About May 1942, the Japanese forced all fit men in the camp to form up into working parties, which were sent to Kai Tak aerodrome to lengthen the runways, so that their fighter planes could take off and land, and also to clear the New Territories roads, which we had blocked by demolition, before evacuating the mainland. For this work, we received the sum of 5 sen a day, which is about ½d, but there was little we could buy although, in June, a few cigarettes were brought in for sale in the camp.
At this time, the food began to improve slightly. Beside rice, a small amount of yams, bamboo shoots, lily roots, and carnation leaves were sent in for vegetables, and occasionally small supplies of fish appeared, mostly whalemeat or squid; and about once a month, as a delicacy, we even received some horsemeat. But this improved diet was too late for many, who died as a result of malnutrition and dysentery. One case in point was a man who, prior to the war, was a well-known athlete, well-built and weighing about 200 pounds, this man died of starvation, and after his death his body was weighed, turning the scales at 69 pounds.