10 Aug 1942, Additional notes

Submitted by Admin on Wed, 02/07/2024 - 20:27

Extract from p. 276 of 'The Royal Naval Medical Service':

On August 10, 1942, the female nursing staff of Bowen Road Hospital were transferred to the Civilian Internment Camp, Stanley, Hong Kong. The staff involved consisted of Queen Alexandra’s Royal Naval and Imperial Military Nursing Services, together with sisters and nurses of the Hong Kong Volunteer Defence Corps Nursing Detachment.

The story of the actual transfer is best told in the words of the Matron ((Olga Heather FRANKLIN)) herself:

'We were taken in buses to the waterfront in Hong Kong. We were paraded near the Law Courts. We were then addressed by Colonel Tggunaka* who told us, through an interpreter, that although he himself knew of the valuable work we had been doing for our sick and wounded, we were being sent to the civilian camp on orders from Tokyo. He told us that we should be sent back to our homes, but that we must be patient, as it would be “not very shortly”. The Army Matron made a suitable reply.’

On their arrival at the Civilian Internment Camp, these sisters and nurses were searched by the Japanese. Later they were interviewed by H.B.M’s. Representative in Hong Kong who was now acting as Commandant of the camp. Together, they now constituted a single nursing unit for work inside the camp. This unit consisted of 10 British Army, 2 Canadian Army and 3 Royal Naval Nursing Sisters. The unit was administered by the Army Matron.

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