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((Although his family was denied entry to Hong Kong, Paul was born here in 1937, just before the great typhoon that hit Hong Kong that year.))
The 1937 Typhoon
Extracts from Green Jade by Dorothy Neale, Chris Neale, Goulbourn, 1995, pp. 36-37.
SAFE IN HONG KONG AGAIN... or so it seemed.
Somehow my father managed to obtain visas for the family to return to Hong Kong. Apparently, having a child in the family who was British by birth was an advantage in obtaining visas for all of us.
((I've included this with Barbara's diary, but it's actually an extract from a letter she wrote. She'd describing the trip from Hong Kong to Manila, along with all the other women who were evacuated from Hong Kong. Over to Barbara:))
Below is part of an account of the Evacuation I wrote on 23rd July 1940 to my friend in England during the time we were staying in the Philippine Islands awaiting onward transport to Australia:-
The first of the evacuations.
Read memories of the evacuation from:
And watch the Pathe movie of the events below.
((I'm not sure the date they actually arrived. Please leave a comment if you know.))
Here's a film clip showing the evacuees from Hong Kong arriving in Australia:
http://www.t3licensing.com/license/clip/48050587_4400.do?assetId=clip_8…
A couple of the suitcases show names: "W.B.Penney", and "Whyte". Can you recognise anyone else?
The year begins with the Colony's British community obsessed with a war that's confined to far away places. The Hong Kong Daily Press headline announces apparently promising developments on the Greek front; but in the top right hand corner there's a reminder of another war, one much closer to home - an article about 50,000 Japanese soldiers massed in Canton, and a report of a possible attack on Hong Kong as part of 'a new Axis move in Europe' and a Japanese assault on French Indo-China.
Today's Hong Kong Telegraph publishes (page 3) a picture of Chief Justice Sir Atholl MacGregor who's recently been made a Commander of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem in recognition of his work for the St. John Ambulance Association. With him are his sponsors, Sir Robert Ho-tung and Ho Kom-tong.
Hong Kong's one hundreth anniversary celebrations get under way shortly after 8 p.m with broadcasts on ZBW from the Acting Governor Lieutenant-General E. F. Norton and community leaders.
Sir Robert Kotewall talks on 'Anglo-Chinese Co-operation - Past, Present and Future', praising the healthy and friendly rivalry that exists between the two communities in all spheres of public life and stressing Hong Kong's great industrial potential.
Source:
Hong Kong Telegraph, January 20, 1941, page 3
The China Mail publishes a special number to celebrate the centenary of Hong Kong's status as a British colony.
'Centenary messages' are offered by a number of prominent citizens (page 22).
We owe it to those whose foresight first saw the possibilities of Hong Kong and its importance to the British Empire to see that their good work is carried on through the coming years. Only by the concerted efforts of all sections of the community can the next hundred years show greater progress.
The Scottish Society celebrates Burns Night in the Rose Room of the Peninsula Hotel - there are about 250 members and guests present. While proposing the toast to 'the immortal memory'', Professor Walter Brown of Hong Kong University speaks about Burns as a man and as a poet, dwelling on his services to freedom
The dinner is served in traditional style with the Barley Bree and the Haggis (piped to the Chieftain's table by the St. Andrew's Society honorary pipers).
G. S. Kennedy-Skipton, the Controller of Food, declares in an interview that no shortage of flour is anticipated. However, the Government is watching the situation as irregularities in shipping might affect supplies in the future.
It's also learned that the Government is acquiring a reserve stock of peanut oil and soya beans which, with white rice, should provide a minimum diet in an emergecy situation.
Source:
Hong Kong Daily Telegraph, February 10, 1941, page 3
Note:
Almost the entire staff of the South China Morning Post and the Hong Kong Telegraph assemble at the desk of SCMP editor Henry Ching, who's given presents to mark his 25 years with the paper.
Ben Wylie, the SCMP's General Manager, gives Mr. Ching an inscribed gold watch and an album with the names of all the staff. In his speech Mr. Wylie recalls the day in 1916 when the editor first applied for a job - as junior reporter - and mentions that he took over the senior position in 1924.
David Locke Newbigging is appointed Controller of Food, with George Stacy Kennedy-Skipton his deputy.
Source:
Hong Kong Government Gazette, February 21, 1941, 232
A visit the local papers have been heralding for months finally begins: Ernest Hemingway and his wife, the war correspondent Martha Gellhorn, arrive amid dreary weather on a Pan-Am Clipper piloted by Captain S. Bancroft. They tell journalists that they’re staying at the Repulse Bay Hotel but in fact head off to the Hong Kong Hotel and Hemingway is ‘immediately swept up by the bustle and gaiety of Hong Kong’.
David MacDougall gives a lunch party for Ernest Hemingway, who he describes as 'the simplest most direct human being I've met' and as 'the best drinker I've ever seen'. The object of the lunch is 'to put Hemingway wise to the China situation' before he goes to China and, MacDougall believes, will be entertained at 'official banquets and revelries' in an attempt to divert him from the truth.
Hemingway was later to become godfather to his second daughter, Sheena.
American Consul-General Addison Southard hosts a dinner party for Ernest Hemingway and Martha Gellhorn. It's a black tie event, and Southard finds it hard to locate a dinner jacket that will fit Hemingway's huge frame - 'Every jacket he tried on had sleeves that barely reached the elbows'.
Stanley Boxer, the Registrar of Hong Kong University, writes to a friend in Canada:
All goes well here, and there is surprisingly little jumpiness considering all that is happening not very far away. We are all very busy of course and Camps ((presumably HKVDC training)) periodically claim members of the staff for a week at a time.
Source:
Peter Cunich, A History of the University of Hong Kong, Volume 1, 2012, 397