Sample pages
Introduction
HONG KONG ••• December 1941 was a city lulled into a false sense of security, its people living in the way they had lived for years, under the extreme conditions so typical of the Far East – on the one hand dire poverty among the refugees and peasants, and on the other, luxury enjoyed by the Europeans in their midst. True, there were continual threats of a Japanese invasion and minor incidents did occur on the border between China and Hong Kong, on the…
On the 7th December 1941, a move was made which really did point to the shape of things to come. All troops and service personnel were ordered (through messages flashed on cinema screens, broadcasts, announcements in restaurants, etc.) to return to their units. The Hong Kong Volunteer Regiment composed mainly of local civilians, who had given their own time for part-time training, were mobilised.
At 2.15 a.m. on the 8th December (Hong Kong time) a message was received that war was imminent. Battle plans were at once put into operation, troops deployed, while Government Emergency Laws called up civilians for air raid precautions and other essential work. Hong Kong was now on a definite wartime footing. At 3.1 5 a.m. on the 8th December 1941 the message came through: "WE ARE AT WAR WITH JAPAN".
At that time, I was with 965th Beach Defence Battery, R.A. of the East Brigade at…