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perimeter of the Settlement and the Concession, but was later to be used by the Japanese to hem in the foreign areas. At the time that Hawkins passed through, about eight in the morning, the news of the Japanese attack on Britain and America had apparently not yet been handed out by the Japanese High Command to their troops. The sentry took no notice of Hawkins, who, however, a little further on saw the men of a Japanese mechanised unit tumbling out of their billets in a hurry and manning their vehicles.
The Shanghai neighbourhood, as indeed the whole of the Yangtze delta, is a network of creeks, large and small. Unless you know the country paths well you are liable to find your progress blocked at frequent intervals by creeks, the footbridges over which are few and far between. By nightfall Hawkins, keeping away from the neighbourhood of the several Japanese posts planted round the outskirts of Shanghai, had only covered ten miles; and he had lost one pony. To avoid approaching any of the bridges he had had to swim a number of creeks. It was not until his third day out, moving with great caution, that he found a farmer who could lead him to a Chinese guerilla unit. The news of the events in Shanghai was by this time beginning to filter out to the country people, all of whom shewed him the greatest kindness, gave him food, and found him shelter. Hawkins deserved all the more credit for his initiative and resource because he spoke not a word of Chinese and naturally had considerable difficulty in making himself understood.
Throughout occupied China it is true to say in a general way that by night the country belongs to the Chinese. At night, owing to the guerilla activity, the Japanese, except when in force, retire to the safety of the towns. Only in the daytime, within reasonable distance of their posts outside the large towns and along the lines of communication, can they move with safety. In many places this guerilla control is effective up to the very walls of the large cities; or, in the case of Shanghai, the wire. Once Hawkins reached the guerillas he was comparatively safe. Night by night, watching their opportunities, they moved him further inland, taking him safely across the various railways, roads, or creeks, which were subject to Japanese patrolling, slipping if necessary between the machine-gun posts where the Japanese had established more permanent lines. The chief danger was from the spies and informers, in Japanese pay, who infest the whole area; they live dangerous lives themselves because they get short shrift when caught by the guerillas. It thus took him three weeks to reach the town where we sat eating our New Year
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perimeter of the Settlement and the Concession, but was later to be used by the Japanese to hem in the foreign areas. At the time that Hawkins passed through, about eight in the morning, the news of the Japanese attack on Britain and America had apparently not yet been handed out by the Japanese High Command to their troops. The sentry took no notice of Hawkins, who, however, a little further on saw the men of a Japanese mechanised unit tumbling out of their billets in a hurry and manning their vehicles.
The Shanghai neighbourhood, as indeed the whole of the Yangtze delta, is a network of creeks, large and small. Unless you know the country paths well you are liable to find your progress blocked at frequent intervals by creeks, the footbridges over which are few and far between. By nightfall Hawkins, keeping away from the neighbourhood of the several Japanese posts planted round the outskirts of Shanghai, had only covered ten miles; and he had lost one pony. To avoid approaching any of the bridges he had had to swim a number of creeks. It was not until his third day out, moving with great caution, that he found a farmer who could lead him to a Chinese guerilla unit. The news of the events in Shanghai was by this time beginning to filter out to the country people, all of whom shewed him the greatest kindness, gave him food, and found him shelter. Hawkins deserved all the more credit for his initiative and resource because he spoke not a word of Chinese and naturally had considerable difficulty in making himself understood.
Throughout occupied China it is true to say in a general way that by night the country belongs to the Chinese. At night, owing to the guerilla activity, the Japanese, except when in force, retire to the safety of the towns. Only in the daytime, within reasonable distance of their posts outside the large towns and along the lines of communication, can they move with safety. In many places this guerilla control is effective up to the very walls of the large cities; or, in the case of Shanghai, the wire. Once Hawkins reached the guerillas he was comparatively safe. Night by night, watching their opportunities, they moved him further inland. taking him safely across the various railways, roads, or creeks, which were subject to Japanese patrolling, slipping if necessary between the machine-gun posts where the Japanese had established more permanent lines. The chief danger was from the spies and informers, in Japanese pay, who infest the whole area; they live dangerous lives themselves because they get short shrift when caught by the guerillas. It thus took him three weeks to reach the town where we sat eating our New Year
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