Close to the Wind

In May 1940, a group of Auckland yachtsmen and Royal Navy volunteers left for the war. Leonard Hill, a young Māori sailor, and his friends arrived in Singapore under siege. They manned fast motor launches, raiding and rescuing Allies from behind enemy lines. On 13 February 1942, the eve of the fall of Singapore, they took two Fairmiles, ML310 and ML311, to evacuate members of the Allied High Command and survivors of sinking vessels. Hunted down by the Japanese, most of the almost one hundred men perished. Only three succeeded: Leonard Hill, Herbert 'Johnny' Bull and Andrew Brough. This is the story of how they evaded the Japanese and survived.