Alan L Marchant HKVDC M. N. Hong Kong
Allen L Marchant M. N.
Alan L Marchant HKVDC from Canada had been employed by the international trader and shipping agent Jardine Matheson & Company in Hong Kong, and volunteered to crew C-410 with Commander Montague R. N. and joined up with Admiral Chan Chak's MTB escape party at NanAo, deep behind enemy lines in China.
Photo from Buddy Hide's collection ©
Waichow 30th December 1941
When the escape party arrived in Kunming towards the end of January Mr Urquhart, the agent for the international traders and shipping agent Jardine Matheson & Company in their Kunming office took on Eddie Brazel, Eric Cox-Walker, Holgar Christiansen, and Alan Marchant. The former employees were needed to staff new inland regional offices being set up due to the loss of China's southern ports. The demand for silk was at an all time high, not for the luxury hosiery market, but for air force parachutes.[80]
Banknotes signed as souvenirs in Kunming by escape party members, various AVG, and 204 Military Mission (Tulip Force) members who had come up the Burma Road on their way into China.
Among the signatures on this 10 Yuan banknote belonging to Lt Parsons HKRNVR are;
D S Pethick
E Cox-Walker
H Christiansen
A Pittendrigh
E H Brazel
A Kennedy
A L Marchant
They also swapped their Chinese army padded jackets for lighter clothing with the 204 Commando Mission.
Research and web publication by Buddy Hide Jnr ©
The contents of this web site led to a considerable number of escapee families contacting me and now each other, and remains the principle source of contact and private information for the spin off projects that have followed. The personal accounts enabled me to record the complete and true account of this remarkable episode of Sino-British war time co-operation. The information compiled here has directly resulted in a museum exhibition in Hong Kong, a re-enactment of the escape in Hong Kong and China, a book published, with a movie drama and a documentary in the making.
© Hong Kong Escape.Com Web Master 1997
The MTB Crest 