Chronology of Events Related to Stanley Civilian Internment Camp: View pages

Ssiter Mary Paul of the Maryknoll Convent writes to General Officer Commanding, Major-General F. W. Festing.

By the end of January 1943 all of the Maryknoll Sisters had left Hong Kong. They started to return soon after the surrender, but found that the Maryknoll Convent School had, like a number of other Hong Kong public buildings, been turned into a Japanese military hospital. At first there were 1200, but in November the British sent 800 more. The Sisters were living in a small bungalow on Prince Edward Road and they wanted their building back so they could start teaching again. A letter to David MacDougall on November 16 met with short shrift, so Sister Mary Paul is trying again today.

Major-General Festing is a Catholic and grants her an interview, at which he will eventually agree to let the Sisters use part of the top floor and have their own entrance and chapel. On Decmeber 18 the army will help the sisters move in, and they're allowed to use more rooms than originally planned. The doors and windows been there, but much has been destroyed and much looted. Japanese POWs help them move furniture and clean.

They will get the entire buildin back one day, but until May 1946 the sisters and sharing it with 600 Japanese soldiers.

Source:

Cindy Yik-yi Chu, The Maryknoll Sisters in Hong Kong, 2004, 59-60

A report on page 2 of today's China Mail throws some light on a little-known aspect of the occupation.

Alfonso Castro Valle, the Secretary of the Mexican Embassy in Chungking, has been on a trip around southern China and Hong Kong to register and relieve Mexican nationals. In Hong Kong he interviewed 'hundreds' who had suffered years of malnutrition and neglect - costing 15 deaths -  where, for some reason, Mexicans were not interned but imprisoned. The majority were Chinese who were born in Mexico and the ages ranged from 15 to 20, many being women and children. He'd found many being cared for by British relief organisations, although a few had jobs and were eking out a living. In Macao about 100 lived in a Mexican 'colony'.

In Hong Kong Castro Valle interviewed a scattering of Chileans, Colombians, Panamanians, Guatemanians and more than 100 Cubans. Macao had relatively more Latin Americans and the biggest concentration of Peruvians.

Note:

This is interesting and the experiences of Latin Americans in Hong Kong could certainly do with some further study, but I'm suspicious of the narrow age range cited, which might be due to a misprint, and also note that one claim directly contradicts the testimony of Dr. Selwyn-Clarke, who was sent to take charge of the medical arrangements at Kowloon's Ma Tau-wai camp in December 1944:

The internees at Ma Tau-wai were mostly Chinese of South American nationality, a few Americans and British, Eurasians and one Indonesian girl. (Footprints, 1975, 94).

A number of people of Latin American origin (and probably Chinese ethnicity) are known to have been arrested for resistance work, and I wonder if anyone connected with these was imprisoned, while the others were interned in Ma Tau-wai?

The Hahn-Boxer romance is international news. Today's Daily Mirror (page 5 ) reports that Major Boxer, arrived in Los Angeles, has told Associated Press that, although he's not sure if he's officially divorced ((from Ursula Tulloch)) he'll marry Emily Hahn as soon as he can.

The headline in the China Mail announces an 'important milestone' in Hong Kong's economic rehabiitation - the lifting of trade restrictions except on items that are controlled globally, such as rice, flour and canned meat - Hong Kong is allocated its share of the world supply and it's the Administration's job to bring them in (unless merchants can source them from ports along the China coast).

Import licences will be needed, but the intention is to make this system 'light and easy'. The one snag is that if you want to pay for imports in francs or dollars they have to be of commodities judged to be essential for Hong Kong's rehabilitation, as foreign exchange is in short supply.

More good news is that a considerable body of supplies of all types is on the way to Hong Kong and will be arriving over the next couple of weeks.

Admiral Chan Chak is expected in the Colony this afternoon on an official visit. The report makes it clear that there is some knowledge of the remarkable role he played in December 1941, although the full story probably isn't known even today.

Emily Hahn meets Charles Boxer for the first time since September 1943. Their daughter Carola recognises 'Daddy' straight away. Boxer announces they will marry as soon as a cable from London tells them his divorce is final.

Source:

China Mail, November 23, 1945, pages 1, 2.

Note:

Tim Luard's book and associated website are the best English-language sources for Chan Chak:http://www.hongkongescape.org/Escape-1.htm 

Kwong Chi-man and Tsoi Yiu-lun make good use of his unpublished diary in Eastern Fortress (2014).

Major W. G. E. Eggleton, Government Biochemist and Adviser in Nutrition, sums up part of the experience of the Chinese majority during the occupation, and shows some of the new spirit. He told the China Mail:

Nutritionally the people of Hong Kong suffered greatly under the Japanese, especially during the last six months of the occupation when all essential services were becoming increasingly disorganised.

He continued:

Under the Japanese the daily rice ration was restricted to 6.4 taels (eight and a half ounces) per person,whereas the average Chinese needs twice this amount. There was also a great shortage of vegetables, meat and fish due to lack of transportation.

High prices, due among other causes to a lack of confidence in a spurious currency, placed many essential articles of food out of the reach of honest people with modest means.

During the last two months ((since British re-occupation)) however, the food situation in the Colony has steadily improved, largely as a result of the Government's enlightened policy of price control, and relief for those in distress...No small contribution has been made by the various public charity and relief organisations.

Then he raises perhaps the most important question facing liberated Hong Mong:

Soon we shall be back to pre-war conditions. But are we to stop there? Were pre-war conditions good enough? Did all have enough to eat? There are few in this Colony to-day (sic) who believe that to attain pre-war conditions should be our goal. What else then can be done to help secure a lasting improvement in the Colony's standard of nutrition?

Eggleton goes on to tell the story of the head of a small Government Department who, finding his staff too weak to work a full day, forbade any he forbade heavy lifting, stipulated ten minutes rest every hour and fed supplemented their food and that of their dependants (to the number if 24) out of his own pocket.

Eggleton is right to praise the Chinese charities. In the early days of re-occupation, the charities, which had been hard at work at the end of Japanese rule, 'played a key role in distributing such food as the BMA managed to bring in to Hong Kong', leading David MacDougall to remark that in their 'long and honourable history...(they had) never given better service than now'.

Sources:

Eggleton: China Mail, November 24, 1945, page 2

Charities: Philip Snow, The Fall of Hong Kong, 2003, 280

A letter on the second page of today's China Mail gives a vivid picture of life for so called 'third nationals' (neither Allied nor Axis citizens) during the occupation and tells a story that reminds us how many courageous actions were never known about or quickly forgotten.

The correspondent ('Hongkong Born') begins by pointing out that those British subjects ((ones not of 'European' ethnicity and therefore not automatically sent to Stanley Camp)) who left for Macao or China – the great majority, he claims – were given allowances by the British Consul or Headquarters in their place of refuge and have now returned to be feted as heroes, while those who endured hunger and fear by staying in Hong Kong during the occupation are having their achievements ignored.

These were British subjects who knew that if they identified as such they'd be subject to internment, imprisonment, heavy surveillance or maltreatment, so adopted the label 'third national' invented by the Japanese. This group were subject to harsh treatment as suspected British agents, and were visited periodically to see if they'd escaped from the Colony. If they used the ferry, they were shadowed by Chinese detectives, and on return their movements reported to the 'Secret Service' (( here and below probably = Kempeitai/Gendarme)) officer who had a large desk on the ferry wharf. He would send a subordinate to get the third national's pass, the address would be noted, and the next day there'd be a visit to find out the reason for crossing the harbour. An unsatisfactory answer would lead to a summons to the police station with the possibility of torture.

Nevertheless, he feels that this small group of loyalists were more than a match for the Japanese Secret Service.

He singles out one, an Australian citizen, who was arrested at the start of the occupation but convinced the Japanese to free him. On his release, he immediately began corresponding with Shamshuipo and both Stanley Camp and Prison. Using Indian and Chinese employed by the Japanese, he sent in medicines and numerous other items. He was detained and questioned on a number of occasions.

One of his most courageous exploits was allowing Chunkging ((word unclear but this is a plausible reading – Chunking was the wartime capital of the Nationalist Government)) officials to use his basement to store various items that were smuggled into China by guerillas. Some Japanese on a visit heard the noise of the goods being taken but accepted the story that furniture was being moved. The Secret Service learnt about this store but it was too late – their careful searching failed to find a shred of evidence, so they sent along two English-speaking operatives to pretend to befriend him. They ended up spending days at his house, but they never found out anything. Eventually the head of the Secret Service tried the same trick, to no avail. On May 31, in despair at getting anything incriminating, he was arrested on a trumped-up charge. He was beaten up several times, hospitalised, and is still convalescent today.

Hongkong Born concludes:

These loyalists received no official recognition. They worked independently, apart from each other, with no thought of recompense. Being loyal they fulfilled their obligations as British subjects.

Dr. Eduardo Gosano of Kowloon Hospital marries Hazel Lang. Father Joy officiates, with Father Riganti assisting.

Source:

Gosano: China Mail, November 27, 1945, page 2

A meeting called by David MacDougall is held this morning to consider the current situation with regard to the investigation, arrest and prosecution of 'quislings and collaborators'. Those present include BAAG agent Marcus da Silva and Stanley Camp escaper  W. P. 'Tommy' Thompson, now a Lieutenant-Colonel.

In the first days after the liberation, there was a clamour for the prosecution of anyone who was suspected of having collaborated with the Japanese, but this died down quickly, and now the authorities are left with a complex problem. Firstly, although most of the victims of Japanese brutality were Chinese, so were many of those accused of helping the perpetrators carry them out or contributing to their rule in other ways. Of course, as almost 99% of the pre-war population was Chinese, this is hardly surpising. The other main group under suspicion were Indians, who had been wooed by the Japanese and given favourable treatment at first in the hope that the soldiers would join the Indian National Army and the civilians would join the Indian Independence League which gave political support for Japanese plans for India. Most Indians, military and civilian, resisted these attempts, or went along with them half-heartedly for their own security. The Indian community provided a significant portion of the funds for Dr. Selwyn-Clarke's relief work during the occupation, and most POWs resisted sometimes brutal attempts to get them to join the INA. But some had decided that the cause of Indian independence justified co-operation with the Japanese enemies of the Raj - this was an issue that would prove intractable for the British in India itself, and today's meeting in Hong Kong takes place against the backdrop of the first of the 'Red Fort trials' in Delhi - an attempt to try prominent members of the INA that was to meet with huge resistance all over India and eventually to hasten Britain's exit. The new Government of India was eventually to send a lawyer to represent those Indians who came to trial in Hong Kong, and the accounts of the war crimes trial show he was a skilled and formidable advocate.

As well as having to tread carefully to avoid having a negative influence on the politics of the sub-continent, the Hong Kong authorities faced a further problem: it would be embarrassing for a colony seeking to distance itself from its pre-war racism to only be trying Asians for collaboration. The 'solution' of trying three or four 'white' (or at least only partly Asian) people proved controversial and unsatisfactory, particularly as none of them were 'British': the authorities are considering the case of civil servant George Kennedy-Skipton, but nothing will come of this in the form of immediate legal action, although he will eventually face a Tribunal which judges him innocent of any charge but dereliction of duty as a civil servant. Of those charged, one man was amnestied, another had his prosecution abandoned and two people were jailed under controversial circumstances - in one case, many felt he had done no more than others who escaped any legal proceedings, and in another the defence of extreme duress seemed rather plausible. To make matters worse, through no fault of the Hong Kong authorities, the one 'British' man tried for collaboration in the colony (in Shamshuipo) was eventually acquitted in London after a brilliant performance from his legal team

Nevertheless, there were those who had helped the Japanese torture and kill Chinese people, and public opinion would not have been satisfied unless at least the most notorious of such collaborators were brought to justice. In the end most of those punished were people who had helped the Kempeitai (Gendarmes) with their campaign of violence - this was in line with a request from the (British) Government of India that only those involved with 'atrocities and brutality' be punished. In theory anyone who gave the Japanese militarily relevant help during the hostilities was also liable to prosecution, although in the only case I've come across so far the accused was amnestied. Merchants who directly supplied the Japanese war effort were also investigated and one was sent to prison.

But today's meeting deals with more immediate problems: the police are still 80% under strength for a start, and there's a public opinion disaster in the making: some supects have been held under arrest without access to solicitors for two months. This seems to have been for fear that unless kept incommunicado the suspects would intimidate already nervous witnesses. Understandably the committee want to show the public they are not 'aping Jap methods'. The best they can do is to rule that the police should hold suspects for a 'reasonable time' and that future arrests should only take place after consultation with da Silva or with Eldon Potter (K.C.) as to lawfulness. 

Sources:

General: Hong Kong Public Records Office: HKRS 169, 2-266 Collaboration with the Enemy, Memo of David MacDougall, November 29, 1945, p. 1 and various documents

HK and the INA: https://jonmarkgreville2.wordpress.com/2013/11/04/captain-mateen-ahmed-…

Constance Lam dies in Queen Mary Hospital.

Source:

http://archive.org/stream/alumnaenewsapr1946unse/alumnaenewsapr1946unse…

Today's China Mail (page 2) returns to the subject of the contrast in the treatment of former internees in Australia and the UK: a letter dated November 26 from a 'well-respected' businessman sparks both an article and an editorial. The unnamed businessman is in Australia, but in correspondence with someone in England who complains about being forced to apply for public assistance on the same terms as an unemployed worker (including having to accept work, in his case clerical, if offered after the first couple of weeks) and to find that because his wife was earning three pounds a week the authorities washed their hands of him completely. Everything was different for those who went to Australia: they were not presented with a drinks bill on the Vindex, welcomed by a band, taken to decent hotels and given double rations, helped in an ungrudging way thereafter - it seems everything was done for them right down to arranging for people to meet them at stations on their train journeys (free tickets provided) to help with further travel arrangements!

The editorial points out that the former Stanleyites were strongly encouraged to take home leave for the sake of their health - they were, in fact, informed that this was the Commander-in-Chief's wish - and that this recommendation was particularly strong in the case of women and children. Although they'd been told financial assistance wouldn't pay for a 'lavish' lifestyle, they'd been led to expect it would be enough to cover reasonable expenses.

An interesting sign of the times is that the editorial spares a special thought for those who have no family ties in Britain and 'do not come within that delightful category "pure British"'.

Flour had been brought to Hong Kong by the relief force, but when it came to using it to bake, there were huge problems. The main pre-war bakery -  Lane, Crawford's in Stubbs Rd - had been used during the occupation to salt fish, and make rattan baskets and military buttons. Thomas Edgar, who  resumed his wartime role as supervisor of bakeries, has been working with crew from the repair ship H.M.S. Resource to return it to bread production. But today's China Mail (page 2) suggests that the colony's baking capacity was nowhere near at the required level: it notes complaints that you can't get bread at the price set by the government and, when you can, the colour has changed from brown to white. One man queued four days in a row and still left empty-handed. But, as during the war, the black market was helping out - at $2 a loaf.

Today's paper also carries a letter complaining about the poor treatment of former internees now in the UK - this is a continuing theme.

Source:

http://brianedgar.wordpress.com/2012/04/30/thomass-work-6-post-war-reconstruction/

Page one of the China Mail reports, under yesterday's date, that General MacArthur has ordered the arrest of Colonel Gennosuke Noma as a suspected war criminal. Noma was head of the Hong Kong Kempeitai for most of the occupation, and he was eventually executed for crimes that included the mistreatment of prisoners and actions taken as part of the Japanese policy of forcing large numbers of Chinese to leave Hong Kong.

An editorial on page two of the China Mail discusses prostitution ('the social vice') and claims that 'Never in the present century has the moral tone of this colony been lower than it is today,' with 'promiscuity' blatant and instrusive. The paper believes that the pre-war closing of the brothels has failed as badly as American 'prohibition' of alcohol, and recommends the introduction of a legalised and officially-regulated system.

The China Mail (page 2) reports that, at a meeting held at the vicarage of St. Andrew's, Dorothy Lee was elected Commissioner of the Girl Guides.

The Dairy Farm announces the sale from tomorrow of a 'limited quantity' of Australian full cream powdered milk at $1.70 per pound packet. Customers may buy one packet only. (China Mail, page 5).

Both Selwyn and Hilda Selwyn-Clarke are in London attending a reception held by the China Campaign Committee to welcome them home. Also present are Mr and Mrs Michael Lindsay, both recently returned from visiting the Communist headquarters in Yenan.

Mrs Selwyn-Clarke tells the audience that Britian as a democracy should be trying to bring about reconciliation between the National Democratic League, the Communists and the Nationalists not supporting one particular side. She says that Britain must aid China, not through 'the ricebowl distribution' model but by such measures as showing them how to establish medical services. She also calls for Madame Sun (Soong Ching-ling), whose work she praises, to be invited to Britain.

Source:

China Mail, December 18, 1945, page 2

There's a Stanley wedding in Aberdeen - but the city in Scotland, not the village in Hong Kong. It takes place in Beechgrove Church and the bride wears a woolen suit with wine accesories.

Sub-Inspector John W. MacDonald of the Hong Kong Police marries Miss Mary G. Lay. The couple remember the day back in Stanley when they agreed to marry and the special rice 'party' they held to celebrate.

Three of the people who contributed rice that day are with them to celebrate marriage: W. Morrison, B. T. Ross and E. J. Stewart, all Scottish members of the Hong Kong police.

Source:

Aberdeen Weekly Journal, December 27, 1945, 5

The South China Morning Post gets out a Christmas edition:

Christmas Scenes

First Real Holiday For Four Years

Colony Celebrates

Many of the population of the Colony took advantage of Christmas and the inevitable release of supplies for the hoiday as a means of celebrating, not only Christmas itself, but also their first real holiday to be enjoyed with freedom for four years. In some houses there was sorrow and some of the celebrations were a little forced when they remembered the Christmas of four years ago, but in the hotels, dance halls and restaurants the scenes were of genuine relaxed happiness.

Last night there were one or two signs of wild enthusiasm such as the broken glass in the passages of the Gloucester Hotel and sundry broken bottles in the main roads, but on the whole the behaviour of the general public was impeccable.

The paper reports that church services on Christmas Eve were well attended. Bishop Ronald Hall conducted midnight mass at St. John's Cathedral, which took the form of Choral Eucharist, while Bishop Enrico Valtorta officiated at the Midnight Solemn Pontificial Mass celebrated at the Catholic Cathedral.

During the Christmas Day service at the Cathedral Bishop Hall recalled that four years ago Governor Mark Young had spent a few minutes in prayer there before surrendering.

Sources: SCMP, December 25, 1945, p. 1; SCMP, Deember 27, p. 2

Franklin Gimson writes to Selwyn Selwyn-Clarke from his Yorkshire home.

The doctor - back in England and recovering from his wartime ordeal - had written to him on the 27th. informing him of the death of Constance Lam, which Gimson rightly says is a great blow to Selwyn-Clarke personally as well as to the social welfare of Hong Kong. He states that he's been collecting material for a report on Stanley conditions, but that the Colonial Office doesn't seem anxious to learn more than they've already heard about the occupation. Nevertheless, he's planning to devote some of his leisure to an account of the camp, and he urges his correspondent to consider a similar account of life outside. He concludes:

I hope you are regaining your health but {probably a mistake for 'and'} you have dispelled the disability in your leg. I recollect you said that diathermic treatment was all that was required.

I am gradually returning to normal but would prefer a more active life to the leisure a country existence imposes.

With best wishes for 1946.

Source:

Letter, Gimson to Selwyn-Clarke, December 30, 1945, Selwyn-Clarke Papers, Weston Library, Oxford

A. W. Brown, who ran the Stanley canteen, is awarded an OBE. In the immediate aftermath of liberation, he was Controller of Dried Foods, returning to his job as manager of Lane Crawford when the Civil Affairs arrived. He tells a reporter he had no idea the award was coming and doesn't know what it was for.

John Gielgud and 21 members of the forces entertaintment organisation ENSA arrive from Saigon for a 5 day run of Noel Coward's play Blithe Spirit.

Source:

South China Morning Post, January 1, 1946, p. 4