Leaving Zanzibar

When Helen left Zanzibar in 1943, to accompany my father to his new posting in Dar-es-Salaam, she received several very complimentary letters of thanks for the work she had done since her arrival on the island in 1935.

The first is from the government. It's an interesting letter, not least because it was signed by Bill Addis, who was a great friend of my parents. He had taken over as acting chief secretary when SBB McElderry left and went on to become governor of the Seychelles. While he was there his sons used to stay with us in Mombasa on their way to and from the islands for their summer holidays. In those days the islands were so remote that a 'plane could only reach them from the nearest bit of land.

Helen also worked for the Clove Growers Association which dealt with all aspects of Zanzibar's very valuable clove growing industry. Again, the writer is fulsome in praise of her work.

She also worked for the Economic Control Board which oversaw all aspects of Zanzibar's commercial life through the war years, right down to ordering all the imported food the islands needed and supervising their distribution.

These letters must have been very heartening to her for she had arrived in Zanzibar under the cloud of the Daily Express article yet she had gone on to prove her worth.