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Thank you to Laura L Darnell (nee Ziegler) for sending us the following:
David, Maybe you can use some of this material in your digest. It is copy and pasted from my book "Send Me! Send Me!" These first two short letters are interesting as far as our nice "hotels", then it starts in Nov 1941.
Laura
Staff-Sergeant Patrick John Sheridan was a Royal Army Service Corps baker who, alongside the rest of the garrison, was taken prisoner when Hong Kong surrendered on December 25, 1941. An unlikely set of circumstances presented him with the chance to escape, a chance he seized with courage and determination. He left Hong Kong on June 4, 1942 arriving in Free China on June 7th. He was awarded the Military Medal for this exploit:
Lee Hunter, Charles Mycock's granddaughter, has very kindly sent this copy of the report Mycock gave in New Zealand. She notes "This report is dated 15th. November 1945 and was taken from my grandfather by Detective Hedwig of the New Zealand Police. I have copied it verbatim."
Charles Mycock states:-
I am at present a patient in the Hutt Public Hospital and my future address will be c/o 4 Sandrock Road, Tunbridge Wells, Kent.
Staff-Sergeant Patrick John Sheridan was a Royal Army Service Corps Master Baker who was stationed in Hong Kong from 1937 (with a break when he volunteered for a period in Shanghai). He served during the December hostilities but was not sent to Shamshuipo after the surrender; instead he was allowed to carry on baking for the hospitals. A strange set of circumstances enabled him to make a courageous escape, for which he was awarded the Military Medal.
The following exerpts of Ella Buuck's diary were kindly provided by Laura Darnell (nee Zeigler).
The following exerpts of Rev. Buuck's autobiographical booklet were kindly provided by Laura Darnell (nee Zeigler).
I (David) have split it up into days according to how events match dates in his wife Ella's diary.
John's son Anthony has generously given the text of his father's journal to be made available here on Gwulo. Anthony has also published the journal in printed form as the book "The First Shall Be Last". The book version is an expanded copy, adding photographs, additional background information, and text from his mother Yvonne's memoir that add her experiences of these events. The book can be ordered from Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/First-Shall-Be-Last-Journal/dp/1786233967
This is Barbara's diary of life in Hong Kong in the wartime period. She has also added later comments, ((shown in italics & double brackets, like this)).
Here is Barbara's introduction:
First, details of the Redwood family in 1941:
In November 1941, Mum was 46, my sister Olive 25, Mabel 18 and I almost 23.
Notes from Alison McEwan: