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Jim Fallace
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Escape
A Chinese fishing boat picked Fallace up a short distance from the shore and took him to the nearest island. 840 men were drowned. Over the next few days the Japanese recaptured 970 of their prisoners. Six men, one of whom was Jim Fallace, would remain at large.
The islands of the Chusan Archipelago are 500 miles from Japan and 800 miles from Hong Kong. Fortunately, Fallace’s years of experience of living in China helped him survive. During his time working for the Shanghai and Tientsin Police Forces Fallace learned to speak four different Chinese dialects.
Fallace was in poor condition but the Chinese looked after him and those with him. However the island and the community were not big enough to support a large body of men so the officers selflessly decided to attract the attention of the Japanese and give themselves up.
Whilst waiting for the Japanese to arrive Fallace and two others walked around the island and met a Chinese man who helped them to begin an incredible journey. He handed them over to guerrillas who then took them to another island and eventually to the mainland.
Fallace and his companions passed from group to group of Chinese guerrillas. During their journey of approximately 1500 miles through China they sometimes travelled by cart or by junk but mainly on foot. Much of the way was through Japanese occupied areas. One area they travelled through had been recently used by the Americans to refuel aircrafts during the Doolittle bombing raid on Japan. The Japanese subsequently put an estimated 100 000 troops into this area where they burned villages, destroyed airfields and killed 250 000 Chinese people.
On 21 October 1942 they reached Linhai where the guerillas handed them over to English missionaries. They then made their way, via various Missions, to Kweilin where they were met by the British Army Aid Group on the 8 December. After de-briefing and report writing, Fallace flew to Colombo where he enjoyed five weeks rest and recuperation at a hill station.
To discover what Fallace did after his ordeal, select Next
