Page 130 - GFA – A Different Drumbeat
P. 130
GFA – A Different Drumbeat 130
MEMBER OF BRITAIN’S OVERSEAS INTELLIGENCE SERVICE
David Bentley-Taylor did a lot of research into GFA’s activities during the War. Here is his
summary of some of his findings:
In 1942 he became Press Attachė at the Embassy, then he was called First
Secretary, again "only a cover" probably, for his duties were mainly military.
Several British Army officers were among his subordinates, including the head of the
British Military Mission. Though a civilian, he apparently had a rank equivalent to
Brigadier-General in Force 136 which, Leslie assured me, "had its own army, navy
and air force". GFA himself told me that "Captain Thomas Malcolm was the naval
attachė on my staff in Chungking". He was constantly in touch with the Chinese
military authorities and the head of the Chinese Secret Service. He had a lot to do
with operations behind the Japanese lines not only in China but also in Malaya,
Burma and Thailand.
With such scraps of information I have had to be content, for both GFA and Leslie
were born secret service agents, trained to reveal next to nothing. There was,
however, a boy named Dawson Kwauk from a fishing village near Swatow who has
proved an admirable informant about this stage of GFA’s life. "Uncle Findlay", he
told me, “knew my father very well and first saw me when I was a schoolboy. He
guided and tamed me when I was a wild young man after I joined Butterfield and
Swire, and he matured me during the war years. On many occasions, without the
slightest hesitation, he presented me, a Sergeant-Major in the Chinese Infantry, to
many British Brass Hats. In fact I was the only N.C.O. permitted to enter his private
office, to which admission was restricted to a handful of selected ranking officers.
Uncle Findlay and I spent a lot of time together, travelling extensively. The past is
but memories which I cherish dearly." He also told me that GFA "accompanied the
British Ambassador and Winston Churchill's personal representative (General Carton
de Wiart) at all important meetings with senior Chinese officials, his expertise and wit
greatly helping to cushion occasional confrontations"—such as when American
supplies for China were diverted to reinforce the British in India. When a six-man
Parliamentary Mission from England visited China at the height of the war, GFA
acted as their interpreter. Sometimes he interpreted for Chiang-kai-shek.
Dawson Kwauk also told me GFA was never really happy or healthy in Chungking.
"He had frequent bouts of illness, sometimes lying on the camp bed behind the desk
in his office. He always considered, rightly or wrongly, that his tragic family
situation was God's retribution for his disobedience". It was, however, his
impression that GFA retained his Christian faith all the time". At the Canadian
hospital he heard him use the verse "Lord, I believe, help Thou mine unbelief." Years
later he presented Dawson with the New Testament which Fanny had given him in
1937. On the flyleaf she had written: "To dear George with love from Fan. May
8, 1937, Toronto. 'And the Lord turned and looked upon Peter. And Peter
MEMBER OF BRITAIN’S OVERSEAS INTELLIGENCE SERVICE
David Bentley-Taylor did a lot of research into GFA’s activities during the War. Here is his
summary of some of his findings:
In 1942 he became Press Attachė at the Embassy, then he was called First
Secretary, again "only a cover" probably, for his duties were mainly military.
Several British Army officers were among his subordinates, including the head of the
British Military Mission. Though a civilian, he apparently had a rank equivalent to
Brigadier-General in Force 136 which, Leslie assured me, "had its own army, navy
and air force". GFA himself told me that "Captain Thomas Malcolm was the naval
attachė on my staff in Chungking". He was constantly in touch with the Chinese
military authorities and the head of the Chinese Secret Service. He had a lot to do
with operations behind the Japanese lines not only in China but also in Malaya,
Burma and Thailand.
With such scraps of information I have had to be content, for both GFA and Leslie
were born secret service agents, trained to reveal next to nothing. There was,
however, a boy named Dawson Kwauk from a fishing village near Swatow who has
proved an admirable informant about this stage of GFA’s life. "Uncle Findlay", he
told me, “knew my father very well and first saw me when I was a schoolboy. He
guided and tamed me when I was a wild young man after I joined Butterfield and
Swire, and he matured me during the war years. On many occasions, without the
slightest hesitation, he presented me, a Sergeant-Major in the Chinese Infantry, to
many British Brass Hats. In fact I was the only N.C.O. permitted to enter his private
office, to which admission was restricted to a handful of selected ranking officers.
Uncle Findlay and I spent a lot of time together, travelling extensively. The past is
but memories which I cherish dearly." He also told me that GFA "accompanied the
British Ambassador and Winston Churchill's personal representative (General Carton
de Wiart) at all important meetings with senior Chinese officials, his expertise and wit
greatly helping to cushion occasional confrontations"—such as when American
supplies for China were diverted to reinforce the British in India. When a six-man
Parliamentary Mission from England visited China at the height of the war, GFA
acted as their interpreter. Sometimes he interpreted for Chiang-kai-shek.
Dawson Kwauk also told me GFA was never really happy or healthy in Chungking.
"He had frequent bouts of illness, sometimes lying on the camp bed behind the desk
in his office. He always considered, rightly or wrongly, that his tragic family
situation was God's retribution for his disobedience". It was, however, his
impression that GFA retained his Christian faith all the time". At the Canadian
hospital he heard him use the verse "Lord, I believe, help Thou mine unbelief." Years
later he presented Dawson with the New Testament which Fanny had given him in
1937. On the flyleaf she had written: "To dear George with love from Fan. May
8, 1937, Toronto. 'And the Lord turned and looked upon Peter. And Peter
