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THEY WERE 68 and we were 79. “They” were the 68 Chinese, British and other allied military personnel and civilian officials who escaped from Hong Kong on Christmas Day 1941 as the island surrendered to Japanese forces. Most escaped on five Motor Torpedo Boats (MTBs), lightly-armed, three-engined speedboats capable of nearly 50 knots; some started in a small launch, then had to swim for their lives before eventually joining the MTBs, while others followed in a tug.

One reason for the dash, and the factor that ensured their success, was the presence of the senior Chinese nationalist representative on Hong Kong Island, the one-legged Admiral Chan Chak, an important figure in both the Chinese navy and in the ruling Kuomintang party. His future, were he to fall into Japanese hands, could be only too easily imagined, and there was a gentlemen’s agreement that he should be helped to escape. Some senior British officers and civilians joined him.