The evacuation is mentioned on page 1 of the Hong Kong Sunday Herald, 1940-07-14:
Friday, July 5, 1940, was a day that will forever be remembered by thousands of Hong Kong people, for it marks the occasion when approximately 1,774 civilian British women and children departed into Empress liners in fulfilment of another stage in the government's scheme of general precautionary evacuation. Earlier in the week went the wives and families of servicemen, making the total evacuated some 3,414 in all. Poignant scenes attended the sailing, but the general organisation was excellent and the brave bearing of the evacuees was admirable. The pictures on this page tell their own story.