31 Dec 1941, Colin McEwan Diary

During the morning I had the opportunity of attending a ceremony I had heard about but imagined was extinct – Mike and Leung (the Guerrilla Chief) becoming blood brothers. (A margin note here: In Feb met Mrs Leung (indecipherable squiggle) R.Lee/DB) I rather imagine that the ceremony has never been carried out in more hygienic conditions. Instead of the story book atmosphere of cutting open the arm and mixing the blood by use of a cock’s feather by the light of a guttering candle, here we had a qualified practitioner scraping the arms with a scalpel after disinfecting the skin – a slight graze – the 2 arms pressed together – application of iodine and here the ceremony was completed and over unless, as Mike suggested later, some syphilitic blood had been transferred to him.

Since Tai and I were moving back to Namo (Nam O)to collect the guns etc. on the following day we packed and in the evening saw the Navy off before setting out to see how Wai Yeung celebrated Hogmanay. A little whisky had been forthcoming since wise virgin Tai still had a small amount in his water bottle. The evening began with an excellent dinner following which, Al(Al Wong), in his role of guide to Waichow night life, led us to the red light district. The atmosphere there was hardly calculated to arouse any desire – both surroundings and personnel being of such a nature as to repel rather than attract – One feature was the age of the girls – some of whom looked about 13 and the extreme interest shown by all and sundry including a policeman who by this time was acting as guide and wine bearer. Midnight saw us drinking to 1942 with full honours to the surprise and apprehension of all. Evidently broken glasses are an uncommon sight. On our way home an argument arose re the time – we had been in a complete mix up re Chungking, Waichow, and HK time. The problem was solved easily enough by bringing in the New Year again according to Chungking time following which we wended a very erratic way homewards. And so the year went out, luckily for Mike, who just escaped a .455 in his foot during my gun clearing.

((This is the end of the major typed account. There now follows a more illegible - through age of paper - account up until the 7^thJanuary 1942 in China.))