Q&A with Barbara Anslow, part 1 of 2

Submitted by David on Wed, 02/26/2014 - 17:00

I met Barbara last week, and asked the questions that you'd sent in. Here is the first part of our chat.

Below the player I've listed the time when each question was asked, so you can jump straight to it if you like.

If you'd like to ask Barbara any more questions, please leave a comment below.

Regards, David 

Time Questions & topics covered Asked by
  General Questions about life in Hong Kong  
0:00:28 What was travelling to Macau & Lantau like pre-WW2? (Camp at Sunset Peak.) Cynthia Murphy
0:01:42 Did you know any Eurasians or Eurasian institutions? How were Eurasians viewed and how did they view themselves? (Eurasian / European / Chinese communities didn't mix much pre-war. That started to change from the 1940 evacuation onwards. Peggy Barton. Marie Barton. Central British School / KGV.) Evan Fowler
0:09:14 Where did the Governor and his civilian staff (including my father, Tim Fortescue) base themselves immediately before and during the fighting? (CSO. Tunnels beneath Government House. The Battle Box. Mabel Redwood.) Diana Fortescue
  Conditions in Stanley Camp  
0:13:59 How much water did you have to drink? Brian Edgar
0:16:10 How often could you bath? (Fortescue family.) Brian Edgar
0:18:33 How did people in the camp keep up morale? (Work that people did. Shows & entertainment.) Ann White
0:21:54 The diaries tend to be written by active people. Where there other people we don't hear about, who gave up on life? David Bellis
0:23:50 Where there musical organs in camp? (Harmoniums and pianos in camp.) Geoffrey Emerson
0:25:36 Was philately was one of the hobbies in camp? Please tell us about mail and postage in camp. Why wasn't Stanley Post Office used?  Philippe Orsetti
0:27:32 I have a photo of the wedding of my aunt Doris Brooks and Duncan MacPherson with what appears to be two Chinese groomsmen or maybe witnesses - or would they be Japanese? - standing behind them. My father was a prisoner also in the camp and yet it would appear neither he nor my grandmother attended the wedding? Does she know what the normal format would be?  Were relatives not permitted to attend? Were there many weddings in the camp?   Suzanne Pincevic
0:30:18 What photographs were taken in camp? (Cameras were forbidden) David Bellis
0:30:46 Photo of Barbara's younger sister, Mabel. (Rings made in camp. Mr Raven. Mabel's wedding on the repatriation voyage back to Britain. Dr Valentine. Volunteers re-united with wives.)  
0:38:55 Americans in Stanley Camp - how much did the two communities work together or socialize? Did American kids go to the camp school referred to by Jean Gittins? Do you remember the nutrition kitchen operated by Laura Ziegler? What do you remembers of the July send-off of the Americans and the British feelings of being left/deserted ? Dave Kohl 
0:41:35 Do you remember the "bombing"in July 1945 that the Japanese made a big deal out of? Ian Quinn
0:43:10  I would like to know how can they get medical equipment, drugs and supplies within the Stanley camp? (Tweed Bay Hospital) Tai-Wai Wong
0:47:46 If you were sick in camp, what was the procedure to get treatment?  David Bellis 
0:48:29 What was the background of the nurses in Tweed Bay Hospital, eg VAD, ANS, etc. Who was the matron? (Miss A Davies) Henry Ching 

Comments

Thanks for the podcast on HK during WWII. Very informative. My interest in HK deepens and strengthens.