A reshaping of the camp's welfare system has been decided on, and camp secretary John Stericker posts a notice on the board to inform James Ivor Barnes, who's in charge of the storeroom, of the new division of responsibilities and to assure him his work continues to be required and appreciated:
Mr. Bradley has been appointed to receive the Camp stores (i.e., kitchen utensils etc. etc.) and will arrange for distribution of same. Should they arrive late in the evening they will be stored overnight in Dr. Macleod's store. He ((Bradley)) will also be responsible for signing the receiving sheets. It is, of course, necessary to define his duties in order that they in no way clash with yours ((Barnes's)) which you have carried out so well and so tirelessly since the formation of the International Welfare Committee.
War is full of intended and unforeseeable consequences, many of them grim. This reorganisation of duties will cost Frederick William Bradley his life.
Source:
J. I. Barnes, Hong Kong World War Two and Other Stories, 2005, 25
Note: Mr. Barnes, the Assistant Secretary of the Medical Department, played an important role in the smooth running of medical services during the hostilities. He remained in town and assisted Selwyn-Clarke in the first two months of the occupation. His duties included driving some of the late-comers into Stanley. He entered camp himself - with Douglas and Nina Valentine - in late February 1942 and soon took over the storeroom, sleeping there at nights to act as guard.
He deposited his account of his wartime experinces with the Imperial War Museum soon after his hundreth birthday.