Escape to Pagan Read Online Free PDF

businesses were shuttered and closed, their owners had discreetly left the island. This evacuation it seems went unnoticed by the British Intelligence.
    Back on Mainland China, Sergeant Devereux and other Royal Scots soldiers, continued to conceal themselves in a ruined block of flats for several days on the outskirts of town. Many of these soldiers were still armed.

    â€œJack told me that from their vantage point on the higher floors that they could see the victorious Japanese troops committing atrocities on military personnel and civilians who had surrendered in the streets below. The hiding soldiers began to take revenge on any drunkenJapanese troops that entered the building on their own looking for loot. Some of these Japs were clubbed to death, shot or bayoneted. There was no sense of fair play in these killings. The final number of enemy killed was over a dozen. The men decided to move to another deserted building further back from the main road, in case the dead Japanese were discovered by an enemy patrol.
    â€œBy the time of the planned escape, the group of soldiers had accumulated plenty of tinned food, but clean water was still a problem. Two men set out to find more water for their escape. Jack was now on his feet, God knows how and he intended to go with the escape party. The two men who went out to find water did not return.
    â€œThe escape party moved out that night. While passing the large garden of a big white house they heard groans and muffled pleas for help. To their horror they had stumbled on a group of British prisoners and civilians who had been tied up and used for bayonet practise, some pleaded for water, others begged to be shot. Once untied, several joined the escape party; two Royal Scots remained with the badly wounded. The escape party heard a few shots; later the two men rejoined the group and carried on in silence.
    â€œJack’s wounds soon began to bleed with the extra exertion. The doctor was worried about his deteriorating condition, it soon became obvious that Jack could not continue as he was becoming dizzy and was having difficulty standing upright. Making their farewells and leaving him some tin food, water, cigarettes and his revolver, his comrades left him. They were sure he was dying.”

    Sergeant Devereux must have watched his disappearing comrades with deep sadness; he was now on his own again.

    â€œJack managed to eat some of the food despite the pain of chewing and drank all the water before lapsing into unconsciousness. This was just as well for again his thoughts were focused on his loaded revolver … it would release him from his suffering and his hopeless situation. When he awoke it was around midday. He was lying in the open. The fliesbegan swarming around his wounds again. Jack moved towards cover out of the hot sun. Despite his wounds his memory was not affected and he wondered how far the escape party had travelled during the night. In the shade of the undergrowth he slept.
    â€œWhen he awoke the next day his revolver was missing, so were the tins of food, cigarettes and empty water bottle. He no longer cared for the loss except for his cigarettes; he desperately craved a last smoke. Jack was sure he would die soon from the loss of blood or infection. The deep sword cut at the back of his neck was freely bleeding again; he could smell and taste the stench of his festering head wound. The cotton stitching had rotted and the bandages had come away. His only wish was for a cigarette before dying. He waited for death: death did not come. He recognized a road nearby and crawled up the bank and staggered along it. A Chinaman suddenly appeared; he was holding Jack’s revolver. The Chinaman shouted aggressively and began to threaten him with the revolver. Jack began to stagger towards Kowloon closely followed by the persistent Chinaman. He wished he had a weapon to shoot him. Both Jack and the Chinaman stopped when they heard the approach of a lorry