Po Tin CHAK (aka 翟寶田醫生) [1922-2021]

Born and raised in Hong Kong, Dr. Po Tin Chak, SBStJ, who, at 15 years of age, joined the St. John Ambulance Brigade of Hong Kong in 1937. His father, Tai-Kwong Chak (翟大光), was a founding member of SJA in Hong Kong at the start of the 20th century. While his brother, Paul Chak (翟保羅), and sister, Pauline Chak Chan (翟寶蓮) were founding members of the SJA Causeway Bay Division in the 1950s.

When World War 2 broke out, Dr. Po Tin Chak was transferred to the Military Division of the Brigade which was attached to the Royal Army Medical Corps. On December 8, 1941, the Japanese Imperial Army invaded Hong Kong where allied forces, including Canada, fought The Battle of Hong Kong to protect the British colony for two weeks, but were outmanned and outgunned 4 to 1.

The young Chak was positioned at the Collinson Battery (歌連臣角炮台), Cape Collinson in Chai Wan (柴灣), when the invaders landed there. The Collinson Battery defenders and the medical personnel were in full retreat, and even grenades were handed out to slow down the Japanese Imperial Army, but Po Tin Chak wasn’t trained in warfare, as he was trained in saving lives.

They came upon a first aid station with an ambulance, and since Chak already knew how to drive, he was tasked with driving the wounded to a field hospital at St. Stephen’s College (聖士提反書院), but went to Stanley Fort (赤柱炮台) instead. That miscalculation saved his life and the wounded individuals he was carrying, as the invading army stormed St. Stephen’s College hours before the surrender, and murdered the defenseless medical staff, wounded military, and civilians. 

The following day, Po Tin Chak went to St. Stephen’s College to seek the wounded, but instead became one of the few who witnessed the aftermath of the bloodstained campus. He was formally captured by the Japanese on December 25, 1941 at Stanley Fort, as the Governor of Hong Kong, Mark Aitchison Young, surrendered to the Japanese army.

Dr. Chak survived the Battle of Hong Kong, the horrors of the “St. Stephen's College Massacre” on Christmas Day, and the Sham Shui Po POW camp where he was interned at, with 9 other members of his entire team, including his British team leader, Mr. Alan Stanley Potter.