The War Diary of the 2/20 Battalion reported on the publication of their own
magazine "Thumbs Up" saying 'very much credit was due to NX53925, Pte
F W Wilson for his untiring efforts in connection with this most popular
publication.'
'Glimpses of Malaya' by PIC from "Thumbs Up", Volume 1, Number
1, May 1941.
·
The quaint bullock-waggons with their pairs of
humpy-necked zebus patiently plodding along with their loads of wood. Sometimes
a Burmese covered waggon with its sweeping roofs that covered and shaded the
beasts as well as the driver.
·
The native shops, dirty and crowded, with their
goods one jumbled mass of mixed up articles, and usually a group of stolid
faced Chinamen lounging about them.
·
The humble Malayan homes with children and
chickens in equal numbers.
·
How we trekked through rubber plantation every
tree with its cuts and cup that make the collection of latex possible.
·
The shy and gaily dressed women and the
chattering children whose thumbs were always up in friendly greeting as we
passed.
·
The beach, the swimming enclosure, and the
native fishing boats that seemed to sit on the horizon.
·
The temples of worship that were found in each
hamlet.
·
The jungle that we hacked our way through with
parang and bill-hook.
·
Mahomet Sutan (who sold papers in the barracks)
with his sunny smile and picturesque costume.
·
The blackouts when the canteen was closed and
the night seemed twice as hot.
·
The natives washing themselves and their clothes
at a wayside water tap.
·
The attap huts with their palm-leaf walls and
roofs and their dirt floors.
·
The lovely two-storied homes along the beach
front that had such homely names as "Clovelly" and "Palm
Beach".
·
The dhobies who collected our washing and the
barbers who cut our hair.
·
The coconut palms and the paddi-fields we saw
from the road.
·
The headaches we got at first trying to work out
the value of 15 cents when a dollar was worth 2/11.
And those sunsets.
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