The Sham Shui Po Cello

Submitted by HK Bill on Tue, 06/28/2016 - 21:10

I have been asked by Ron Parker (Son of Major Maurice Parker RRoC) if I knew of anything or even the location of the Cello that was used in the shows  in the Sham Shui Po POW Camp. Maurice Parker was often in the plays/concerts and when he was not on stage would be handling the music for the shows. I personally do not know anything about the Cello but thought that maybe some of you guys would know of the history of this item.

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I hadn't heard of this before. The only mention I've found is in Solomon Bard's obituary:

A member of the Hong Kong Volunteer Defence Corps, Bard spent three years as a prisoner of war in the Sham Shui Po internment camp. He made the best of it, organising three "Bard Concerts" for the inmates - and the Japanese officers - with other POWs, who played anything they could get their hands on: guitars, clarinets and makeshift "cellos" fashioned from oil cans.