In early August the Sheldrakes were approaching Xinjiang but found that the coalition of factions that created the ETR had disintegrated into violence and Soviet-backed forces led by the warlord Sheng Shicai (盛世才) were restoring Chinese control. Without reaching Xinjiang the couple fled to British India with some of the leaders of what had been the ETR. The Sheldrakes stayed in Hyderabad and then returned to England.
