Diary pages from this date

Paper said more landings had been made. Tales that Chinese planes had been engaging Jap planes over Kowloon.

I re-installed myself at Dina House, slept first night in room with Janet and Lillian since Mrs Pryde and Mrs Bebbington who had moved in, were on night duty.   Next day moved to large room with Mrs Hilda Hutchinson (who is expecting soon), Mrs Boulton (American); Edith Palmer from Shanghai, Marjorie Cook, and Edith and Ivy Batley (all 3 Eurasians working with ARP).  At night Mrs H. told us stories about the BBC where she had worked (telephonist); and Edith told us of her many travels.

Had dinner with Mr Murphy and Janet and Lillian at the Hong Kong Hotel.  We were said to have sunk a cruiser off Stanley.  Mrs. Boulton very nice, she wasn't in any of the essential services so wasn't eligible for meals at the Parisian Grill or Cafe Wiseman, so I used to buy bread and butter for her in Lane Crawford's - with her money.

The night passed without incident and on getting up the next morning (20th) I found it was drizzling.  There was no sound of firing from Wongneichong Gap and it appeared that the Japanese now held the Police Station, Tinson’s house and the Pillbox as we could see them wandering around quite casually.  We manned the parapet of the driveway in front of the houses with rifles and a few Lewis guns and were firing with some success at the various targets in the gap when we began to get a few casualties ourselves from some snipers up on the catchwater.  This forced us to retire into the houses as we were completely enfiladed and it was impossible to get at the snipers by sending a party after them as the catchwater was one hundred feet up a sheer hillside.

I was in the big semidetached house and after barricading the top windows with bales of uniform I placed Bren and Lewis guns at them and again engaged the targets in Wongneichong Gap.  I also similarly barricaded the windows on the opposite side of the house which commanded a view of the catchwater as it approached from Repulse Bay and from these windows one could also look down on the Repulse Bay Road and Deepwater Bay.

I had only been firing for a short while when I was called to the telephone and informed from the HQ that I was to cease firing and wait for further orders.  So we sat and waited, growing more and more restless as the day wore on.  During the afternoon we observed Japanese calmly walking along the catchwater from the Repulse Bay direction.  I again opened fire from the back window and again was telephoned and told to hold my fire.

That night I slept in this house.  I was very tired, very dirty, very hungry and very thirsty.

The Japanese had cut off the water on capturing Wongneichong Gap and we were reduced to drinking water from firebuckets and what rain water we had been able to collect.  The stench in the house was awful, it permeated everywhere, from the lavatories which could not be flushed and which our foolish troops had continued to use instead of going outside.

We had been without proper rations since the evening of 18th, catching the odd meal when possible and were now down to a few tins of “bully” and Army biscuits which also had to be carefully conserved.  If we were to remain in this place doing nothing but hide with not enough to eat or drink it was not my idea of a joke.

In the meantime, Colonel Tanaka was sending his advance party along the Wongneichong reservoir catchwater, above the Ridge.  They reached a point above Repulse Bay Hotel soon after dawn on the 20th;  they attacked, and by 9.30 the same morning, the hotel was surrounded and the garage was in enemy hands. 

((Source - a dramatization of the history of the Hong Kong Volunteers, which was broadcast over Radio Hong Kong on 31st May 1954 as part of the HKVDC Centenary Celebrations))

The next day and onwards we recieved frequent visits but on each occasion we went out in a body out onto the lawn, The behaviour of the Japanese was insulting and threatening. On the 20th December we heard men on the path and on swiching on all lights went into the hall and were there threatened by Japanese with bayonets.

We were searched and robbed of all jewellery and money and then thrust into a small room off the hallway and the door was locked. The following morning we found that all food had been taken. Whenever I saw a Japanese Officer I asked for the protection of all non-combatants.

Tony Banham gives a concise explanation of the military developments that are going to unfold from now until the surrender:

As they remove the defenders from the north-south road, the Japanese, are simultaneously pushing westwards towards Central {then Victoria}, and south towards Stanley.

Stanley Fort, of course, is a major British strong point. Nevertheless, Banham tells us clearly that the main objective was Central/Victoria, capture of which would lead to almost immediate surrender, while 'Stanley was simply a sideshow'. But it's in the southern part of the island that a group are about to undergo what was to become one of the best-known civilian experiences of the Hong Kong fighting.

At 9.30 a.m. the troops and civilians in the Repulse Bay Hotel come under attack. Second Lieutnant P. Grounds (Middlesex) is in command, and his orders are to hold the hotel at all costs, as it guards the coast road. Later in the day Grounds is killed leading an attack to free five prisoners in a garage opposite.

It's a large and varied bunch of civilians who are inside the hotel:

And inside the hotel, too, were a hundred and fifty civilians - young mothers with babies and young children, their husbands fighting with the volunteers, the dowager duchesses of Crown Colony society and Gwen Dew, free-lance American girl photographer from Detroit; the wealthiest Chinese merchants of the Far East and their families; a few Chinese houseboys who had followed their British masters to refuge; eighty-three-year-old Dr. L. C. Arlington, the famous author and authority on Chinese culture; courageous Americans employed by the British-American Tobacco Company who wanted to fight, and retired European rentiers who didn't.

At the other end of the island, Joan Crawford and the survivors of yesterday's siege of the North Point Power station are taken out of the garage in which they've spent the night:

Next day we were lined up once more, the men in uniform separated from the civilians. We were marched down to Ming Yuen to the refugee huts {built for refugees from the Sino-Japanese War}....

Once more we were sorted out, questioned and allocated to huts which were filthy dirty. Some of the bunk beds had been used as lavatories, and we were ordered to clean up as best we could, using our hands and whatever rubbish had been left behind. As we finished, we were ordered out to even flithier huts and the whole process of cleaning again.

Strangely enough, all through the previous two days, having been in the front line so to speak, I had no feeling of fear, as though completely detached from the whole thing. But the cleaning up of this filth finished me off....

We were joined by other civilians, and the mysterious process of organizing life began to stir. Beds were allocated, latrines dug - one for the ladies being modestly screened.

The Daily Mirror's page 1 headline:

Hong Kong Defenders Hold Out - Our Penang Garrison Goes

But the report admits the situation is 'serious' and describes Japanese landings on the north-east of the Island on the night of 17/18. That's a little early, and the report of Japanese successes on the back page is exaggerated:

By 11 a.m. most of the island was in Japanese hands...The remainder of the British withdrew to Victoria Peak while Victoria city was occupied intact by the Japanese.

The whole of Victoria was never to be occupied, but only because surrender came first. The front page of The Daily Express carries a similar story:

Hongkong, fighting to the death with swarms of Japanese who landed yesterday at many points on the island, rejected with scorn a third offer of surrender terms and then came silence.

Citing Japanese sources, the paper claims that British troops had withdrawn to the Peak, where a last stand was expected.

Sources:

Military developments: Tony Banham, Not the Slightest Chance, 2003,  165-166

At 9.30 a.m.: Banham, op. cit., 175.

Civilians: Jan Henrik Marsman, I Escaped From Hong Kong, 1942, 36-37

Crawford: Austin Coates, A Mountain Of Light, 1977, 148-149

Note:

For Bennie Proulx's arrival at the Hotel, see yesterday's entry.

A queer jumble of a morning. We began by accompanying A.S.P. Searle, one of the police who went out and did things, on an anti-sniping raid at Happy Valley. All this proving another rumour we returned and almost at once set off on an anti-looting expedition. This was taking place at the French Store in Queen’s Road but the shooting of one and arrest of another, a member of the A.P.S. who, in company with the Police, were having as much as anyone under the guise of escorting it into lorries stowed that. Apart from this the Western District seemed quiet and there was nothing to support the stories at P.H.Q. of looting in Western Central; the streets being deserted practically in the Des Voeux Road area and, in Queen’s Road, far from busy.

After tiffin where I met Gray Dalziel, thoroughly disgusted and properly so at his job of superior nurse to ratings’ wives, we got orders which seemd to point to something good at last. A P.B. of the Middlesex had been cut off at Causeway Bay by a few Japs. Who were allegedly sniping from roof tops and side streets. The news, coming as it did from G.H.Q., was authentic and as no volunteers were allowed from the police, the three of us with Petro, a good enough fellow but who talked like bloody hell proceeded to the area in question. Arrived there I did a reconnaissance over Jardine’s hill but even with the help of the headmaster of the school there I could see no signs of activity. Proceeding further there were still no signs of Japs. Anywhere nor for that matter of our troops either. The P.B. certainly seemed deserted but at the distance 3-400 yds. it was difficult to be sure. Dusk was setting in and we had to be moving quickly if anything was to be done so Mike moved us back while he went to see if any change in the situation had been reported. There certainly had – the P.B. had been evacuated some hours before and we had been playing at soldiers in no man’s land.

In addition, orders now came to move to Aberdeen the following morning ready to move to Shatuakok. The evening was spent in feeding and argument – we, having contacted Betty’s roommates at the Gloucester, (indecipherable name/s written by hand above this: Lynn Harmond(?) Mrs….Cantas(?)) and after a fairly lively evening, culminated in Tai and and I heaving our bedding all over the hotel which was crammed even more to the corridors and finally going to sleep in Police quarters again.

A very foggy morning, brightened by the appearance of a hawker selling milk. We did not ask its source. Distantly, the battle in the hills went on all day, but it is a strangely quiet night.

It is now difficult to get food. A hawker sold bread at $1.50 a pound and a little pork could be got at $5 per pound limited to a quarter pound to each customer. The newspapers noted that there is no fresh fish in the central market, only dried fish. Firewood is also hard to get, and the Food Control is distributing cooked rice. 

A shop up town which had been hit by a bomb was looted. The police fired on the looters and killed several of them. Government has warned that in future the police will shoot to kill on sight. A police reservist called, presented a requisition and took our motor-car, in which a load of street guards immediately began a local patrol around the district.

Our neighbours all had the same thought in mind and asked the same question: what will happen when the final moment comes? The looting at Kowloon is taken as a warning; it would also be our lot on the Island. A neighbour and I went into frequent council of war. We would bar doors and windows. What else? He revealed himself a man of property; he has two new pistols and has given me one, with two tins of ammunition, all disguised as a tin of biscuits.

The tempo of the enemy’s offensive is increasing - air activity  considerable, Jubilee and Mount Davis seem to be getting it. Spent morning at the office - rumours coming in thick and fast. The enemy, it appears, have landed considerable reinforcements and are advancing somewhere near Wong Nei Cheong, also they seem to have infiltrated near Tai Tam.

Had a very unpleasant task to carry out this morning - digging a grave and reading a short burial service for two of our lads who were killed in No. 7 during the attack yesterday. Most depressing but someone had to do it. In the afternoon I drove three severely wounded Chinese to the Queen Mary Hospital. I borrowed an Austin 10 for the job - it was quite an exciting ride - as enemy planes were bombing in the vicinity of Pokfulum Road - the road was in a hell of a mess, bomb craters, telegraph wires down and trailing all over the place.  Handed over my passengers - it must have been agony for them at every jar and bump - and there were many during that short ride - but not a murmur from one of them. Returned to the office. Slept in the school during the night. How I am beginning to loathe the school, the place is just one jumble of humanity, men and officers coming and going - no one seems to know what is happening. I am going to  ask the C.O. if I can join one of the boats tomorrow, anything to get out of this place. Had a very disturbed night - had at least three “stand to's” because the enemy had been reported advancing along the road towards the building.

Did sentry duty for two hours - outside - a really ridiculous situation - there I was armed with a revolver
with no shelter - standing out in the open. If enemy troops were about I should have been killed long before I could have been able to raise the alarm.

This day started badly . A bomb exploded outside No. 5 Ward , about 12 ft . from its wall . The blast shattered a number of the ' typhoon doors ' and filled the ward with acrid smoke and dust . The main water and sewage pipes were fractured , which meant that the kitchens and lavatories of Nos . 5 and 6 Wards were out of action . 

There were no casualties from this explosion . 

During this day the hospital came under heavy and continuous shell fire from two directions , Kowloon Wharf and Leighton Hill , and the following were the main incidents of damage : 

• P.M.O's . residence . A shell burst in the drawing room . 
• The Sisters ' Quarters . Many direct hits , with the roof and top floor completely wrecked . 
• Sick Berth Staff Quarters . Pharmacist's residence . 
• No. 2 Ward . Shell pierced the roof . 
• No. 4 Ward . Shells pierced the roof . 
• Main Operating Theatre . Shells pierced the roof . 

The sick berth staff worked valiantly in repairing the damage of No. 5 Ward , and got it into reasonable working condition within a short time . 

On this day a large sanitary pit was dug in the front lawn of the hospital in which soiled dressings and ward refuse could be placed . It was realised that this situation was not ideal , being too near to the water tanks . But steps were taken to chlorinate the refuse thoroughly , and in any case , it was necessary for the pit to be near the wards . 

In the evening about 20 wounded sepoys were admitted to No. 1 Ward . These were also casualties from Wong Nei Chong Gap .

     On reaching Stanley ((Fort)) we settled down on the verandah of one of the married quarters and slept until dawn. As soon as it is daylight, all hands set to issuing tinned rations, etc. which have been stored in the quarter’s, I drive the lorry accompanied by Hammond and Tuck to the WO’s ((Warrant Officer’s)) quarters which overlook the sea, to fetch some cases of tinned rations. As we have no keys we have to break a window to get in and open the front door, but we later find a window broken at the rear and signs that someone else had been in. As we were carting some cases from an upper bedroom I discovered a body in a cupboard at the top of the stairs. He had slumped down with a rifle between his knees and his brains had been shot out. Whether it was an accident or not we could decide. However, Tuck recognised the man as Professor France of Hong Kong University, a member of the H.K.V.D.C. ((Norman Hoole France was noted for his great love of China and before the war was active in the China Defence League which organised relief and aid for those fighting the Japanese. There is a tribute to him in James Bertram’s The Shadow of a War and he’s one of the dedicatees of Israel Epstein’s The Unfinished Revolution in China.)) We reported the facts at the guardroom and our next trip rolled the body up in a blanket and took it to the guardroom. In the afternoon we get some more lorries and some Indian troops to help to transport stores from the concrete food store at Chung-Am-Kok into Stanley Fort. ((Can anyone confirm the location of this food store?))  I drove a lorry until darkness set in. It was evident that stocks of food were to be built up at Stanley, in case of an attack by the Japs.

N.T.C.
Saturday 20/12/41

Sweetheart,

This was the day on which I was going to win a "packet" at the Races and fly to see you at dawn tomorrow! 

I suppose you are still hearing London wireless - with no electric power  we can hear nothing  and in my case  whenever ZBW  went on the air  the Japs could  at once accurately  determine its site - by direction finders -  and then they shelled it.   I hear that last night London said something like this "We have no news from H.K. but Tokyo claims that 3,ooo men have landed on the Island and its capture will therefore  only take a few days."    Some men have landed but not 3,000 I think and we are I believe beating them back. I think they captured the Power Station having landed nearby and they were in Tai Hang village yesterday and near Caroline Hill today.   It will be very serious if they get to Taitam.  But we keep hoping on.  Conditions are all right here, in fact we have had a very quiet day, no bombing or shelling.  I suppose they expect now to capture us intact.  It is funny we've never heard where the Canadians are - they were on Kowloon side of course - and the Royal Scots too.  D.O.K. how many got back.  There is a story that Chinese planes dive bombed the Japanese in Kowloon this morning.  I think of you three so much and feel so sorry for you in all this worry and if we have to give in - you will worry all the more.  But we can't help it.  I do so hope you are still fairly comfortable in Singapore - how I wish now you had gone to Australia.  It is 4.30 now and I am writing by daylight - it is no use trying to write later.  Cheerio Darling - you are always in my thoughts.       Billie.

5.30pm.   Great news has come through - they are mopping up the Japs and the Chinese troops are approaching Kowloon - said to be 100,000 strong.  3 large bombers escorted by 6 fighters dive bombed the Jap positions in Kowloon this morning -   I heard this as a rumour but now it is confirmed (Later.  This was all rubbish of course)   I shouldn't be surprised if we are relieved within a week.  Oh! Darling - we could stick it out much longer but for your sake I hope it comes true.  What a relief to your worrying it would be.  That is rather the worst of this place, we are rather cut off from the centre of things.  The first few days while I was still in Statue Square we used to go into the Supreme Court and one day I had a real grandstand view of the bombing of Stonecutters!  Here we are very sheltered and can see nothing - and I go out as seldom as I can.  Dinner on so I must run.  B.

Returned to Stanley 9AM for food, clean up & to await fresh orders.

Remained in Club (H.Q.) all night.

Japs shelled & bombed during the day.

Quiet night.