Telegraph Bay on Christmas Day 1941

MTB's 07 & 09 fully armed with depth charges under camouflage & still wearing their colours, the white ensign on the gaff, just hours before escaping from Hong Kong

MTB 07 and 09 under camouflage in Telegraph Bay.
Photo from the Hide collection ©

Photo from the Hide collection ©

MTB 07 had only managed to take on one hundred and eighty gallons (818 litres) of petrol before being targeted by shell fire the day before the escape. This limited her range to less than one hundred miles (160 Km).

Lt Collingwood RN: "Each boat had been camouflaged according to the individual OC and we lay as close to the rocks and cliffs as possible. By Christmas Eve things were bad and we began to prepare for a getaway if possible in accordance with a pre-arranged scenario. We were no longer in touch with our base and we were all anchored off shore in different bays." ^[8]

Lt Kennedy RNVR (MTB 09) "About three o' clock the telegraphist gave an excited shout, 'I think I've just picked up a signal from the Commodore to V2.' V2 was the short title of the flotilla leader. 'It wasn't very clear and all I got was GO' he continued. 'Are you sure' Ashby and I queried, but the operator was listening intently again. 'Yes its just come through again, Sir. One word GO.'
The sight of the hillside with its little patches of white held our gaze for some time. No one said much. The time was three-fifteen, Hong Kong had fallen." [9]

PO Prest (MTB 07) "Surrender or try to escape? - The decision was unanimous. [84]

Telegraph Bay
Photo from the Hide collection ©

Telegraph Bay

Photo from the Hide collection ©

Previous...............Next

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, with a movie drama and documentary in the making.

Site maintained by Hamstat Integrated Systems Inc