Phyllis Harrop, living with other Government officials in the Prince's Building, tries to go for a walk:
It is almost impossible to walk along Queen's Road, due to the crowds of Chinese and the hawker stalls. The people are wandering about, some aimlessly, others with a look of astonishment on their faces at this whole ghastly mess, which is worse than tragedy. Words cannot express the feeling that what has been accomplished in a hundred years (this year was our centenary) has completely crumbled in a few days, almost one might say within twenty-four hours. A well-ordered city reduced to a state of lawlessness.
Harrop notes that there are 'marked signs of anti-British feeling amongst the Chinese people'. And the British, it seems, are all wondering when and where they will be interned.
Source:
Phyllis Harrop, Hong Kong Incident, 1943, 100-101