The following report describes Goodwin's view on conditions in the POW camps in Hong Kong.
SECRET
0103/3995(I.W).
16th Dec. 1944. Copy No..18
20 Oct. 44
INTERROGATION REPORT NO. SKP/5/44
Escapers Serial No. E/5
Name and Rank: Lt. R.B. GOODWIN
Unit: R. N. Z. N. V. R.
Date of Capture: 25 Dec. 41.
Date of Escape: 17 Jul. 44.
Date of arrival in British hands : 3 Aug. 44.
MAIN REPORT
Ralph Burton Goodwin OBE RNZNVR
Billy served in the HKVDC, then became a Prisoner of War after the surrender. He was shipped to Japan along with many other POWs, and died there in 1945.
This information, along with dates of birth & death, taken from page 26 of Hong Kong Internment, 1942-1945: Life in the Japanese Civilian Camp at Stanley, by Geoffrey Charles Emerson.
Ernest Hillas Williams was from a Church of Ireland family from Cork (Eire). He entered the Colonial Civil Service as an administrator, eventually becoming Puisne Judge and then Assistant Attorney General.
He was a sergeant in the HKVDC, imprisoned first in Shamshuipo and then Innoshima Camp (Japan).
After the war he became Chief Justice of the British Borneo Territories.
John Arthur Gaunt was a brilliant physicist - 'the Gaunt factor' is a formula still used in astrophysics.
He graduated with First Class Honours from Trinity, Cambridge in 1926 and began a period of research. His specialism was the new field of Quantum Mechanics, then entering its greatest periods - he probably attended the first course of lectures given by Paul Dirac, now considered one of the finest physicists of all time.
Starbuck and Heywood are believed to be the first Prisoners of War captured by the Japanese.
Henry Ching is interested to hear more about Starbuck, writing:
The 1939 Jurors List has this entry for him:
| Howell, Hargreaves Milne | Manager, Malcolm & Co. | Tara, Deepwater Bay |
On Tony Banham's website, he has this entry under the Royal Army Service Corps (RASC), 12 Hong Kong Company:
Howell, Hargreaves Mile 2nd Lieutenant MBE (85)(93) (LM) [164]
If anyone has a photo of this man, please could you post a copy for us to see? I'm helping Patricia O'Sullivan identify some faces in a photo, and one is likely this man.
A quick search on Gwulo finds a few mentions, including:
1907-8 Jurors List:
| Wood | Gerald George | Civil Engineer | Hongkong Hotel |
1909-15 Jurors List:
3159, Sgt. Neville John Booker.
