Escape from Hong Kong - The Final Hours

Capt. Monia Talan (238166)

1913-2001

Photo from Colin McEwan's collection ©

Talan was Mike Kendall the Z Force leader commander's under cover man in Hong Kong.^[11]

[Emmanuel] Monia Talan/Jalan  was born on 28th May 1913 in Novonikolaevsk Siberia. He was five when the Russian Revolution occurred and his parents fled to Shanghai in 1918, where they joined the Chinese city’s tens of thousands of other poor White-Russian refugees. As a young man he joined the Artillery Company in the [Jewish Company] of the Shanghai Volunteer Corps [SVC].

 

Platoon Sergeant 22nd September 1932,

Company Sergeant Major [CSM].

2nd Lieutenant 15th September 1933

Lieutenant 15th September 1935

Resigned 31st October 1935

Talan returned south to Nanao with McEwan to collect the Lewis guns and stores after seeing the escape party to Waichow and observed a Japanese spotter plane flying over the half sunken MTB's followed by a warship heading for Nanao in early January 1942.

He moved to Hong Kong in 1935, joining the HKVDC in 1938. He was later selected to join "Force 136, Z Force" the Far East branch of the SOE in 1940. After escaping from Hong Kong with the 2nd MTB Flotilla he served in southern China with the British Army Aid Group [BAAG]

As civilians in Hong Kong before the war  – Colin McEwan a PT instructor, and Monia working in the travel business both became members of the Hong Kong Volunteers and were picked by SOE for a special  group called Z Force (led by Mike Kendall, a Canadian mining engineer). The group’s role was to carry out intelligence work and sabotage  behind enemy lines. But in the event the Japanese advance was so swift that, while the rest of the group were out near the border blowing up trucks etc,  these three ended up helping with the last-ditch defence of  HK Island.   They were closely involved in rounding up spies and fifth columnists in coordination with Admiral Chan Chak, Colonel Yee and the other Chinese KMT people in Hong Kong.  On the 19th Dec,   Monia and Colin took a small boat out into the harbour and Colin blew up a Japanese ship by  swimming underneath it and attaching  limpet mines.  They both moved with Kendall onto the MTBs at Aberdeen a few days before the Surrender. At first the plan was to  try and make contact with the Chinese forces supposedly on their way to relieve the siege, but when it became clear it was all over they were put in charge of ensuring Chan Chak and his colleagues got out.   Later in the war Colin and Monia were reunited in India when they took part in another SOE daring underwater explosives operation in Goa --  this became the subject of a film,  The Sea Wolves,  starring David Niven.

He returned to Hong Kong after the war and worked again in the travel sector.  He also became director of a laundry business.  He was awarded an M.B.E. and emmigrated to Australia in 1979, settling  outside Melbourne with his second wife, a Hungarian having bought 40 acres to breed horses.

Among other Christmas Day escapees to return were fellow SOE agent Colin McEwan as Head of the Physical trainng Department and David MacDougall as Colonial secretary with Arthur Pittendrigh and Harry Owen-Hughes in his team. Max Oxford as Deputy Director of Civil Aviation. Arthur Gee also returned to his pre-war employers as night editor on the China Mail. Admiral Chan Chak became the first post-war mayor of neighbouring Canton.

The S.O.E. Team

Mike Kendall

Colin McEwan

Monia Talan

London Gazette entry:

(1) 12th March 1946

(2) 22nd March 1946