Evacuation

Chapter Two describes the actual evacuation from Hong Kong, starting with an understanding of the methods and rationale of those who managed to avoid or evade the exodus, before focusing on the mechanics of the administration of evacuation and the successful execution of the voyages to the Philippines. Looking at the international context (the Japanese reaction, communication with the American authorities in the Philippines, and the planning of the removal to Australia) it then details the practical aspects of the reception and dispersal of the evacuees in the Philippine Islands while they awaited the next step. Here it exposes the ad hoc nature of the evacuation’s evolution, and the first understanding of the evacuees of the fundamental weaknesses of the plan.