THE CHINA MAIL, NOVEMBER 1, 1988.
FLIGHT FROM HANKOW British Women's Harrowing Experiences
TRAIN ATTACKED BY JAPANESE
The writer of this account of the last journey made between Hankow by rail is Mrs. E. G. Bryne, a resident of Hankow, whose husband is still in the city or at Chikungshan.
what seemed a day but was really The train meanwhile had drawn only an hour we crawled out, dirty, out of the station and had stopped bleeding from our scratches, and about a quarter of a mile away. rather, shaken.
We became aware of a new ar- Again we returned to the train, rival among us. A pathetic dwarf- half-heartedly laughing and joking, like little figure carrying a basket.
to dab our scratches with iodine and We made room for him about wash off some of the countryside squeezed in beside us with and the hope of a rest after
we had carried with us. Then tiffin ing breath, and shakingʻlimbs. We a tried to calm him, but he could only
gasp pitifully in reply.
trying morning.
Mrs. Bryne was one of the party of five foreig- All this time the train had been standing in the small station near ners who, on the second attempt, succeeded in which it had stopped, but again it reaching Hong Kong after a perilous and nerve-began its uneasy movements to and racking journey. The account is written from a Suddenly "Air laid! diary kept while en route.
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fro.
The roar and crash of falling bombs now drew nearer. Mrs. Ram- say cried They are bombing our train." Incredulous, we peered out
and saw the bombs falling in a Air laid!" straight line ahead of us, clouds of dust and clods of earth rising brought us to our feet again as Many had solved the great ques-we saw nine planes coming over. A the porter
around the train. The planes flew rushed through the tion of the past few months in soldier under a bush shouted to us coaches with his warning cry machine-gunning as they came. The down the track towards the station, Hankow, "to go or to stay," by to take cover, so we scrambled Realizing its sinister meaning,
opportunity going when
offered. across the rough to a small clump again we jumped and
staccato bark of the guns swept Some few of us, however, who had of what proved to be holly and down the steep bank.
scrambled overhead at about 300 feet and then The planes made our homes in the city for brambles. Mrs. Ramsay, who
we realised they were trying to get was could be heard but not seen, so we someone from the train. But the had many years and
no other, with me, pushed her way in first had enough time to gain a small drone of the engines faded at last postponed the sad day. It meant and I followed, both of us scratch- hamlet. the breaking up of families, the ing our faces, arms and legs with
and we breathed again. Passing over a stone bridge of
· FURTHER RAIDS loss of many things we held dear. the thorns.
several granits slabs with spaces It was a short-lived relief. Three and uncertain and possibly 'un-
PLANES OVERHEAD between,, we decided to take shelter more planes descended towards us happy future.
The planes circled around, but beneath it. The ditch was damp from the north, heading straight kept at a height of 4,000 feet or and filthy, but we were all too grate for our sanctuary. I could see. more. Peering out of our retreat Iful for its protection to mind its their propellors spinning distinctly counted nine planes, then a batch unpleasantness. of three and another of six.
.
But the day came when the last train was about to leave and the city would be finally cut off from the north, east and south. The unknown west, or a besieged city, were the only alternatives.
TRAIN BOMBED
t
as they came low over our ditch, silhouetted against the green hills An unseen battery of pom-poms It was rather confusing after in the background.
in the vicinity opened a crashing that. Planes came and went at a We crouched closer together. We ferried across the Yangtze-fire which had the effect of keeping height of about 4,000 feet and we Passing overhead with a deafening kiang to Wuchang in the late after-them high; away to the south we could hear them dropping bombs in roar we could hear the continuous noon of Sunday, September 18, and could hear another battery in ac- the distance. They then broke sputtering of machine-gun bullets boarded our green train at tention and the distant boom of burst-formation and deliberately began around us. o'clock at night for the 600 mile ing bombs. The hum of the planes reconnoitring in groups of two or I shut my eyes and prayed they journey south to Canton. The train and the firing died away and after three at a much lower level.
(Continued on Page 21) was as usual crowded with
ese, but it also carried a detail of seven French soldiers and.... five foreigners, Mmes, H. E. Ramsay and E. G. Byrne, and Messrs. C. E Pinel, H. W. H. Davies and Ronald Rees. We made the of the not too pleasant conditions and finally dropped off to sleep.
Mr.
best
THE TRAIN JOURNEY Morning came, and with it our disappointment to find that we had been stationary most of the night and had not covered more than sixty miles from Wuchang. Hun- gry, we began to prepare breakfast with the food we had brought when we were suddenly startled by an air raid alarm.
In Hankow it was not an un- familiar sound, so in an orderly and somewhat leisurely manner we clambered out of the train and took to the fields a mixed and expect- ant crowd.
For about an hour we wandered around on that cool and cloudless September morning and then gra- dually drifted back to the train- thinking there was nothing to worry about; we had had the same perience often enough in Hankow. The train began to move again, but in a very disturbing manner.
ex-
On for a few uneasy furlongs and then back again, still, at about 11. a.m. another alarm sent us scam- pering across country again. This time the sound of planes could bẹ heard, so we stumbled down the embankment as best we could · to take refuge in some sparse bushes at the bottom when the planes roar- ed high overhead making in a wes- terly direction. They disappeared in the haze and we heard the sound of bombs bursting in the distance.
Back to the train again, but we had hardly settled down when the alarm was repeated. We lost no time in taking the six-foot drop to the track and had barely reached the foot of the embankment when
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