30 Apr 1942, Chronology of Events Related to Stanley Civilian Internment Camp

Submitted by brian edgar on Thu, 11/22/2012 - 17:16

The Japanese finally grant permission for a small number of internees to go to the French Hospital (aka St. Paul's) in Causeway Bay for X-rays. They go in the Red Cross truck and are only allowed to stay a few days.

While they're there, Dr. Selwyn-Clarke does his best to give them as good a time as possible. They're allowed to take a certain amount of supplies back into Stanley, so Hilda Selwyn-Clarke, assisted by her friend the writer Emily Hahn, becomes a 'shopper for Stanley camp's three thousand plus', scouring the streets for bargains to make the funds 'mysteriously' produced by Selwyn-Clarke go as far as possible.

Sources:

Maryknoll Diary, April 30

Emily HahnChina To Me, 1986 ed (1944) 359

Note:

Writing during the war, Hahn had to keep the source of funds for these supplies 'mysterious'. In fact the money was either given to Selwyn-Clarke or to the uninterned bankers by friendly Chinese, Indians or neutrals, or raised by the bankers through secret loans. All of these people ran huge risks to carry out this relief work.

Date(s) of events described