Fugitives: Evading and Escaping the Japanese

3. Evacuation

bee EVACUATION Iwas lying on a hard bamboo platform only a few feet off the ground, in a small cleared area carved out of a dense tropical forest. Overhead was a canopy ofjungle growth that, even in midday, would have sealed the sun and sky from view. At this midnight hour the only light reflecting from the canopy came from our campftre. New Year's Day dawned bright and sunny, a holiday at the mine. We all lazed about, not talking very much. In the afternoon, several Japanese planes flew low overhead, by now a very common occurrence. With nothing to do and nothing happening, we all went to bed early, depressed and worried. About midnight, I was awakened by Graham Nelson, the young geologist, bursting into the room. "The Japs have landed in Masbate City and are coming this way. We're pulling out!" "Where did you get the news?" I asked, as I struggled to rouse myself. "Just got a phone call from Masbate," he answered, and ran to wake up the others. Masbate City was the provincial capital, some thirty miles southeast of us. A good, mostly-paved coastal highway connected the two towns. Although we all knew we might have to run for the hills at a moment's notice, no one had made any deftnite preparations for evacu- Lvacuation 2) ation. Now, we were suddenly being forced out, with perhaps two hours at most to pack food and gear for the move into the hills and the unknown beyond. Everyone had a different idea about where to go and what to do. Most of us agreed that the best bet was to head for the IXL Mine, one of our company's operations twelve kilometers southeast, a few miles off the coastal highway at the edge of the bondoc, the forest jungle. Because of our joint weekly parties, we knew all the Americans who lived there. We decided to make that the first evacuation point. However , to get there meant that most of the way we had to travel toward the Japanese landing area, on the same highway the enemy would be using if they were to move toward the Aroroy harbor. Then we would leave the highway, turning west toward the IXL mine. I teamed up with Ken Hansen, the mine foreman of another division ofMasbate Consolidated. Tall, skinny, and even-tempered, Ken was one of the several married men whose wives had remained with them at Masbate. But several weeks before Christmas, Mrs. Hansen and another company wife, Mrs. Homer Mann, had gone to Manila on a shopping trip and were trapped there when Luzon came under siege. Both husbands were frantically seeking ways to rescue themthey had even contemplated going to the city to search for them until a refugee from Manila arrived on Masbate and told of the chaotic situation encountered by Americans there. The man suggested waiting until the Manila situation had a chance to stabilize. Reluctantly, Ken and Homer decided to accept his advice. Ken's house was well stocked with food, and for about an hour he and I frantically packed some personal belongings, food, and cooking utensils into makeshift knapsacks and canvas bags, preparing for an indefinite stay in the jungle. At around one o'clock in the morning , we left for IXL in his car-a junker he had unsuccessfully tried to convert into an all-terrain vehicle. We covered the seven miles of highway to the turnoff leading to the IXL mine without incident. We didn't know if the Japanese were planning to move northward along the highway, but we hoped that if they did they would wait until daylight to do so. At every curve we expected to be met by gunfire. We arrived safely at IXL at about 2 A.M. Since the road toward the jungle ended there, Ken stashed his car in a mine shed. 24 Fugitives The IXL camp was in confusion. The Americans who lived there had already moved toward the hills. The native employees, milling about in large, unruly mobs, had broken into the company store and bodega, stripping them completely. Surly and hostile, and armed with bolos, machetes, they obviously resented our presence. This attitude was so contrary to our good rapport in the past. We began to fear that all the Filipinos were turning against Americans and intended to support the Japanese. This...