During the War my father Leo was a volunteer , and captured and was in camp..he was in the kitchens so survived ....helped build the airport…
After the war, Leo went to China Building and found where Jimmy’s Kitchen had been..and then stumbled into some of his faithful staff (there were some extraordinary people there, brave Chinese..Sammy the manager etc) and they put together chairs etc they found around..and the restaurant came back to life..only with their help.
Anatole was born with the family name Zavadsky, but his father, Nicholas Alexander Zavadsky (violinist and photographer), changed the family name to Tonoff after arriving in Harbin China in 1921. Within a year or two, Anatole's parents divorced. His mother, Nina Engelgardt (mezzo soprano) married Vladimir Trachtenberg (violinist), and they remained in Harbin and Shenyang until 1959. By about 1930, Anatole had arrived in Hong Kong with his father, and his father's mother Claudia Gruzin.
“My activities commenced in Argyle Street Camp towards the end of Summer of 1942 when I began to speak to one of the Chinese drivers of the ration lorries, which used to make daily visits into the Camp. I got some items of local news from him and then started the system of bringing in Chinese newspapers through him. This went on for many months.
The Norwegian War Time Committee
The Norwegian War Time Committee was set up shortly after the surrender and during the early Japanese occupation of Hong Kong. Their mission was to provide help and assitance to the Norwegian community in Hong Kong as Norwegians were given status as third nationals and semi-enemies and not permitted to leave the territory by the Japanese.
In his statement given in Kweiling in April 1943 after his escape from Hong Kong, Ragnar Brodersen listed these member as of February 1943:
My father, Charles McConnell Sloan was born in Hong Kong in 1914, the son of John Sloan, an employee of the Taikoo Sugar Refinery.
In December 1941 he was the Night Reception Clark at the Repulse Bay Hotel.
He's mentioned in the Jurors Lists for 1938-40 inclusive with that job.
Notes on the POW camps he was at in Japan from the Roll of Honour website:
Hiroshima 5B - Innoshima
(Earlier Yahata - Mukaijima Branch Camp then Fukuoka 12B)
In December 1941 he was the sub-manager of the Repulse Bay Hotel.
Reginal Sydney Ablong Sapper. Field Company Engineers HKVDF. Initially interned as Prisoner of War at Shum Shi Po POW Camp then shipped on Japanese vessel XD 6 (ss Naura Maru) on 29 April 1944. On arrival sent to Narumi Nagoya 2B POW Camp to work in coal mines until end of war. Repatriated to Canada at end of hostilities. Not married.
