6 Dec 1943, Chronology of Events Related to Stanley Civilian Internment Camp

Submitted by brian edgar on Sat, 04/27/2013 - 18:19

The Ottawa Evening Citizen publishes (page 3) an article on three employees of the Canadian Pacific Railway Company repatriated on the Gripsholm. One Basil G. Ryan, has been interned in the Phillipines, while the other two - George E. Costello and Charles W. Skeet - were at Stanley.

Costello (formerly CPR general passenger agent for the Orient) and Skeet (an accountant) tell the reporter that the food they relished most in their first meal on the Gripsholm was simple bread and butter. Skeet shows the reporter a blue granite mug and says that he used to put an entire meal into it - 'cooked rice, a ladle of soup, spinach water, a piece of water buffalo meat that was very tough and which measured one and a half by two inches and a small piece of fish'.

They reveal an aspect of life at Stanley that's not well documented elsewhere:

Busloads of Jap sailors were brought once to Stanley Camp...to walk through and soldiers used to cycle out to watch the internees.

They discuss a number of aspects of camp life, including the way in which the Japanese managed news of the war, and they mention a 'general demonstration' when the Hong Kong News announced Mussolini's resignation.

Costello became custodian of the camp library (most of which came from the former American Club) after 'the last American had been repatriated'. All three men agree that books made life tolerable for all.

The article ends by mentioning other CPR employees still in Hong Kong; Dave Drummond, Oriental manager, and his family and L. E. N. Ryan, Hong Kong agent.

Notes:

It is not clear from the article if Basil G. Ryan and his wife, a former American newspaperwoman, were in Hong Kong until early January 1942 or were always in the Phillipines.

After the war, Mr. Costello also gave news of CPR manager and BAAG agent Thomas Monaghan (executed on October 29, 1943) to the Canadian press:

https://jonmarkgreville2.wordpress.com/2012/08/07/thomas-christopher-mo…

(Appendix 2)

Book / Document
Chronology of Events Related to Stanley Civilian Internment Camp
Date(s) of events described

Comments

I am pretty sure Anne Costello was taking refuge in the Italian convent on Caine Road during the entire war with other refugees, including yours truly. I used to chat with her often and had the impression that she was knowledgable about maritime subjects. She was kindly and often gave me inspirations. I can still picture her vividly in my mind, and she wasn't young at that time. Now I know.

It would be interesting if the Canossian nuns in the Italian convent are able to provide a list of refugees they sheltered duting the war. I would certainly love to have a copy to add to my short list.

Hi Bob,

You could try asking the catholic archives to see if they can help:

http://gwulo.com/Hong-Kong-Catholic-Diocesan-Archives

What's the right way to describe the people who spent the occupation years there? I've used "interned at" for Stanley, but were the people at the convent considered internees?

Regards, David

Thanks, Bob, for the valuable information. It's an interesting and perhaps painful story. Perhaps the Costellos chose diffeernt strategies at the start, he accepting Canadian nationality, she claiming Irish, and then found that only he was allowed repatriation. Or perhaps they agreed to split up, as other families did, so the one(s) on the outside could help the one(s) in Stanley. 

It seems that she and Thomas Monaghan ran a soup kitchen during the occuaption.

Any idea when we can hope for your book?

Henry Ching writes:

The people who lived in the Italian Convent were commonly referred to as refugees as they sought refuge there.  The same applied to many in the French Convent/Hospital complex in Causeway Bay, and the people who lived in Rosary Hill.  The latter were destitute and receiving aid from the Red Cross.  They were all generally speaking classified as third nationals and thus not liable to internment.  There were a few internees in the French Hospital – mostly elderly and others requiring medical treatment moved there from Stanley.

Here's a (very!) short list of refugees at the Italian Convent:

http://gwulo.com/list-of-person?tid=WW2%3A+Refugee+at+Italian+Convent&t…

If you can add any more, please leave a comment or create a Person and tag them WW2: Refugee at Italian Convent