a water snowflake

 

I hope you’re not out of health

this should be a very

wonderful moment for you

 

I didn’t think I should have this opportunity

to be speaking to you from Malaya

 

darling come up to the camera

like those amberjack in

Melaka           opus of juvenile yellow

all the o’s wanting a good snack

for a great table fare

 

 

III

 

Hello dearest I’m in the pink

I’m not going to shoot the old life

of the sob stuff because you know

I haven’t got it in me

dearest

 

figure yourself without ears

but with flaps

hexagonal chambers

composing two sides of your face

dearest Rose

 

no doubt you’re surprised

to see me on film

not as much as I am myself

 

dearest Rose

figure yourself

a perfectly symmetrical forehead

a milkmaid’s hat

a fuchsia wax

flushed

to cheeks

a small mass a blond

 

figure for us a rich hot broth

stapling our guts together

 

there’s not an awful lot I can say sweetheart

there’s not an awful lot I can say sweetheart

that woman has taken

rubbings from the earth

and scorched them onto her skin

 

that woman with

marbled skin

settling like lychees in water

 

Hello I didn’t think I should have this opportunity

to be speaking to you from Malaya

and now I have the opportunity

I’m damned if I know what to say

 

 

IV

 

I hope you’re not out of health

this should be a very

wonderful moment for you

I hope to be home soon

I’m a bit

frowned off with this country

 

 

V

 

underneath the slim river her mouth

round and flat like a water snowflake

 

I’m damaged if I know what to say

 

I promise I’ve got no food

I’ve got no chance whatsoever

 

but this is a first and probably last chance

of having the first and last words

 

 

VI

 

Hello dearest I’m in the pink

I’m not going to shoot the old life

of the sob stuff because you know

I haven’t got it in me

you know the most forward thing in

my mind is to get back home

with you all and have a pint at

the Old Star with George and Frank

and get back to normal life again

 

And you uncle John

still troubled by your aches and pains?

I sincerely hope not

 

please close your mouth

 

I think I can see her down there                can you?

 

across your cheeks darker red dots

freckles that scatter into stretched out skin

webbed ears

 

close your mouth

 

Rose a rubber leaf for your thoughts

 

speak directly into the camera

 

that your men sons have appreciated what you said

click

I beg your pardon

the men who have been privileged

 

 

VII

 

Hello my dear mother

and my dear relations

and friends who are privileged

to see and hear me today

in closing I wish to say goodbye

to you all and hope that

in the near future I shall have

the pleasure of seeing you again

we are the last three to be filmed

of the Manchester and Lancashire boys

and now I would like to say

to all you people

you mothers fathers daughters sisters

I would like to say on behalf of you all

that your men sons have appreciated what you said

click

I beg your pardon

the men here who have been privileged

to speak to you have thoroughly

enjoyed it

goodbye and godbless you all

 

 

VIII

 

The mail is coming alright now

 

but go this long without language

and its long enough to make a girl go dizzy

 

figure Rose petals

wax seed

lady’s slipper

figure nightslip looking to unroot

hanging duck dry aged from a hook

 

in the dark I asked you to look at a proudness

you had this way of questioning everything

spotting a warning sign

 

what if I have mistaken you for those I have grieved for?

 

 

IX

 

show me the way to go home

I’m tired and I want to go to bed

I had a little drink about an hour ago

and it’s gone right to my head

wherever I may roam

on land or sea or foam

you will always hear me singing this song

show me the way to go home

 

Chloe Elliott

 

Image courtesy of North West Film Archive at Manchester Metropolitan University