Complex sentence: During the war her husband was in Africa while Brooking herself worked in Shanghai, where she was on the staff of a radio station in the city in the two years but managed to leave with her son before the Japanese invaded.
Split into simpler sentences: During the war her husband was in Africa while Brooking herself worked in Shanghai, where she was on the staff of a radio station in the city in the two years. Brooking managed to leave with her son before the Japanese invaded.