Ride sent his wife and children to Australia in 1938 in anticipation of a Japanese invasion into the British colony. In 1941, Ride commanded the Hong Kong Field Ambulance. He became a POW and was held in the prison established by the Japanese at the Sham Shui Po Barracks after Hong Kong capitulated on Christmas Day, 1941. On 9 January 1942, with the help of Hong Kong guerilla forces, he managed to escape to unoccupied Chungking, a feat for which he was appointed O. B. E. in 1942. While a colonel in the Indian Army, Ride formed and commanded the British Army Aid Group, headquartered in Kweilin, Kwangsi. This MI9 unit provided help, medical and otherwise, to POW escapees from Hong Kong while gathering intelligence. Due to his outstanding leadership after escaping, 'The Smiling Tiger' as he was nicknamed, was elevated to C. B. E. in 1944. From the formation in 1949 of the Royal Hong Kong Defence Force Ride was appointed commandant, first with the rank of Colonel, subsequently promoted to the rank of Brigadier in 1956, until his retirement in 1967.