To Zanzibar

Before she left London Helen bought all the tropical gear she needed - including dresses, hats, a topi, a riding outfit, and nine white uniforms for the office - and spent two weeks at the Colonial Office learning the filing system and the codes and ciphers needed for Zanzibar. She then embarked on the Llangibby Castle at Tilbury, with her father, mother, Noel and Kenzie coming aboard to see her off. They were sitting in the saloon when she was called away by a steward to take a telephone call on the dock. It was a reporter who asked her questions about her job. Remembering the instructions she had been given by the Colonial Office, she replied carefully and broke off the call by telling him she had to say goodbye to her parents.

The evening after the ship left Gibraltar (pictured) Helen's cabin steward told her there was an article about her in the Daily Express. She was horrified to read it and realised that it would cause a lot of trouble - and also that her mother must have given the reporter the photograph and had briefed him, very fancifully, about her job. Mr. McElderry, the Chief Secretary of Zanzibar, who had interviewed and appointed her, boarded the ship at Marseilles. He had seen the article and was very concerned about its effect in Zanzibar, particularly on the Resident who had been very against her appointment.

There was nothing they could do about it but Helen worried that, on arrival in Zanzibar, she might be sent straight back to England so she worked hard on various papers with Mr McElderry throughout the voyage. She also appreciated that it was essential that she justified her appointment to the Secretariat.

The picture shows HMS Barham at Port Said, the entrance to the Suez Canal. Barham was sunk in 1941 by U331 off the coast of Egypt with the loss of 862 crew.

Her fellow-passengers included a good number of young people, including some RAF officers on their way to Egypt, and Helen - second from right - thoroughly enjoyed herself.

Helen kept a diary of the voyage: it can be downloaded here.