By Dorothy Nixon

8) Freddy Bloom:If the Changi Civilian POW facilities were divided into two camps, the Men's and the Women's, the Women's camp seemed to be also divided up the middle into two warring factions,one with Freddy Bloom (Editor the the Women's Camp newspaper, the Pow Wow) and one with my Grandmother. At her visit in 1967 my grandmother told my mother that the Americans hoarded their Red Cross baskets at Changi.

Freddy Bloom's book, Dear Philip 1982, never mentions my grandmother's name, although, if you read between the lines, it is clear Freddy did not respect her. "Cecily is out and a highly inefficient bunch is in now." That would be my grandmother. An incident (which I put in my play) in which my grandmother participated was mentioned, but her name not mentioned.

My grandmother felt it her duty to be on Committees, (she wryly told my mom "When in trouble, the British strike a Committee")Freddy (a younger woman, newly wed and in love) felt that committees were a waste of time and she preferred being "the power behind the throne." She was a good friend of Dr. Cecily Williams the Women's Representative before my grandmother.

Freddy says in her letters that she is miffed about not being able to talk to Tominaga directly and then, somehow, does. This must have miffed my grandmother. Also in the book Freddy mentions that some people are going overboard with respect to 'censorship issues' and my grandmother's diary mentions an incident where she felt internees were being careless about where they read The News "out in the open where anyone could see." Freddy writes that she takes great care with censorship.So there were clearly rifts between the two women.

Freddy Bloom was awarded an OBE for her work with the deaf. Neither is Freddy mentioned in my grandmother's memoirs.

The Red Cross Representative, Ethel Mulvaney, a Canadian, is mentioned. Edith and my grandmother storm in on a visiting Japanese dignitary one time to demand drugs for patients. The women are treated with respect. Ethel was responsible for suggesting that internees make The Changi Quilt