transferred from China to Singapore. During January 1942, Grasshopper supported retreating Allied troops during the Malayan Campaign. Starting on 27 January, Grasshopper and Dragonfly rescued almost 3,000 soldiers from the British 53rd Infantry and 15th Indian Infantry Brigades from the swamps south of Batu Pahat after they had been cut off by the advancing Japanese forces. After the Japanese captured the Malayan Peninsula, both ships moved to Singapore harbour. On 8 February, the Japanese launched an amphibious assault across the Strait of Johore and following heavy fighting, many ships began evacuating from the harbour. By 11 February Gnat and Grasshopper were the largest vessels left. The two ships left Singapore for Batavia at 21:00 on 13 February, having taken on other personnel to evacuate them. Amongst these was Commander Ian Forbes, formerly of the battleship , which had been sunk by the Japanese just over two months earlier. By the following morning they could hear the attacks by Japanese aircraft on other vessels in the distance. As they were sailing south, they were attacked by Japanese bombers. During the initial pass, Grasshopper was hit by a single bomb. When the planes returned, Dragonfly was hit three times and sank quickly. Grasshopper was hit twice and was set on fire. The order to abandon ship was given as the fire spread to compartments adjacent to an ammunition store. The crew were ferried across to the nearby island of Sebayer by the ship's boats while the Japanese aircraft strafed them, where they joined some survivors from the Dragonfly. However the ship did not sink initially and after the planes departed, several crewmen were sent back on board to scavenge supplies. Among the survivors were six captured Japanese airmen and two pregnant women who had their babies delivered by the ship's coxswain. Both boys were named after him by their mothers. Whilst on board, Petty Officer George White found Judy, who would later find a source of fresh water for the crew on the island. On 19 February, the remaining crew managed to commandeer a Chinese tongkang and using that and the ship's boat, they reached Singkep in the Dutch East Indies. After two days, the crew departed for Sumatra on a Chinese junk, leaving their injured in the care of the Dutch Empire. They eventually reached Sumatra and sailed through the Strait of Malacca and up the Indragiri River. The river narrowed