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As far as I can remember a normal trip was experienced until the morning of 8<sup>th</sup> Dec. 1941, when ''[[Chekiang I|'''Chekiang''']]'' was approaching the Chusan Archipelago, some hundred odd miles east of Shanghai. I must mention at this point that ''[[Chekiang I|'''Chekiang''']]'' was a two-officered ship and that I had come off watch at 4.00am. The Master, [[Donald Brotchie|'''Capt. D. Brotchie''']], a very fine gentleman and not one given to panic, came bursting into my cabin at 6.00am with the news, received through his own small radio receiver, of the bombing of Pearl Harbour and other cities in the Far East. Apart from that disturbing message through the ether, all other conditions appeared normal, the sea was smooth, not a ship in sight and '''''[[Chekiang I|Chekiang]]''''' bowling along at her usual 9.8 knots.
A council of war was formed in the Master’s cabin consisting of [[Donald Brotchie|'''Capt. Brotchie''']], [[James Henry Fayers|'''Chief Engineer J. Fayers''']] and myself. Should we steam south by night and hide behind some island by day, or steer far to the eastward and make for Singapore, or what? By 8.00am our course of action was resolved by the appearance on our starboard quarter of a small Japanese gun-boat who signalled us to stop, but who did not appear to have sufficient speed to overtake or enforce her order. So we decided to “run for it” and cracked on speed. When I mention “cracking” on speed, I do not wish to create a false impression of ''Chekiang''’s capabilities. She was a good ship in many ways, but speed was not one of her virtues. The actual speed we achieved escapes me at the moment, but, speaking loosely, I should think we reached about 10 ½ knots, sufficient, as it happened, to out-distance our pursuers.
We had barely completed congratulating ourselves on our escape from the enemy, when we were then confronted, two hours later, by another and more formidable Japanese gun-boat, right ahead and steaming towards us. Her invitation for us to stop could not be ignored without much unpleasantness, so it was not long before a party of Japanese marines boarded us and made their first capture of the war. The naval officer in charge, who spoke fair English, produced a small scroll and read to us the obvious news that our two countries were at war, that we were his prisoners and our ship his prize.
