Hero's archive reveals wartime alliance between China, other forces

Tucked away in Manchester's People's History Museum, a fragile, yellowing notebook, with its cover emblazoned with bold red letters reading E.R.C (The East River Column) and the Allies, bears witness to one of the World Anti-Fascist War's most extraordinary partnerships.

This artifact is emerging as one of the most vivid firsthand accounts of cooperation between Chinese and other allied forces during the global struggle against fascism.

It is the first time that an archive drafted and collected by Raymond Wong, also known as Huang Zuomei, has been discovered. This rare document sheds new light on the story of the East River Column, a resistance force led by the Communist Party of China in southern China that fought against Japanese aggressors.

Raymond Wong's name appears in Britain's official wartime records. In June 1947, the London Gazette, the British government's official journal of record, listed him among recipients of the Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire awarded by King George VI "for services to the Forces during military operations in Southeast Asia prior to Sept 2, 1945". At the time, Wong was described as a "student from Kowloon", but he later went on to establish the London Bureau of Xinhua News Agency.

The record, believed to have been compiled primarily by Wong, is more than just a war relic; it contains firsthand accounts, official documents, and letters of thanks from allied generals, majors, and soldiers whose lives were saved by the East River Column. Its rediscovery offers a vivid reminder of how Chinese and other allied forces once stood shoulder to shoulder against fascism.

One entry recalls Feb 11, 1944, when US pilot Donald Kerr from the Chinese-American Composite Wing was shot down by Japanese forces over Hong Kong. Two female guerrillas from the East River Column found him in the New Territories and escorted him to safety. Kerr later penned a heartfelt letter of gratitude, which is now part of the collection.

Another section contains a memoir by former prisoner of war F.P.Franklin, who described watching an American airman parachute into the hills above Kowloon: "We knew the cruelty of the Japanese and prayed for him, but had little hope. What none of us expected was that instead of enemies, he was met by friends — Chinese guerrillas who pulled him back from the edge of death."

Franklin also recorded the request made by Wong and other guerrillas: "When Raymond Wong told me that he hoped to produce a book, and expressed the hope that I would write a word of encouragement, I instantly accepted his suggestion. I did so because I believe in his sincerity, and what greater attribute can any man desire than to be judged and believed in as sincere.

"It was my privilege to meet Major Raymond Wong, one of the leading spirits of the Guerrilla or Communist forces who had assisted many British escapees to regain their freedom," Franklin wrote in the introduction to the book.

The records detail at least 80 allied servicemen rescued by the East River Column, including British soldiers, Indian troops, and American pilots.

The cooperation extended far beyond rescue. Intelligence shared by the guerrillas won praise from the highest levels of the allied command. General Claire Lee Chennault, commander of the US 14th Air Force, reportedly cabled that "without your utmost cooperation, the result of this war would be very difficult to accomplish".

Among the letters preserved in the archive is one from Matthew J. Crehan of the US Naval Reserve, who wrote to Wong: "For your men, your commander and yourself, for your most efficient conduct of your affairs, I have nothing but profound admiration. Surely no reward short of complete success would be fitting for people who are devoting their lives to their country. I am very confident that the war against the Japanese will soon be over."

Wong's devotion to his country was indeed profound. After founding Xinhua's London Bureau in 1947, he returned to Hong Kong and served as the director of the Hong Kong branch of Xinhua New Agency in 1949.

For Wong's family, the rediscovery has been a revelation. His son, Huang Weijian, was overcome with emotion upon learning that his father's original writings had been preserved against all odds for nearly 80 years. Huang says he had long heard fragments of his father's wartime work through yellowed newspaper clippings and old comrades' recollections, but had never seen Wong's own records, written during the heat of war.

"This is an extraordinary gift," he says. "It makes my father's role in rescuing international friends far more concrete, and brings his memory back to life for us in a vivid way."

Though separated from his homeland by decades and thousands of miles, Wong's archive remains a living testament — its pages still whisper of the story of a man whose courage and conviction will endure far beyond the span of his life.