70 years ago: Hong Kong's wartime diaries

Goodwin stood outside a large darkened village when he saw through a narrow alley a watchman with a lantern passing along the central roadway.

He decided to enter and avoiding the watchman walked right through the village. Walking with bare feet he could hear people moving in their sleep and saw the heads of occupants through open doorways. He could find no exit from the village, and fearful of disturbing a dog and rousing the whole village, he quietly back-tracked to the entrance and took a track outside the village that went up a steep hill covered with small trees and thorn bush. Tired out by his efforts he stopped at three big trees to await the dawn.

"The strain of the journey was making itself increasingly felt. The constant wet, the desperate struggling over rugged terrain in the intense darkness and the almost total lack of food were rapidly wearing one down. It was obvious that my solo effort could not last  much longer."

Daylight revealed that he was well away from the sea, and for the first time he had no idea how to proceed. He knew the general direction of the sea, and decided to walk by the early morning light around the expanse of paddy that was obviously the property of the village he could see below him. He would then make his way to the ridge he had crossed during the night, then descend from there.

"That decision was no sooner made than the plan was put into execution, for every moment of delay increased the chances of discovery."

He moved as quickly as possible down through terraced gardens, slowed down by protective thorn bushes, until he reached a track that took him around the paddy, and away from the village.

He made good time on this track, and reached a point where he could enter a valley. As he went in he  could just make out, far behind him, the villagers entering the fields to work. There were several resting places, that were well concealed near a stream, and he lay down to rest, hoping to find sleep. Sleep was out of the question thought, and within half an hour encouraged by the sunshine, he recorded in his diary:-

"Beautiful sunny day, hope there are more of them. Another wet one would have finished me."

He collected some fresh-water snails, and after drying his matches soon had a fire burning to cook these, and some rice he had collected. The bracken and twigs he burnt made almost no smoke. The snails made a tasty but rather small meal, but the rice was almost inedible. He then rested but still did not sleep, while all his possessions were drying in the sun.

"It was simply marvelous to feel warm dry and comfortable after ten days of constant saturation, of chilling gales, and an extreme of physical depression."

After several hours of relaxation he shouldered a much lighted pack, and climbed to the top of a ridge. He considered that his khaki clothes and brown skin would give reasonable camouflage on the open grassy hills, and he made his way to the edge of the spur of land he was climbing, then lay down to admire a view of Mirs Bay that captivated him. It reminded him of the Bay of Islands in New Zealand where he had spent many delightful cruising holidays, and the sight of a Japanese patrol launch idling along, increased his caution but made him resentful that the enemy could enjoy such beautiful conditions.

He could see below a beach curving away towards the village of Shatau, and he could just make out some construction work along the seashore about twelve miles away. He did not realise it at the time but his vision was failing through diet deficiency. He descended to the beach to rest and wait for darkness.

Making his way along the beach and a good track around rocks, he was soon heading away along a well defined path. He carried on along the shore until he came to the constructon he had seen from his vantage point on the spur, and he walked on, often through mud until he found he was on a damaged seawall that was under repair. He was soon on a wall that made a perfect road heading towards the lights of Shatau. It would have been around midnight when he set off in the direction of that village.