CO129-570-13 Sino-Japanese War- Japanese attack on a fishing junk 23-5-1938 - 10-12-1938 — Page 36

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2.

"When the ship come alongside they proceeded t tie our sumpan to it and towed us behind them. The tow

rope then parted, so the ship circled round, came alongside and we were beckoned on bourd. I heard then speaking, but do not know what language it was; none of them addressed us in Cantonese. I could not tell a lioklo man from his speech,

nor could I distinguish him by his s eech from a lakka. 1 have met Hoklo people, but only knew them as such because

someone else told me."

3. "When we went on board we just stepped up from our sampan. The motor-boat was a small one, and there was no need to climb up into it; it's free-board was only a little higher than our sampan's."

4. "When on board we had to go and stand in the stern. The deck there was of wood, criss-cross like gratings. There were no chains or gear there that I would see, or awnings. The engine was a motor one, but not very noisy so that people could easily speak to one another. I did not notice any fish on board. There were 3 or 4 men on the bridge."

5.

"I saw about 12 people on board excluding ourselves, and they were about my height, or a bit taller (5'2" to 5' 6"), and some of them had beards. Smoking was apparently allowed. They wore white cloth uniforms, western-style buttoned-up in front with buttons of the same colour as the uniforms. They

had m. rks on their shoulders, but I saw no other marks on their uniforms, and those that wore caps had white ones with black peaks. They had no belts outside their uniforms, and

wore Juropean style shoes. Some carried rifles, and some

others revolvers."

6. "I remember that as we approached Lintin a flag was hoisted at the mast. It was a white flag with a red ball in the centre: there were certainly no lines elsewhere on

the flag or radiating from the ball. I heard no bells on