Everything tagged: POW

Andrew Salmon first came to Hong Kong in 1937 as a junior member (trumpeter) of the Royal Artillery. He fought the Japanese and was taken prisoner at Stanley in December 1941. He was in Shamshuipo camp and then was sent to Japan on the ill-fated ‘Lisbon Maru’. He survived the ship's sinking by an American submarine (USS Grouper) and was recued by Chinese fishermen from the Chusan Islands. He was subsequently recaptured, shipped to Japan and was in Osaka POW camp until the end of WWII. He was repatriated to the UK via USA/Canada.

He was added to the list of authorised architect in Hong Kong in 1930. See item 692 in the Government Gazette, Nov 21, 1930.

Here's his entry in the 1941 Jurors List:

He is mentioned in the 1941 Jurors List:

He is mentioned in the 1941 Jurors List:

Fought in Hong Kong in 1941, then a POW for the remainder of the war. Malnutrition in the Japanese POW camp left him blind. 

Read more about Ron in this article in The Telegraph on 8 Nov 2018:

Former prisoner of war, 103, to be oldest veteran to march at the Cenotaph

Michael Yatskin

Born in Siberia Russia around 1910 . Escaped due to revolution via Harbin Shanghai then Hong Kong. Prisoner of war at Sham Shui PO prison camp for over 3 years? I have a book of sketches by Lieut  A.V. Skvorzov of life in the prison camp . I believe there is one in the museum in Hong Kong.

He was an engineer in the PWD in Hong Kong when he was head of works at Sham Shui Po in 1955 when the Li Cheng Uk tomb was discovered. His subsequent actions saved the tomb.

http://www.macaneselibrary.org has a copy of his memoir:

Experiences at Shamshuipo & Sendai Camps

Gordon Dewar was Captain Commanding No. 7 Company in the HK Volunteer Defence force. He had had  a long connection with Shanghai, from 1922 with first the Shanghai Dock and Eng. Co and then the Kiangnan Dock and Eng. Works, and then in Hong Kong with Taikoo Dockyard from 1937.

Robert was interned as a HK defence volunteer in Shamshuipo POW camp, and later was shipped off to Amoy, Shanghai, and Peking for forced labour. He assumed he had been headed for Japan when the war ended. 

In camp he worked in the kitchens as often as possible, so as to get the more nutritious scrapings and rice husks from the bottom of the pans.

He also became adept at catching flies in his fist to relieve the boredom, after studying their habits when disturbed. A good party trick in later years.