23. The Dangerous and Exhausting Life of a Hero Behind Japanese Lines
Bill Chong completed his mission in Macau and reported back to BAAG, who promptly sent him out on more hazardous missions that called for a hero. Some of the missions involved scouting and reporting back on Japanese troop movements. Others entailed helping downed Allied pilots and aircrews escape to the safety of friendly lines. Equally hazardous were his missions of mercy, delivering desperately needed medicines to BAAG outposts and resistance cells behind Japanese lines.
It was physically exhausting work, traveling the war-torn countryside on foot, sometimes covering up to 50 miles in a single day, then sleeping on the bare ground. Chong wore disguises, and affected a limp as cover for the use of a walking stick: it had a hollowed-out compartment, in which he secreted intelligence documents or hid medicines.