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"We Shall Never Surrender." Orr did not know it, but his action was the death knell of Operation China. The news hit British headquarters like a tropical thunderstorm : there were conferences and ultimatums, but the only hope that remained lay with Policemen Henderson and Ruck. At week's end, the pair made one last brave attempt to make Operation China work. Heavily armed, but heavier still with bitter disappointment, they drove into a forest rendezvous. It was April 10, the deadline set for Mau Mau surrender; Kareba had promised to return with many chiefs who wanted to give up. Henderson and Ruck waited. No one came.
Many white settlers were delighted. "Told you so," they crowed. "Now let's go on with the war." General Erskine was rueful: "It nearly came off . . ." At week's end, British aircraft equipped with loudspeakers swanned low over the forest with a new message for the Mau Mau: "This was the day set for your surrender. Your emissaries failed to show up. Now our major offensive begins." British troops and African Home Guards swarmed onto Mt. Kenya, driving the startled Mau Mau into ambush after ambush. Many did not know the truce had ended, and they died without knowing what hit them. But the Mau Mau accepted the challenge. "The white man tricked us," one terrorist said. "Our brothers were lured to their deaths. Now we shall never surrender." Said a thoughtful Kenya settler: "The Mau Mau war may go on for years. Perhaps Kenya died at Gathuini."