About April, the Japanese shifted all the officers (with the exception of six M.O.'s for the hospital, etc., and a Major Boon, to act as Camp Officer) to the Argyle Street internment camp. They then erected around our camp an electrified wire fence, for a few of our men had managed to escape into Chinese-held territory, in Kwangtung - although unfortunately, some of these were eventually betrayed on the way by Chinese civilians, for rewards offered, and then shot out of hand. Some, more fortunate, were helped and assisted, and after many trials and tribulations eventually reached Free China and our own people.
On Mondays and Thursdays, friends and relatives were allowed to come within a hundred yards of the camp, and great would be our eagerness to search for acquaintances among the crowds gathered. On these days, the brutality of the Japanese guards became more pronounced. They would pick out some young girl or woman, and, in front of the crowds of civilians and in full view of the camp, strip and beat her unmercifully with rifle butts. Then, in a pitiful state, she was thrown to the roadside.
We held a deep admiration for the courageous attitude of the Chinese girls, of the notorious district of Wanchai, who had proved their worth during the street fighting in Hong Kong, when they braved many dangers, to bring food and hot tea to our troops, fighting in the streets, which were under constant machine-gun fire; and had even taken wounded into their houses and rendered first aid, although they knew, that death was the penalty, imposed by the Japanese for doing so. Now, week after week, they would stand for hours, just to have a glimpse of friends in the camp and, when the guards' backs were turned, would even run close to the camp, to throw in a note or some small item of food, although some were caught and brutally executed, in full view of the prisoners. The loyalty of these women was tremendous.
The Japanese frequently conducted a lightning search of the camp, as they suspected that we had a few radio sets; and although they discovered, through informers, two or three of these sets, we were still able to get scraps of news. When conducting these searches, the guards had everyone paraded in an open space, in the centre of the camp, including even the sick, who, however, as a concession, were allowed to take a small stool on which to sit. Little did they realise that, in more than one case, these seats had small receiver sets built into them, which thus remained hidden by the sick prisoners themselves during the search.
At about this time, due to food shortages in the Colony, the Japanese decided to get rid of most of the Chinese inhabitants. For about a week, night and day, a never-ending stream of dejected humanity was to be seen winding up the mountain roads into the bare and rugged country, the New Territories, on the way to China.
It was estimated that nearly three-quarters of a million Chinese were driven out of Hong Kong and the New Territories, and the number who died on the bare slopes of the mountains must have run into hundreds of thousands. It was to us just another aspect of the Japanese idea of “a Greater East Asia Co-prosperity Sphere”.