Farewell To Hong Kong (1941)

by Christopher Briggs MBE

It was about 7.30 am on the 8th December 1941 as the author watched the first Japanese air raid on Hong Kong; the target was Kai Tak airport. The first casualty was the Pan Am Clipper (flying boat) anchored in Kowloon Bay which became a pillar of smoke. Farewell Hong Kong is Christopher’s second book and is the sequel to his well received HAI KUAN - THE SEA GATE telling of his life at sea and in the Chinese Maritime Customs Service. This book, brings us to the time of war and service in the Royal Navy. It is a fascinating personal account that does not spare the writer, whose very inmost thoughts are exposed for the reader to share. It is a unique history from a very human point of view. A story of six years of war, separation and the author’s successful efforts to rebuild his family when they were reunited after the war. The book begins with the story of HMS SCOUT and her companion destroyer, the last ships to leave Hong Kong after the Japanese attack. The author was on board and he adequately describes what it is like to leave your wife and daughter to await the arrival of the Japanese conquerors. This old destroyer’s miraculous survival and escape from Singapore and the operations in the Netherlands East Indies against the Japanese invaders led to her eventual arrival in Colombo and the author’s new appointment to a ‘stone frigate’ called HMS BRAGANZA in Bombay. When the war was over and after a few years in Britain the family emigrated to Western Australia in 1949. The book ends with some amusing descriptions of settling down on a small farm and the many new people they met and the friends they made. This enjoyable and sensitive book is history and we will never go that way again.

ISBN 0 85905 291 5

150 pages, illustrated

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The Author
3 McCallum Crescent
Ardross WA 6153
Australia
email:cbriggs@perthpcug.org.au

Pecos . Bibliography . Article List
Forgotten Campaign: The Dutch East Indies Campaign 1941-1942