Major Kanamaru was the Japanese officer who assumed command at Fanling immediately after the invasion of Hong Kong in December 1941. He remained for about a month before being moved on to the front elsewhere.
He visited the Fanling Babies’ Home just before Christmas following the initial violent incursions of Japanese troops into the Home and brought some much-needed stability. He asked about nature of the Home, the children there and the BCMS children and the three European staff.
He asked about the violent incidents that had occurred in the Home, apologised for them and promised the perpetrators would be punished. He issued a Protection Notice that was pinned to the front door of the Home and he gave permission for the Home to be kept locked at night to intruders.
He permitted the return of the BCMS girls and 35 Fanling girls from the Jockey Club Stables, where they had been taken on the day of invasion. He replaced bedding coverlets that had been stolen by his troops.
He responded to letters of thanks from Home Superintendent Mildred Dibden with personal visits and discussions with her of a more friendly and interested nature which ranged from comparisons of eastern and western art to the merits of Christianity for eastern and western people.
He shared that his sister in Tokyo had been helped some years before by a missionary, a Miss Blackie.
In all ‘He showed the women of the Home (Misses Dibden, Little, and Critchell) that there were good, gentlemanly Japanese concerned with the welfare of others,’ and for this he earned the name of the Fanling Home’s ‘Good Samaritan’.
On 15th January 1942 he made his last visit to the Home, announcing that he was moving elsewhere to the front and as he shook hands on leaving, he pressed a wad of military yen into Miss Dibden’s hand. She remembered the day because it was her birthday.
Sadly his successors did not follow his example and for the rest of the war the Home fell subject to the vicissitudes experienced by the other conquered Europeans in Hong Kong at that time.
Regretfully I have not been able to find out any more about Major Kanamaru or indeed Miss Blackie. He sounds to have been a notable example of the best of the Japanese military.
Source:
The Yip Family of Amah Rock by Jill Doggett
Comments
Other mentions
Major Kanamaru gets a paragraph in ‘Let my Heart Be Broken’ by Richard Gehman, which adds little more beyond the fact that his men sent children they found to the Fanling Home, adding to the numbers to be fed. In the 1960 edition of the book, his name is misspelt as Kaumaui.
In the Woman’s Own Magazine feature in the UK, telling Mildred Dibden’s story, which came out in six episodes in 1962 under the title Mission of Love, we get perhaps the most vivid account of Kanamaru. He is described as tall, distinguished-looking, and unlike any Japanese that Mildred Dibden had seen so far, with an air of dignity and intelligence.
He became a frequent visitor to the Home and seemed to enjoy the wide-ranging discussions they had together. He observed Miss Dibden painting watercolours and asked if he might take one for himself. He chose a depiction of tiger lilies.
On the day he announced his leaving, he looked sad and kept his gaze to the floor. They each bowed as they parted, and Mildred said, ‘For the first time since the occupation, I bowed back to him with the full meaning of respect.’
“‘Let me say farewell in your fashion,’ he said. I felt his strong grip around my fingers, then he was gone….We had lost a good friend; an enemy, but a humane person.”
Kiyotoshi Kanamaru (金丸清俊)
Based on the information from "The Battle of Hong Kong 1941: A Spatial History Project", the unit that gathered near Fanling before Christmas in 1941 was the 2nd Independent Heavy Artillery Battalion, commanded by Maj. Kiyotoshi Kanamaru(金丸清俊).
Great find
Great find Alan. Thank you. Do we call him Major or Colonel?
Re:
Hi There,
According to this link, by the end of the war Kanamaru was a 中佐, which appeared to be equivalent to Army Lieutenant Colonel.
T