Diary pages from this date

The next morning I spoke to Major Dewer ((probably A J Dewar)) about the state of Kings Road and the Lyemun road and futility of trying to clear ten thousand shells with so few lorries, and asked his permission to visit GHQ and submit a scheme which if approved should enable me to clear a great many shells in one night.

My idea was that I should be given at least twenty lorries and allowed to make a dump of the shells on the south side of the island behind Mount Parker at the top of Shaukiwan Hill. 

He though it a good idea and I set off for GHQ with his blessing and advice to lay it on thick.  Major Dewer was an excellent fellow and I found it easy to work with him.

I reached Flagstaff House but found great difficulty in finding the entrance to the enormous dugout which had been constructed to house G.H.Q.

There were many MPs and sentries around but no one seemed very willing to disclose the entrance to the “Holy of Holies”.

Eventually I found it situated at the back of a building built close to the hillside which had been cut away so that the back and one side of the building faced steep slopes.  In the corner formed by the slopes I found the entrance.  I then had to descend innumerable steps with many right-angled turns till I reached a steel door where I was made to produce my pass before it was opened, admitting me to a small compartment with another steel door on the opposite side.

This door was opened once the outer door was closed admitting me to the real thing.  There was a small power plant supplying light and air-conditioning and here the Staff lived, eat [change to ate?], and slept some hundred feet below the ground and quite oblivious to what went on in the outside world, except what was conveyed to them by telephone and other messages.

There was a passage off which many small rooms opened and to one of these I was conducted.

I had decided it was best to go to the fountain head so I had asked to see the C.R.A.

I knew Brig. McCloud slightly, having met him at various Volunteer dinners, at camp and numerous cocktail parties.  He offered me a cup of tea which I accepted and then went straight into it for I had decided to tell him exactly what I thought and felt about the ammunition situation.

I told him the various facts I knew regarding the shortage of shells at all batteries and the state of Kings Road and Lyemun and explained my scheme to him;  this he approved but told me I must liaise with the Adjutant of the HK & Singapore Brigade about it.  He took me to see the C.R.E. about the condition of the roads and we were informed that a message had just come in to say that two hundred yards of tramway cable had been cleared from Kings Road the previous night;  and they all thought it a very good joke when I said I knew that as I had done it, but I told them there was still plenty more which needed clearing and was assured this would be attended to and also the craters on the Lyemun Road.

I asked the CRA why a magazine had been built in such a vulnerable place as Lyemun and was told that when it was built, there was no thought of the Colony being attacked from the mainland, and that was why the magazines at Shouson Hill had been hastily constructed when the threat became imminent.  My comment was that it might have been advisable to move the shells to Shouson Hill on its completion some six months ago, to which he readily agreed.

After my interview with the CRA, I returned to Shouson Hill via Pokfulam where I called in at my house to collect some clean clothes and also decided to take my dog “Mr Bones” to Shouson Hill as Mount Davis was receiving a tremendous hammering both from bombs and shells, and I found him in a very nervous state.

I then called at the Queen Mary Hospital to see Susie and was startled by the news she gave me that Uncle Pat had been hurt by a bomb which had dropped a few yards in front of Landau’s house, and had shattered the window near which he was sleeping.  I found him somewhat upset but apart from this right eye which had received a splinter of glass, his other injuries were only superficial and he was quite cheerful.

I had tiffin with Susie at her mother’s house and then returned to Shouson Hill, where I reported my visit to the CRA to Major Dewer.  He advised me to visit the Adjutant of the HK Singapore Brigade and do my utmost to push my scheme through, so I set off to Wongneichong Gap where I found they had their headquarters.  Fox their adjutant told me GHQ had already been on to him about it and it was hoped to carry out my idea the following night.

I then took “Mr Bones” for a walk through the Tytam reservoir area – it was a perfect afternoon.

The weather had been bad for the first few days of the attack on Hongkong, which had been in favour of the Japanese as there was considerable fog in the hills which helped to cover their advances.  It had now turned fine but the nights were pitch black and very cold.

I returned to Shouson Hill and reported the result of my visit to Fox, and then set off for Happy Valley to join my column.  I decided to take ‘Mr Bones’ with me which was a mistake as he took great exception to all sentries at road blocks when we were going down Kings Road that night on our way to Lyemun.

We encountered tramway cable again, but were fortunate in avoiding it, but in any case would have been alright as we had a metal saw and large wire cutters.  The Lyemun Road had not been repaired, and it was a ticklish job negotiating the two large craters in pitch darkness.

The Ordnance men at Lyemun were pretty jittery and said they had been fairly heavily shelled all day, and expected the Japanese would be making another attempt to land before long.

Corpl. O’Connor who was in charge asked me to ring up GHQ and report that a great many sampans had crossed from Shaukiwan to Devils Peak and that they should be prevented from returning as it was more than likely they would have Japanese aboard disguised as fisherfolk.

I reported this, also that I thought it might be advisable to blow up the pier at the foot of the road, and was informed these matters were being attended to;  however, the sampans returned, and I have no doubt contained many Japanese and ammunition, and the pier was not destroyed.

Sergt. Barman was working with me with several other sergeants from the batteries, and we cleared a good few hundred shells that night.  There must have been a fifth columnist signalling from the hills above the magazines, for each time we reached the barracks, which by this time had been badly shelled, and started down the hill to the magazines we were shelled and again on the way out;  however, we all got through safely but had some unpleasantly near crumps which added greatly to Mr Bones discomfort.

At this time there were numberous patrols around, the gates were shut and guarded and it was necessary to produce your pass to enter the magazine area, there was a searchlight beam across the narrow Lyemun Pass and the pillbox near the pier was manned, so things seemed in reasonable order.

Mr Garton and W. Skinner and Mr Bendall – family friends - were in and out of the tunnel re their war work. One day Mr Garton appeared and said he'd got someone to see me, and there was Sid, in khaki shorts and tin helmet.  I went into corridor and we sat on chair frames ((still no seats on them)) with his mate Cooper.  He said he was feeling more confident now, and appeared completely recovered. Cooper had been in hospital with foot trouble.  Of Mabel, Sid said 'You'll find her much older in the head.' ((Then both went off to war again.))  I gave Sid a note for Arthur in case he saw him.

The P. Grill was dark and tiffin generally soup, then some hash, and maybe a potato or macaroni or spaghetti; and tea. If no soup, there was generally salad.  One day a delicious hot cake.  Enjoyed the meals until those who fed at Cafe Wiseman started saying what they were having – whole oranges, and bread and jam in addition to other rations.  But I was scared to change because it was a longer walk to Cafe Wiseman, and by this time shells were bursting all over the place spasmodically.  After eating at P.G. I usually went to see Olive in her office in Holland House.  One afternoon I arrived too late at P.G. For tiffin, so got a cup of tea at Hong Kong Hotel, then waited in a queue at Lane Crawfords, bought half a pound of bread, 2 oz butter, a jar of paste and a jar of jam. Had to carry the bread in my fist, no bags.  Went to Olive's office for a knife.  There an unknown lady gave me some lettuce with which I made a delicious sandwich.

Chan Pan Kwai, Chinese, Male, Age 26 years, fireman from SS. Ethel Moller, ((was killed at the refugee camp above Quarry Bay by Japanese shelling.))

In Kowloon some of the civilians are still in hiding, but most are prisoners.

Arthur Hamson writes to his wife Edith at 4.10 p.m.:

Beloved mine,

I understand young Barton will probably be shifted up to the hospital as he is unwell. I'm giving him this note to deliver it to you if possible. Where we are quartered is past the Police Training School at the junction of the Shalin ((sic - presumably Shatin)) and Castle Peak Rd.

I'm wondering if you have received my two letters I sent to you yesterday. One note was by Dr. Newton who is here with us, but who took young Osborne to the hospital last night....

We are having a little more food now. 2 cups of tea per day, some rice and cabbage and this morning we had a slice of bread butter and cheese. It all depends what the soldiers give us, but as there are 55 of us it needs a lot to feed us....

The imprisonment here is monotonous. All we do is to read, talk and play cards and hear guns.

On the Island the Central Police Station is hit by bombs for the second day in a row.

Jorgen Jorgensen, a Norwegian ship's captain, dies after being admitted to St. Paul's casualty clearing station with injuries sustained when his ship the Halldor is bombed. Second Engineer Gosta Nyborg died in the bombing, and the four surviving Norwegians will be taken prisoner. One, Olaf Daniel Pedersen, will die in Stanley on August 15, 1945.

The Daily Express carries a thoughtful page 1 article:

Hongkong, besieged and under shellfire/last night, sent this radio to London:

WE INTEND TO DO/OUR BEST

Express Military Reporter MORLEY RICHARDS

FROM besieged Hongkong, shelled all day from short range and bombed without respite, this message was flashed last night: " We all thank you most sincerely for your heartening message. We intend to do our best."

The message came from Hongkong's Governor, 54-year-old Sir Mark Young . In reply to Mr Churchill’s message ‘We are all with you’.

Tokyo radio yesterday predicted that the fate of Hongkong would be "decided in a matter of days"

The Express is realistic about the prospects of relief from the Chinese Army:

Marshal Chiang Kai-shek's offensive in the Canton area, though gaining ground, is still a long way from directly affecting Hongkong's besiegers. It is directed more to harassing the enemy’s flanks.

The paper reports that the Japanese are occupying Kowloon and predicts (wrongly of course) that they’ll try to take Hong Kong by siege and bombardment rather than direct assault:

The enemy can draw on heavy reserves free from interruption and may decide that his best plan is to blast the garrison into submission while attempting a strict blockade to produce eventual starvation. Frontal assault would inevitably mean staggering losses to the Japs, and not necessarily success.

There is an optimistic assessment of the Colony’s water supply now that the reservoirs have been captured. It seems to me that the Express is doing well at trying to be both informative and upbeat. This is going to be an increasingly difficult task.

Sources:

Hamson: Allana Corbin, Prisoners of the East, 2002, 102

Central Police Station: Tony Banham, Not the Slightest Chance, 2003, 85

Norwegians: Banham, op. cit. 89; and

http://www.warsailors.com/singleships/halldor.html

Note:

It has not yet been established which members of the Barton and Osborne families are referred to.

Morning saw our nearest meeting with bombs – one landing outside our flat and opening the roadway half across but luckily doing no damage apart from shattered glass, the retaining wall taking the blast. Our next job was detailed – sinking another ship and lighter at West Point. After the Taikoo job this appeared easy as no activity had been seen on board and the ship was well removed from both shores. The H.D. were arranging a motor boat and we anticipated no great difficulty. In the evening we paid what was my second visit to B.H.Q. and having to wait on Mike we had time to collect our impression. After our entry by a dim blue lit baffle gate our stay was most oppressing. Somehow the whole atmosphere was dreary – the guards seemed apathetic. The air was close and in that huge catacomb with its innumerable passages, doors, pipes and guards I felt more uncomfortable and depressed than at any other time. It was, too, amazing to see how eagerly Mike’s appearance with news was welcomed – after all what was happening when their own people could not correlate reports and tell us. It had been the same at P.H.Q. The C.P. seemed to have no sources of information either and no means of communication with H.Q. Bluntly it seemed to me a bloody place in which to have to pass any time at all.

From there we moved with C.S.O., I to the General’s house where, over a drink, we, at least again I, had an eyeopener when GSO1, in detailing a job he seemed to feel we could do, revealed a shocking gap in our North Point defences. 1000 yards, without even a booby trap. The job however involving as it did laying mines in daylight under M.G. fire about 400 yards away did not appeal to our minds and with mutual expressions of goodwill we homed hoping that none of the innumerable sentries would have a crack at us.

Heavy shelling again in the softening up of our waterfront. I am local stringer for The Times, London. We correspondents have religiously filed daily throughout the first week, but the pressure was heavy and few messages have reached our newspapers. A trying day, with a continuous showering of shells and bombs. Anxiety deepening by the hour; but morale still holding. Some of the cinema theatres are carrying on, with shows at noon and 2 p.m. subject to abandonment without notice. 

A Chinese newspaper, the Wah Kiu Yat Po, tendered to its readers some advice on "How to Comport Yourselves in the Street". According to the Wah Kiu, "Chinese wearing foreign clothes should not put both their hands into their trousers or coat pockets. Those wearing Chinese clothes should not put their hands into their sleeves or into the back of their gown when they walk. They should walk with their hands out hanging by their sides. The Police yesterday stopped many pedestrians and warned them of these factors."

A firewood racket was exposed and deplored. The poor are actually selling their free ration at a profit. Perhaps they know that soon there will be blackwood furniture to burn. Official notifications about food still envisage a long siege. In the defence preparations, siege rations had been got ready - for the last of our days, salt fish and hard biscuits made from powdered peanuts. The latter are now appearing. The Government urged people not to throw away the thin red skins of peanuts "which contain far more of the anti-beri beri and anti-pellagra vitamins than does Marmite or yeast". The population was chided, "It is unpatriotic and disloyal to eat more than your daily ration." We are urged to grow our own food as much as we can. This is old advice; many of us already have vegetable gardens on our flat roofs, Government having suggested it a few years before when the Japanese occupation of the Canton area caused supplies from there to dwindle.

Quiet early. Got ropes ashore and warped ship in as close as possible. Beattie pulled over in skiff for paint.

26 big bombers over very high about 1 o'clock. Loosed off on Aberdeen dock.[i] Sunk MTB 08 [Grapnel] & damaged yard. Very badly wounded Engineer Officer of Thracian and Lt. Coles.[ii] Dive bombers attacked us, Cicala, Ebonol, Cornflower.[iv] Lot of bombs on Middle Island[v] and one about 50 yards from us. No dead fish! Cicala claimed to have brought down two.

Ashore 5.15 and walked Aberdeen and back. Lieutenant from Manila urgent signal to Commodore for naval cap.[vi]

USS Arizona lost.

Up early the dawn promised a beautiful day - not a cloud in the sky. Spent morning in the office - heard from the E.O. No. 11 due off the slip about noon, so pushed off down to the dock to prepare for hoisting. Finally hoisted about 1 p.m. - inspected damage with E.O. - bent propeller shaft - shouldn't take long - on the slip for a day should do the trick. E.O. pushed off to tiffin and I likewise having mine in the shelter - we had decided that with “Thracian” in dock it would be a wise move.

While eating heard planes about, but they flew off (apparently dropping pamphlets) about 10 minutes later they were back again, and then there was one succession of terrific explosions - the Shelter filled with dust and smoke.

Those near the entrance lifted off their feet by the force of the explosions. The place was soon overcrowded as people rushed in after  the first bombs started falling, making it almost impossible to move. At last shoved my way through and arrived at the steps just in time to give a hand with the wounded, some were pretty badly knocked about, poor chaps. I finally got outside to be met by my stoker who told me that 08 had been hit (he was under the boat at the time and miraculously escaped injury) and was on fire.

By the time I got to the boat she was burning fiercely, with flames shooting out of the conning tower. Hopeless to try and put it out with an extinguisher, to get the dock mobile fire pumps working as soon as possible was the only thing to do. I ran back to the shelter to telephone the school for fire fighting appliances alas to find the phone out of order. What to do next! I  had to make  a quick decision. Spotted a car at the dock gates and jumping in left word to my cox'n to keep an eye on the boat while I drove up to the school for help.

Reported to Cdr. Miller who arranged for fire fighting appliance  and ambulance, which were sent down to the dock immediately. Cdr. Miller told me to remain so that I could give an account of the bombing  direct to Commodore by telephone, which I did. Cdr. Miller asked for more details, I told him as much as I knew of what happened and returned to the Yard. Met my Cox'n outside the dock, on his way to the school. He told me that he and all persons not on the pumps had been ordered out of the dock by S.N.O.A. (Cdr. Montague). I asked him how 08 was, and he told me she was burning fiercely and looked a total loss. Of all the things to happen! Decided to see the C.O. and report the sad news. Took me half an hour to get out to No. 10 lying in South Channel, only to find he had left in the skimmer. Returned to the school where I met Lt. Cdr. Binney and we both pushed off down to the dock. By this time 08 was almost burnt out - she was a mass of charred wood and metal. So ended the  life of 08 - a very sad ending - I felt her loss badly and really found it hard to believe she was no more. A ship no matter what she be - if one's own or one has been in command, becomes very dear  to one, and the loss of my boat was like losing my best friend or relative.

So ended a miserable day (for me at least ). What next!

Tried to drown my sorrows in a few drinks that night - what's  the use anyway.

For the past three days the Japs have been shelling us very heavily indeed.  Mt. Davis have had the worst of it.  One of the A.A guns has been knocked out.  About 11 men were killed when the enemy scored a direct hit on one of the shelters.  A dud shell hit the muzzle of the upper 9.2” gun and it appears to be slightly bent.  The plug gauge bore will no longer pass through it.  A shell (9”) came in through the old canteen along the passage into the plotting room and came to rest under the command exchange.  The lights and the ventilating plant have been put out of action.  We are only through to them by one line which goes through their Regimental H.Q. at Felix Villas which they have had to move twice.

Courtlands has been lucky so far.  It is very close to the Peak Tramway which the enemy base succeeded in putting out of action.  The houses all round have been totally knocked about.  At breakfast this morning the base of a 150 millimetre shell came in through the window and landed under the table.  Buzz is standing up better than I expected.  He is puzzled, rather startled but so far not really frightened.

We have reorganised the command of the troops on the island.  East Inf. Bde. remains much the same.  Brigadier Wallis commands with H.Q. at Tytam Gap.  He has what is left of the Rajputs and the Royal Rifles Canada.  East Group R.A. remains the same and consists of the remnants of the Scots, Punjabis and the Winnipeg Grenadiers who are more or less intact.

R.A. West at Wanchai Gap have been closed down except for the exchange, and H.K. Regimental H.Q. are in support of West Inf. Bde.  Geoffrey Proes has been made C.B. Officer, he is being assisted by Crowe, Atkinson and Platts.  The Counter Battery office is at Wong Nei Chong on the opposite side of the road to the Regimental H.Q.  Up to now H.Q.R.A have been getting most of the shelling reports and have been swamped with information about suspected hostile batteries, all of which we have had to pass on to the Hong Kong Regt.  The new arrangement will work much better though really the C.B. office ought to be at H.Q.  However there isn’t room for it and the flash spotting exchange is already at Wong Nei Chong. 

What a pity it is that we never had a Counter Battery exercise in peace.  The present arrangement is a good improvisation but it is an improvisation.  It has done good work and we have knocked out quite a number of Japanese guns in what is a rather one-sided Artillery Duel.  None of our mobile guns have been knocked out.  The trouble has been to get the exact location of the 24 mm guns or Hows which are somewhere near the Japanese golf course at Shatin. Oh that we had some air to spot for us.  Yesterday, I think it was, we did put down a concentration of thirty rounds from Stanley which appeared to stop them for the time being, but they are busy again today. 

A day or two ago, I find I rather lose track of time in the Battle Box, I had to go round to Pok Fu Lam to warn the B.D. gun at Belchers point that a gunboat was coming in to lie off Green Island that night.  At the time nearly all communications had been put out of action by a bomb which cut the main cables at Magazine Gap.  I went round by Wong Nei Chong and Deepwater Bay, which was looking very peaceful and pleasant.  The turf is rather burnt up as it hasn’t been watered but I could see little of the supply depot or the Field Bakery which have been successfully hidden in the trees surrounding the golf course.

At Pok Fu Lam I found them all in good spirits despite having been shelled out of their H.Q. At Jubilee I was told that the damage to Belchers was much less than had been reported at first.  I was in rather a quandary as to what to do.  There were plenty of men in Jubilee (Stonecutters Personnel).  I hesitated to whether to order them to man Belchers or not.  They were bound to be heavily shelled in the morning if the Japs saw signs of life in the fort.  On the other hand there was only one Beach Defence gun in that sector.  However after a certain amount of dithering I remembered the gun boat and decided not to give any orders.

On my way back to H.Q. I nearly fell into a bomb crater.  There was the usual blackout.  I stopped the car when the road surface didn’t seem quite right, got out to look and found the front wheels on the very edge of a hole about twenty feet across and ten feet deep.  It was a small car and fortunately I was able to squeeze by on the right hand side.

Today the Japs sent over another demand for surrender.  They claimed to have destroyed by bombing or shellfire every military objective in the colony.  If we still refused to surrender they threatened to bring down the place about our ears.  The demand was summarily rejected.

A number of casualties was admitted at about 1500 hours . From then until 0500 hours the next day , the P.M.O. was operating continuously . The cases included one amputation through the left shoulder , one amputation through the left thigh and an officer with severe multiple gunshot wounds and a spinal paralysis .

We hear that the Japs have started shelling the waterfront by Causeway Bay and North Point, also we know that the Royal Artillery gun positions at Lyeemun, Pakshawan and Collinson are being heavily shelled. The distance across the harbour varies between a mile and a half and three miles at its widest point so it is quite easy for the Japs to get the range, now that they are in full control of Kowloon and the Mainland. We have some more air raids. The Jap planes are after the small gun boats anchored in Deepwater Bay. They are only about 500 or 600 yds from our bakery and cause a lot of disruption of the work. I have a bad time trying to hold my bakers to their work. Hammond, (Sergeant James Hammond, also an RASC Master baker) Tuck, Bonner (Ernest Tuck and Horace Bonner, members of the Hong Kong Volunteer Defence Corps assigned to the Bakery) and myself waste a lot of time rounding them up when they take shelter in the nearby bushes which incidentally would not be much protection in the event of a bomb landing. So far the nearest bomb landed on the beach about 400 yds away. There were no casualties.

The 9.2 guns at Stanley and Mount Davis have been firing salvoes all day and all through the night, the noise is deafening. It keeps me awake most of the night so I was up at 4.30a.m. and got quite a bit of paperwork completed working behind a blacked out screen.

6.15am.

I left my pen in office yesterday and am writing this with a new one I got.  Amah has got me up early – O.K.  I have a lot to do still - and of course the car has gone back on me – the battery is dead. Well I’ll just have to get somebody to push it.

I’ve been thinking – I don’t suppose the Jap flyer tried to hit this house or 151 – he was going for the road junction – Jardine’s Corner – the Bridge and so forth. If he had got that it would greatly dislocate traffic – though it would soon be cleared again. Water mains have been burst in several places and the great fear today is that W.C.s will have to stop. I’m having enough trouble with the dry system that is left and  the tunnels – if everybody has to use it we’ll be in a nice position.      B.

Still a nice cup of tea in the morning – electric kettle has been a boon. In the N.T.C. – there is a lovely kitchen – the Domestic Science lecture room!

Now 16/12/41 but next page gives you what I wrote last night in amazing circumstances.  I came home yesterday about 3 – I meant to go back but I kept in touch with Roe by phone and decided to stay.  I had left these pages in my desk so started a new sheet.

You have never seen such a scene of desolation as I saw in 152 yesterday.  Every window starting with Amah’s room,  [(?red)] dining room, drawing room verandahs  - verandah door  with typhoon bars up  - blown in - every pane of glass broken - right round  to our little dining room and even there with all the shutters shut or  perhaps the double window wasn’t shuttered – only one pane broken but the catches to the window wrenched right off. The communicating door was shielded by half of the ping pong table but the two bars that go up and down are bent right over. The upstairs even worse – in Ian’s room a piece of the grille on the middle window was flung against the opposite wall of the room – not just the verandah – and made a distinct impression like this. I’m keeping it to let you see it. Then something knocked a hole right through the little parapet over the semicircular part of the downstairs drawing room verandah.

The front door was even blown open – breaking off the lock but funnily enough the big hall window wasn’t affected at all – probably because it was a little open.

I am thankful all our stuff was safely away. Now of course while I have my den door and the hotroom door locked anyone could get into the house. I saw Feltham P.W.D. this morning and he has promised to board up all the downstairs windows first and perhaps later on upstairs too. I’ll try and run up tomorrow or next day.

Later at N.T.C.

Well the car didn’t fail me after all - I got Amah and all her stuff – you what that’s like! And some of mine and off I went about 8.20. I got her safely here – wrote a short report – back to CSO and then up the Peak again. The car was packed coming back with the little market coolie’s stuff and mine. We got safely down so now I’m here for the duration. I’ve not been very busy today so I got my unpacking and tidying don – we have to have dinner at 6 in the last of the daylight so we’ll be early to bed. But it’s dark until 7.30 or so so it will be a long night. But I’m quite safe here which is the only thing that really matters. I have got my office blacked out so that I can sit alone in the evening and write to you. I sent you a cable today – I wonder when it will reach you.

So Goodnight Darling    Love from Billie

Raids began at 9.15AM & increased in number during the afternoon. Targets are still the north side of HK. A squadron of Spitfires would clear them out in half a minute.

Clouds of white & brown smoke over Repulse Bay way due to bombing. Big column of black smoke over Shau Kei Wan way.

Quiet night.