The invasion of Hong Kong could hardly have been a surprise as the UK’s Daily Herald newspaper was quoting headlines to that effect in July 1940.
By October 1940 the British air route by its flagship Imperial Airways to the outside world had been permanently cut by Japanese incursions into Indo-China. The all-important mails, plus passengers could no longer get through by this route.
Indeed, the Japanese had been shooting at Imperial Airways planes since the late 1930s as they flew along the south China coast and had forced one down on Weichow Island near Hainan. The crew of the bullet-ridden airliner managed to land, and they and the passengers were taken away for interrogation. They were released back to Hong Kong several days later.
Interestingly, there was hardly a murmur from the UK government about the incident and when raised in Parliament it warranted only a few lines in the UK newspapers. Although in Hong Kong the newspapers were full of the incident for weeks.
Related to http://gwulo.com/node/35666
No other gwulo readers appear to have highlighted this HK invasion piece from a recent UK newspaper (last Thursday). In the paper edition it merited a 2 page spread
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4011866/Cocktail-party-Brits-fa…