Page 144 - GFA – A Different Drumbeat
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GFA – A Different Drumbeat 144
Sophie and GFA attended a showing of a film held at the Grand Cinema “in aid of
International Children’s Emergency Fund, under the patronage of the Mayor and the French
Consul-General. At another time they saw the film “The Red Shoes”.
But their time in China was coming to an end. They were aware that it was highly likely that
the Communists would demand a complete evacuation of foreigners from China. Because
of this they decided that it would be best for Sophie to leave as soon a possible and fly to
France where her family lived. If GFA and the other foreigners were forced to leave, then
Sophie would be able to organize some accommodation for them. As it turned out her
departure was more precipitous than they had anticipated. Early in the first week of May,
they were told that the airport was likely to be closed on Friday 7th May to all civilian traffic.
As a result, they were able to get Sophie on to a BOAC flight on Thursday 6th May. GFA
received a telegram the same day to say that Sophie had arrived safely in Hongkong. She
reached Geneva on 20th May.
GFA, writing on 8th May to Leslie and Gladys, “You can imagine how lonely I feel at home.
Shanghai has emptied at such a rate that most of one’s friends have left.” On arrival in
Geneva Sophie wrote that she “was longing to be back in her own home soon”.
On 25th May the
Communist People’s
Liberation Army entered
Shanghai and took control.
And it was six months later
at the end of October that,
due to the fact that civilian
flights were out of the question, he finally booked passage on the Wooster Victory as far as
Manila. From Manila he would fly to Hongkong and then to Paris. He was to pick up Sophie
in Paris and continue on to Geneva.
In April he had received word from the International Refugee Organisation in Geneva that
he could “draw living and rent allowances with the assurance of a fare to London paid at the
termination of his work”. Now he was taking them up on their promise.
He flew from Hongkong on November 20th and arrived in Paris via London on 22nd
November 1949. Sophie and GFA were reunited and they left the next day by train to reach
the IRO headquarters in Geneva a couple of days later. There followed a hectic time writing
reports and helping the organisation to close down its operations in China. He attended
conferences, travelled around Europe, talked with many important leaders, and all the time
wrote reports and kept up with a mountain of paperwork.
They were still hoping to return to Shanghai, and the first step was to get permission to land
in Hongkong. Although they applied together in early January 1950, GFA was given a pass
but Sophie was unable to follow him until early September. Once again they were
separated for eight months. His time in Hongkong was spent conferring with the last IRO
Sophie and GFA attended a showing of a film held at the Grand Cinema “in aid of
International Children’s Emergency Fund, under the patronage of the Mayor and the French
Consul-General. At another time they saw the film “The Red Shoes”.
But their time in China was coming to an end. They were aware that it was highly likely that
the Communists would demand a complete evacuation of foreigners from China. Because
of this they decided that it would be best for Sophie to leave as soon a possible and fly to
France where her family lived. If GFA and the other foreigners were forced to leave, then
Sophie would be able to organize some accommodation for them. As it turned out her
departure was more precipitous than they had anticipated. Early in the first week of May,
they were told that the airport was likely to be closed on Friday 7th May to all civilian traffic.
As a result, they were able to get Sophie on to a BOAC flight on Thursday 6th May. GFA
received a telegram the same day to say that Sophie had arrived safely in Hongkong. She
reached Geneva on 20th May.
GFA, writing on 8th May to Leslie and Gladys, “You can imagine how lonely I feel at home.
Shanghai has emptied at such a rate that most of one’s friends have left.” On arrival in
Geneva Sophie wrote that she “was longing to be back in her own home soon”.
On 25th May the
Communist People’s
Liberation Army entered
Shanghai and took control.
And it was six months later
at the end of October that,
due to the fact that civilian
flights were out of the question, he finally booked passage on the Wooster Victory as far as
Manila. From Manila he would fly to Hongkong and then to Paris. He was to pick up Sophie
in Paris and continue on to Geneva.
In April he had received word from the International Refugee Organisation in Geneva that
he could “draw living and rent allowances with the assurance of a fare to London paid at the
termination of his work”. Now he was taking them up on their promise.
He flew from Hongkong on November 20th and arrived in Paris via London on 22nd
November 1949. Sophie and GFA were reunited and they left the next day by train to reach
the IRO headquarters in Geneva a couple of days later. There followed a hectic time writing
reports and helping the organisation to close down its operations in China. He attended
conferences, travelled around Europe, talked with many important leaders, and all the time
wrote reports and kept up with a mountain of paperwork.
They were still hoping to return to Shanghai, and the first step was to get permission to land
in Hongkong. Although they applied together in early January 1950, GFA was given a pass
but Sophie was unable to follow him until early September. Once again they were
separated for eight months. His time in Hongkong was spent conferring with the last IRO
