Welcome to Hong Kong War Diary - a project that documents the 1941 defence of Hong Kong, the defenders, their families, and the fates of all until liberation.
This page is updated monthly with a record of research and related activities. Pages on the left cover the books that have spun off from this project, and a listing of each and every member of the Garrison. Comments, questions, and information are always welcome. Tony Banham, Hong Kong: tony@hongkongwardiary.com
Image:
November Images
Statues at the HKMCD (both author), HKVDC Armoured Car (courtesy The Battle of Hong Kong 1941: A Spatial History Project)
Geoffe Clarke, RASC (courtesy Anthony Clarke), Cloake at Stanley and newspaper report (via Stephen Hutcheon)
November News I generally think of Hong Kong government-run museums as being wonderful big buildings in locations that would be worth a fortune, manned with abundant staff, budget, and resources, and containing just half a dozen exhibits and twenty or more colourful explanatory posters. And I compare that to when my sister was curator of the Wisbech & Fenland Museum in the UK in the 1980s, as the only member of staff, presiding over an ancient crumbling building crammed with amazing things (Napoleon’s tea set captured at the battle of Waterloo, a Zulu warrior’s kit – still crawling with parasites that had somehow survived since Victorian days, Dickens’s original ‘Great Expectations’ manuscript, a many-thousand-year old Egyptian bronze of Anubis the jackal-faced god of war, and so forth). But the Hong Kong Museum of Coastal Defence falls nicely in the middle of these two extremes, and I was delighted to be invited this month to its reopening ceremony following post-Mangkhut repairs. They have done an excellent job! 30 Annemarie Evans today reminded me of her 2005 interview with Jack Etiemble about the Lisbon Maru. Apparently her programmes (such as this one) are available on MMIS. 29 Returning to DBS again, Debbie Lee Jiang posted a page from “Perpetuation”, their 120th anniversary booklet: “5) There have been many reports of Japanese soldiers seen sitting in corners and corridors. Many students also caught fleeting glimpses of dismembered heads of soldiers hanging in mid-air. The sounds of some strange march of perfect unison have often been heard in the dormitory. 6) Previous to 1968, there had been numerous sightings of a figure dressed in white standing motionless in front of the garage. In 1968, when the swimming pool was under construction, two sets of skeletons were found together with some Japanese swords (now in display). The sets of skeletons were removed and since then no more sightings were reported.” I don’t think anyone has yet compiled a full set of Hong Kong’s second world war related ghost stories, but they would make a pretty large volume: DBS, St Stephen’s College, Nam Koo Terrace, The Hong Kong Country Club, Dragon Lodge, there are no shortage of candidates. 27 I received a regular email update from Researching FEPOW History today. The book Captive Fathers, Captive Children sounds very interesting. This sort of research has often been discussed by the families of FEPOWs, but as far as I know it’s the first of its kind to be published.
24 Today the Royal Asiatic Society, Hong Kong, presented a Zoom talk about Project Avenger. Even though I was quite familiar with the story (Craig Mitchell took me to the crash site shortly after finding it, together with a small posse from EOD to detonate some Japanese ordnance located nearby), I still enjoyed hearing the details. It’s worth keeping up with the RAS as they have quite a lot of interesting talks, with Kwong Chi Man covering “Hongkongers in the British Armed Forces, 1860-1997” next, on Tuesday 6 December. 24 As usual, while looking for something else entirely I found this fascinating colourised footage from towards the end of the Great War. It’s not, of course, directly related to this site’s subject, but may be of general interest.
23 Thanks to Franco Yeung, today I was invited to the re-opening ceremony for the Museum of Coastal Defence. It had been quite badly damaged in the Mangkhut typhoon of 2018, but clearly they have taken this as an opportunity for a major upgrade and overhaul. Strikingly, as you emerge from the lift to walk to the rotunda, various bronzes of soldiers loom out of the mist (it was a dirty grey evening), which gives a nice atmosphere. The building itself seems more spacious than it was, and despite of the attendance of numerous dignitaries, they had the kind good sense to give a single crisp speech, and then let a young a cappella group (who were very good) sing a few songs. Unfortunately I couldn’t stay long enough for a proper look round, but I’ll be back. I bumped into Bill Lake and Rusty Tsoi there, and Admiral Chan Chak’s daughter-in-law and granddaughter. 22 On The FEPOW Family page, Anthony Clarke posted photos and details of his uncle Geoff Clarke, RASC. Clarke was one of the ‘hard men’ on the first draft of POWs from Hong Kong to Japan. He died of blood poisoning later in 1942 at Tokyo #2 Hospital. 21Justin Ho reports finding a ‘new’ veteran from the wartime HKVDC. More on that at the appropriate time. He also kindly passed me a link to the late Mr. Seah Tin Toon's (1922-2001) Interview, done by the National Archives of Singapore. It has five parts plus a transcript viewing option. 21 Regular readers of this blog will know that I like to follow (when I can) the careers of descendants of Hong Kong’s wartime garrison. Here’s an update on singer KT Tunstall (granddaughter of James McDougall, HQ Company, Royal Scots, who survived the Lisbon Maru.) 20 Keith Andrews in the UK kindly put me in touch with Arthur Paul Glanvile’s (Stanley internee) daughter again. She was evacuated from Hong Kong to Australia in July 1940 together with her mother and two sisters. On release from Stanley, not realising that his family had already retuned to the UK, he asked to be sent to Australia hoping to be reunited there. They were finally reunited late in 1945 in the UK. Sadly he died of TB (which he had whilst in the camp) in 1955. In Stanley he had the unique room identifier as ‘Lep.’ I wonder if this could have been the old ex-leprosarium, which might have made a makeshift TB sanatorium? 16 The Battle of Hong Kong 1941: A Spatial History Project today posted a good Japanese photo of a knocked-out HKVDC armoured car. I think it’s probably Bill Lowe's car: No. 1 Car (lost at Wong Nai Chong Gap, December 19th). The crew were: Walker, Charles Douglas, Sergeant Labrousse, Ernest Denys, Corporal Marriott, Henry Ernest, Private Lowe, William, Private Schouten, Klaus, Private. All survived, with Schouten (who was Dutch) being interned at Stanley, and repatriated with the Americans in June. 15 Today I was invited by the « Souvenir Français de Chine » and the General Consulate of France in Hong Kong & Macau to the Remembrance Ceremony in honour of the Free French Forces on Friday, December 2nd at 2:30pm. I believe it is invitation only, so interested parties should contact the Consulate. 15 Leading Seaman Moses McElroy’s (HMS Thracian, Lisbon Maru) daughter-in-law got in touch. 14 Walking in the Peak area this morning I took Governor’s Walk to get a photo of how the Mount Austin Barracks area looks today. The modern buildings are certainly a good deal less impressive than the Victorian monoliths they replaced. 13 Unfortunately a family commitment meant that I couldn’t join the Memorial Service at the Cenotaph this year, though I was told it was well attended. 13 DBS held their Garden Fete today, and Sunny Liu kindly posted a photo of their Roll of Honour. 10I downloaded the Recommendation for Award for John Pearce of BAAG from The National Archives in the UK (Catalogue reference: WO 373/101/397) free of charge today. That’s pretty good service! 9 Stephen Hutcheon on the Stanley Camp facebook page mentioned: “Here’s a photo I found on an Australian museum site showing Australians meeting at the Stanley Internment Camp after the Japanese surrender in August 1945. The caption on the back of the photo is partly removed”, but the legible part reads: “Countrymen meet. Australian journalist R.J. Cloake, xxxx Stanley Camp, Hong Kong, meets another Australian, J.H. Adams of Sydney with the coming of the reoccupation forces. Mr Cloake was on the staff of the South China Morning Post and brought out an issue of the paper day [sic] after the surrender to the Japs. He is nxxxx the job, ROYAL NAVAL OFFICIAL PHOTGRAPH”. With a good piece of detective work, he also found a newspaper column written by this journalist on his visit, published Tuesday 4 September 1945. 3 With reference to Mount Austin Barracks (see last month), my note reminded Rob Weir of “pictures I had of the Barracks, from one of my Kew visits… They cover both the ground and first floor but unfortunately a couple of the pictures are blurred. There are a couple of others showing overall plans” (Illustrated). So clearly Kew would be a good place to find further details. 1 Justin Ho found some interesting HKVDC signatures in the book The Portuguese Community in Hong Kong.
November 1st, 2022 Update
Image:
October Images
Lisbon Maru group (author), Lisbon Maru memorial at Zhoushan (both via Kent Shum)
Georeg McCarthy in Jamaica (courtesy Lillian Randall), War Illustrated (via CH Au), Takliwa document (courtesy Lloyds)
Bungalow D painting (courtesy Archibald Brown), Bungalow D photo (author), Mount Austin Hotel (via Internet)
October News Believe it or not, this time next year will be the twentieth anniversary of this monthly blog – making it one of the oldest continuously updated blogs on any subject in the world. I’ll have to create some special content for it – so come back in October 2023! Meanwhile it’s interesting to consider the two biggest changes (as far as this topic goes) over those 20 years. Firstly we’ve gone from having many veterans to talk to, to probably a single digit number. With the passing of Phil Doddridge this month (see the fifth), for example, we are down to two Canadians. I don’t now know of any surviving Brits or Indians, but of course they were generally regular soldiers who had already been in Hong Kong for a few years before the invasion, and thus were on average a little older than the Canadians. There could be a tiny handful still with us. Secondly, in the same period we’ve gone from having very little easily available information on this topic to having a plethora of online sources and books. How times change! 30 I received an email from Researching FEPOW History: “Here is your preview of the posts coming up in November on Rice and Shine. The Intrepid Theatre-Goer goes live on Wednesday 2nd November at 10:00 (UK time). In this post, read about Captain Wilkinson's opinions of the shows he saw once he was back on his feet and take a detailed look at the heavily praised show Hayfever.” 26 Dave Deptford kindly let me know that auction house Noonans (formerly Dix Noonan Webb) on 9 November 2022, as Lot 410, will be auctioning a group of five Medals (39-45, Pacific, War, Defence, and Army Long Service) of CQMS Thomas Bayly, B Company, 1st Battalion, The Middlesex Regiment, who was a POW at Sham Shui Po, Nagoya, and Toyama, with an estimate of GBP 260 – 300. 24 Hazel Dolan, Corporal Albert Devonshire’s, Middlesex, daughter (you may recall that Timothy Rankin found her father’s tin hat and dog tag a year or two back, and we were able to reunite her with them) contacted me again, having read on this site that her father’s signature had appeared in a Canadian POW’s scrapbook. I was able to put the two together and she now has a copy. That’s really what this site is all about. 24 Rochdale Online today posted a little article about war memorials, which happened to include two local men lost on the Lisbon Maru. 24 Pete Starling kindly brought the journal, Canadian Military History, to my attention. In fact I was already familiar with it, and they published one of my papers a few years back. However, I wasn’t aware of the rather good search facility. 23 I heard from Lynne Williams: “It is a long time since I first contacted you about my stepmother's war experiences in Stanley Camp and I am very grateful for your help as well as for the information in your books. I thought you might be interested that I have finished a book about the first half of her life entitled ‘The Girl with the Butterfly Hands’. The publishing date will be the 17th November and it will be published both as an ebook and paperback. It is available online at Amazon and all the other book outlets (my favourite is Booktopia, of course).” Confusingly (though this was covered on this site last year, and is no doubt all explained in the book) the stepmother as variously known as Elizabeth Evelyn Fitzgerald, Elizabeth Evelyn Soo, Elizabeth Evelyn McGowan, and Chin Yu Williams. 21 C.H. Au posted a lot of photos from the 29 March 1940 edition of War Illustrated magazine, including one of two boom defence vessels working on Hong Kong Harbour’s outer defences. Does anyone recognize them? 19 Justin Ho reports: “Recently I have been trying to look for my granduncle's internment card using the Fold3 database. However, a huge chunk of HKVDC Chinese cards (Smuggler List #s 4362 - 4445) are not on Fold3. Based on my existing experience with such results, this generally suggests that they were stored in another place, i.e. British and commonwealth, colonial cards in National Archives; Canadians in Ontario Archives; Dutch O-20 Cards at Netherlands Archives. Do you by any chance know/ have heard of where the cards went?” I checked with Steve Denton, who knows more about Index Cards than anyone else I know, and he said he was 99% sure that he doesn’t have an index card at Kew. 18 I had an enquiry relating to Lance Naik Imam Din, 10638, 2/14 Punjabis. Apparently he may have been involved in some sort of POW resistance against the Japanese. Does anyone have any information? 13 I was contacted today by the nephew of James Connell Brown (Stanley Internee). Born 8 January 1908, he was an electrical engineer with the government, but worked for HSBC post-war and apparently married a fellow internee. He has inherited: “a collection of drawings and paintings by various members of the camp and some dated and signed. The most accomplished paintings have a signature of Ian Highet.” Highet was the banker Ian Campbell Hugh Highet, and signed himself ICHH. My correspondent continues: “There is a painting of some graves which seems to be a section of a larger painting. The grave names are A Raddy RRC Killed Dec 1941, Li Lin Dec 1941, Kenneth Evans killed 1941 and James Merry killed Dec 1941.” He kindly sent photos of several of these watercolours. One of Bungalow D at Stanley was particularly good, and almost matched the angle of a photo of the same building I took perhaps ten years back. 10 Two or three times a week I walk past the site of the old Mount Austin Barracks (previously the Mount Austin Hotel). As far as I can see there’s no trace of the old building now. It was knocked down soon after the war, and eventually had some very expensive flats built there in a gated compound. But I was interested to see what it was like, and found a decent photo on the Internet. It was certainly very large! You can see why the government bought the hotel (in 1897) and converted it to a barracks. It was still in use in 1941, when a Japanese shell set fire to a huge dump of .303 rounds there. 8 Lillian Randall got back in touch after almost twenty years, to state that she is still struggling to get her uncle, Sergeant George McCarthy’s, Winnipeg Grenadiers, memoir manuscript edited and hopefully published. I have been lucky enough to read through the whole thing, and hopefully can give useful advice. She also sent many photos and illustrations (McCarthy created many rather interesting pen and ink sketches, particularly of POW life). 5 Phil Doddridge, Royal Rifles of Canada, passed away today at the age of 100. He had visited Hong Kong a number of times, and I had met and interviewed him – and kept in occasional touch until recently, even if only via facebook. Colin Standish kindly sent this obituary link. 4 Shamas Munir (see last month’s query about Sabir-Ud-Din, 2/14 Punjab) notes: “Hancock was kind enough to send me a cutting from the Madras Weekly of 20 October 1945: ‘Eight hundred prisoners of war from Hong Kong who were rescued from the ill-fated S.S. Takliwa which caught fire and was abandoned off the coast of the Nicobar Islands last Monday while on its way to India, arrived in Madras Harbour this evening…’ The ship had been carrying 516 men of the Punjabis, 109 of the HKSRA, 153 of the HK Mule Corps (including Hancock), 19 men of the Rajputs, and 5 of the IMS. I copied the above script from your web site for reference. Can we get the names of these POW travelled to Madras, or any source to get these names?” It’s a good question. I have never seen a manifest for the Takliwa but it would be very helpful. I was able to find an interesting document on Lloyds Register Foundation Heritage and Education Centre, and in fact they had quite a few others about this ship. I have also added Sabir-Ud-Din’s name to the Indian nominal roll on this website. 2 Today is the eightieth anniversary of the sinking of the Lisbon Maru. Kent Shum kindly let me know that the now-traditional commemoration ceremony took place at Zhoushan today, and sent several good photos. Meanwhile I prepared a montage of photos of a number of the POWs who were aboard, in the forlorn hope of getting a well-known magazine to run an article on the anniversary. 2 Brian Finch gave Lisbon Maru descendants this update: “I know many of you are keen to know about progress on the documentary film. There have been significant delays caused mainly by Covid and the restrictions that are very strict in China. But Laurel Films are continuing to work on the film and hope to release it next year. A recent Chinese press report includes some clips provided by Laurel Films, which will give a small taste of what to expect. You can see this here.” 2 Antonio Fragoeiro posted (to the Battle of Hong Kong facebook page) an interesting letter from the International Red Cross (illustrated), stating: “The opening of the ‘IRCC’ Hong Kong office. Until then the HK prisoner of war situation management was done by Shanghai.” 1 Lisbon Maru articles continue to show up in the Chinese press, this one under the title “Stories shared by Xi Jinping”. This included a broadcast from the new Lisbon Maru memorial which was unveiled at the National Memorial Arboretum last year. 1 The next HKVCA virtual event will be on November 21 at 7.30pm Toronto time (8.30am on November 22 for Hong Kong). The subject is “The PoW Experience in Hong Kong and Beyond. Noted Canadian historian and author Nathan M. Greenfield will discuss the differences in experiences between Canadian PoWs in Europe in both world wars and those of Canadian PoWs in Hong Kong. He will discuss issues such as the legal status of the different PoWs, forced labour, starvation, beatings, executions and resistance to their captors. He will also touch on PoWs held in Canada during WWII.” Here’s the Zoom registration link.
October 1st, 2022 Update
Image:
September Images
Yoshihara Seiyu POWs (courtesy Waldron family), Yoshihara Seiyu (courtesy Yoshiko Tamura), Bill Stoker senior's medals (courtesy Bill Stoker junior)
Stanley Journal (courtesy Elizabeth Ride), Message for Nasty, Lost in China (author)
Here’s something that hadn’t really struck me before: the vast majority of people in the UK today have never seen – in circulation – coins bearing a monarch’s head other than that of Queen Elizabeth II. Yet when I was a child living there in pre-decimal days I found coins in my change with George VI’s head, George V, Edward VIII, and Queen Victoria - as well as the shiny new ones starting from 1953 with the ‘new’ Queen’s head. Coins found occasionally on Hong Kong’s battlefields are generally George VI, though of course Hong Kong’s coins also carried the Queen’s head from 1953-1997. And now, the world’s last head of state who actually served in the Second World War is gone.
Addendum: Please see the 10th for an important correction on the identity of BAAG Agent 75 last month.
28 I haven’t previously mentioned the Battle of Hong Kong 1941: A Spatial History Project’s facebook page, but it’s well worth following. There was a particularly interesting story today on the civilian internee exchange ships.
26 I heard today that the Royal Geographical Society Hong Kong’s Gala Dinner 2022 features “The Battle and Occupation of Hong Kong 1941-1945” with guests of honour Philip Cracknell and David Bellis on Saturday, 22 October 2022. 26 The HKVCA’s live event today, on Captain Edmund Lionel Hurd, Royal Rifles of Canada, can be watched here (together with other recordings of previous events).
23 I received two gifts of books today (in both cases I was given the opportunity to read through them and make comments before publication): A Message for Nasty by Rod Fry, and Lost in China by Jennifer Dobbs. I can happily recommend both, and both have been described in earlier months. The former covers Vince Broom’s rescue of his wife and children from occupied Hong Kong, and the latter the death of Francis Dobbs in Causeway Bay in the fighting (and internment of his wife) and the effects on their two young children left behind in wartime mainland China.
22 I spoke to Elizabeth Ride today, for the first time in a while, mainly on the topic of Agent 75. 22 Lance Bombardier John ‘Red’ Bullen came up in conversation with Martin Heyes today, I had forgotten how late his MiD was granted, and why (but the story is covered here).
21 Ian Harrison contacted me again (see January 2022 for details). He and the family are still searching for an oil painting of Mrs Gordon Neve (GSO II Maj. G.E. Neve’s wife) which was presumably on the wall of their Married Accommodation in Hong Kong (most likely, I think, in Victoria Barracks, either the Cassels Block - originally called Block C and today the Hong Kong Visual Arts Centre – or Wavell House - now the aviary education centre). It may have been taken by her on the evacuation to Australia, or more likely left behind to be looted during the occupation. Either way it has not been seen since and they would very much like to trace it on the off-chance that it wasn’t destroyed. What I had forgotten was that it was painted by quite an important artist, Frank Cadogan Cowper, and had been exhibited by the Royal Academy in 1930.
20 The Orders and Medals Research Society, HK Branch September Newsletter is now available here.
18 Another Lisbon Maru story here, this time in Shanghai Daily. President Xi has certainly done a good job publicizing the incident.
16 I mentioned some time ago that Perth Academy was working on a video memorial to all their old boys lost in the Second World War. I helped with details and some video footage for John Dickson, lost on the Jeanette. The video has now been completed and can be watched here.
15 Out of respect for the funeral of Queen Elizabeth, the virtual event "Lives Lived: Edmund Lionel Hurd" scheduled for Monday, September 19 was postponed to Monday, September 26.
12 I’m back in touch with Bill Stoker, having discovered (primarily thanks to Barbara Davies) that there’s a mistake in my HKVDC documentation. I have Bill Stoker senior listed as IC 7 Platoon, 2 Coy, but in fact he was IC 5 Platoon. (To add to the confusion, this Bill Stoker had a son called Bill Stoker who was a Hong Kong evacuee and later a famous post-war RAF jet fighter pilot, and my contact his that Bill Stoker’s son – also called Bill Stoker!) Bill Stoker kindly sent me a photo of Bill Stoker’s medals.
10 Last month I quoted a book called “Clock Tower Reminiscences” recently published by the Hong Kong Heritage Project, which stated that BAAG Agent 75 was W.H. ‘Hongkie’ Kwan. This is incorrect, and Elizabeth Ride has kindly sent me the following, together with more than sufficient evidence to show that Agent 75 was (of course – and I should have recalled this myself) Francis Lee. She notes: “I am truly sorry to have to pour cold water on the erroneous suggestion that Kwan was ever allocated the number 75. The fact is that my BAAG Register of FIG agents, authenticated by documentary proof, shows that the number 75 was conferred on Francis Lee You-Piu.” The publishers have quite correctly said: “We and the writer would like to extend our apologies for the oversight and will seek to rectify the fault when we reprint the book.” So it will be resolved, which is right and correct. 10 Craig McCourry sent out a new BattleBox film poster today, and also the link to the first-look teaser.
8 Someone pointed me to an old New Zealand newspaper article about Ana Reddish in Stanley. It’s more than 20 years old and has some odd points, but still worth a look. The BBC also has an article about the family. However, this doesn’t mention the son who died immediately after birth, who in fact I don’t seem to have heard of before and is not covered in any documentation that I can find. 8 The HKVCA published their Autumn 2022 Newsletter today. 8 A wartime mine was found and dealt with off Cape D’Aguilar this afternoon. 8 The death of Queen Elizabeth II today was a break in history. She was the last remaining head of state to have served in the Second World War.
7 The Stanley Journal magazine came up in discussion today. It was published in at least 1942 and 43, but no one seems to know how many (irregular) editions there were. I have two copies (or at least their front covers). Does anyone else have any?
3 I have been corresponding again with Yoshiko Tamura of the POW Research Network Japan. I sent her a number of high-resolution photos of POWs in Kobe from the Waldron Collection. Noticing that one of them showed ex-Lisbon Maru POWs at Yoshiwara Seiyu, she kindly sent me an archive photo of the factory. 3 The Lisbon Maru theme continues to reverberate in China, here and here.
1 I heard from RFHG (Researching FEPOW History Group) that “Registration for the 2023 Researching FEPOW History Conference in now open for all former delegates and mailing list subscribers. This gives you a month of early access before registration officially opens on 1st October 2022.” The Registration Form can be found here. 1 I had a welcome email from India asking why Sabir-Ud-Din, 2/14 Punjab, who died 26 November 1942 was missing from my files. It turned out to be a very good question. Eventually I realized that the original CWGC publication for Sai Wan’s Memorial to the Missing that I had worked with 30 or so years ago (when compiling my initial lists of personnel) had been missing an Addenda page which must have been produced later. I tracked it down and found it contained an extra 21 names. Eleven of them were BAAG, and I had them listed elsewhere. One was a post-war interment unrelated to my studies. Four were in my files already from other sources. The remaining five, aside from Sabir-Ud-Din himself, were: Constable A.K. Karamat, HK Police Reserve (Indian Coy), died 11 December 1944. Private Richard James Cox, HKVDC who was killed on 17 December 1941 (and whose brother Charles William Cox of 3 Coy was killed just days later - both were sons of Albert James Cox and Sophie Cox, of Hong Kong.) Gunner Naranjan Singh, 2 Mountain Bty HKSRA, died 28 November 1944. Constable Wali Dad, Hong Kong Police, died 9 February 1944. 1 Following on from last month’s post about the B24s that were lost while repatriating ex-POWs, Iain Gow (son of James Gow, Royal Scots) notes that: “My mother (my dad would talk to her, but, as was the way, not really to us about his experiences), for as long as I can remember always told us that on my dad’s repatriation flight, the bomb bay doors suddenly opened and some FEPOWs fell out. She maintained this was why he had such a fear of heights, even when, say, travelling along in a car on a road with a steep drop beside it. I also found the passage where a similar event was said to have taken place, the aftermath being seen by Kenneth Harrison, a FEPOW from Singapore, but imprisoned in Japan, flying from Okinawa to Manila and described in his book ‘The Brave Japanese’.” Iain kindly attached a scan of the page. Cicero Rozario, HKVDC (in his unpublished memoir), also mentioned that William Doxford, HKVDC, was lost in the same way, and another account said the same for Bombardier Arthur Compton who had been captured in Singapore. However, we know that both these men were in fact lost on Ginny. What makes James Gow’s report so compelling is that he said the bomb bay door incident was on his own aircraft. However, if anyone really was lost in this way they were not ex-HK POWs, as I can account for all of them. But this debate encouraged me to check my sources one more time to see if I could find any passenger manifests for such flights, and I did in NARA RG407 Box104 (illustrated) which was somehow filed under Philippines! Admittedly these appear to be flights concentrating ex-POWs on Okinawa (including Boswell, who once again tells the same story) before further flights to Manila, but even so it implies that somewhere in the NARA archives there may be full manifests (not just the MACRs for the aircraft that were lost) for the onwards route. I’ll find them one day and resolve this once and for all.
September 1st, 2022 Update
Image:
August Images
Two views of Sancha Peak (courtesy Mark Wilkie), Kenneth Haywood (via Brian Finch)
Yokohama Ceremony (Yoshika Tamura via Tracy Morgan-Humphreys), Denise Wynne with Xi letter (courtesy Denise Wynne and Kent Shum), George Kelling and Jim Fallace (courtesy George Kelling)
Peter Wing (via Battle of Hong Kong Spatial History Project), RN Stone at Wanchai Market (courtesy Tan), Leighton Hill then and now (courtesy HK in Colour)
August News
“Dear Diary: Internment, day seven…” Well, not really, but our short week-long enforced stay in hotel quarantine – after returning from a month’s holiday in the UK - felt a little like it! Obviously it was perfectly safe and comfortable, but being shut in a single room for that short period only increased (with some imagination) the respect I have for those who survived almost four years in camps in unimaginably less comfortable conditions. And that’s also why this month’s entry is a little short compared to most; after leaving quarantine on August 8 it took many days to catch up.
30 I am working on a request from POW Research Network Japan for photos from Osaka #2B (Kobe) camp. We have often co-operated in the past and I am very happy to help.
29 I had a query about British dog-tags in Hong Kong this morning, and thought I’d post it here as there might be general interest. “Starting from 21 August 1914 soldiers were issued with two disks to be worn, one red/brown and one green. They were made of vulcanised asbestos fibre and stamped with the soldier’s number, name, regiment, and religious denomination. In the event that a man was killed, the red tag was to be removed from the body - to be handed to the quartermaster for record keeping - and the green tag left with the body, traditionally placed in the dead soldier’s mouth. But in the heat of battle there was often no time to take tags, or even bury bodies. Bodies left in the open could be disturbed by animals, and these ‘felt’ disks weren’t very robust anyway.” This perhaps partially explains the large number of unknown burials in Hong Kong’s war cemeteries.
28 I began the day with the first of many alerts (examples here and here) from Google mentioning that the Lisbon Maru was in the news. I’ll let Lisbon Maru survivor, Royal Scot Dennis Morley’s daughter Denise Wynne, tell the story: “I have been interviewed because I sent a letter to President Xi requesting a memorial be erected for the POWs who perished during the sinking of the Lisbon Maru and also a memorial for the Very Brave Chinese Fishermen who put their own lives at risk to help rescue the soldiers from the sea. My father always said that if it weren’t for the fishermen he would have died there and then. He wanted a memorial to be erected so that they would never be forgotten and should never be forgotten! I received a letter from President Xi and hopefully a memorial will be erected. I am happy to carry out my late father’s wishes. Kind Regards Denise.” I saw copies of President Xi’s letter, and the Chinese Embassy in the UK also carried the story with a number of nice photos. 28 I received a note from the FEPOW History Group that: “The Show Goes On, goes live on Wednesday 14th September at 10:00 (UK time), looks at the shows which continued to be performed amongst the background of the massive troop movements.”
27 A researcher is looking into the life and death of Victor Zaharoff of the HKVDC RASC Unit. Unfortunately I have yet to come across an eye-witness report of his death, and as far as I know he was simply one of the victims at Eucliffe.
26 Debbie Jiang, a descendant of Kwan Wing Hong (Agent Domus / Agent 75), shared a page from a book called "Clock Tower Reminiscences" recently published by the Hong Kong Heritage Project, about the iconic Clock Tower of the former HQ of the China Light and Power Company (CLP) located on Argyle Street near the intersection with Waterloo Road. “W.H. Kwan, a.k.a. ‘Hongkie’, was born in British Malaya and educated at the University of Cambridge in Britain. He is credited with having designed the modernist Rediffusion Building in Wan Chai and the Hong Kong Telephone building in Tsim Sha Tsui, the tallest building in Kowloon when completed in 1949. During the Japanese Occupation of Hong Kong, W.H. Kwan joined the British Army Aid Group (BAAG) – an underground resistance operation active in south China – as agent Number 75. Despite his many achievements, W.H. Kwan is perhaps better known as the father of Nancy Kwan, the actress famous for her role as Suzie Wong in the Hollywood film.”
25 I was contacted by an Indian journalist researching into the Indian Olympic hockey icon Dhyan Chand’s (illustrated) tenure with the 2/14 Punjab Regiment. Unfortunately I couldn’t help much as he had been posted for officer training before the Japanese invasion and so is not in my files. I also cannot find an authoritative biography of him. As far as I can see he was originally recruited into the 1st Brahmans, which in 1922 became the 4th Battalion of the 1st Punjab Regiment, which was disbanded in 1931. Clearly Chand remained with the Punjab Regiment - but when did he transfer to the 2/14th? 25 Kevin Snowdon has created a brief history of the RAOC in the Far East here.
24On the FEPOW facebook page I noticed a reference to an old story about British POWs being killed when being repatriated on an American B24 shortly after liberation. The story claims that someone accidentally opened the bomb bay doors which they were sitting on. I replied that as far as I know it’s a myth, based loosely on the story of one of the three American B24s that crashed in a typhoon in autumn 1945 while repatriating POWs from Okinawa to Manila. One crashed into a mountain in Taiwan (the father of entertainer Clive James was one of the fatalities), one just disappeared in the sea, and the last was ditched after the POWs were forced to bail out. This one had some survivors, including the pilot who I interviewed many years later. I'm pretty sure that this latter plane is the one that generated the myth. The three were Liquidator, Ginny, and Les Miserables. To my great surprise a gentleman by the name of Mark Wilkie then added: “some additional information on the Liquidator crash. The crash was on 10 September 1945. It’s locally known as the Sancha Mountain Incident. Sancha peak is 3,496m high. The crash site is situated near Jiaming Lake in Southern Taiwan. The crash site is not actually on the peak but a good day’s hike from the peak. To reach the crash site is a three-day hike. Most of the hike is above 3,000m in elevation. The 5 crew, 11 American POWs, 4 Dutch POWs, and 5 Australian POWs all perished in the crash. On 15 September, Formosan aboriginal Bunun hunters reported seeing the crash to officers at Wulu Police Station. On 18 September, the first recovery team of 8 men departed for the crash site. On 27 September, a second team of 89 departed for the crash site. This group consisted of Japanese police and conscripted local Bunan tribesmen. On 30 September, a typhoon hit Taiwan, and 26 members of the recovery team died of exposure high up in the mountains. On 5 October, a third team set off to bury the crash victims in a mass grave, as well as burying the dead from the rescue team. The rescue team members were buried where they fell. They were scattered across the mountainside. It would seem that not all the rescue team victims were located. In 2000 the remains of three were located in a small cave near Jiaming Lake. From weapons and footwear, it appeared the remains belonged to two Bunun tribesmen and a Japanese policeman. The remains of a missing climber were also located at this site. In February 2021, on a university research trip to the site I located the cave and documented the burial. The tragedy of the crash is compounded when one considers that the majority of those that perished in the rescue party were innocent Bunun tribesmen who had been ordered by the Japanese police to assist in the rescue. It would appear that the only compensation the families of these tribesmen received was a bag of rice. In October 1948 the remains of the crew and POWs were disinterred. The Australian and Dutch remains were reburied in Hong Kong. The remains of the Americans were reburied in Missouri… The plane clipped a ridge where the red arrow points. An engine came off at this location. The main impact location is on the opposite ridge below where the purple arrow points. The photo is taken from Sancha peak.” I had heard some of this before, but without a lot of detail, and certainly with nothing to match the photos he generously attached! 24 I was contacted today by a lady writing a book about women at sea in the second world war, asking for details of Violet Hearn, whose husband was in the RAOC and who was evacuated (by sea, naturally) with the other British women and children from Hong Kong to Australia in July 1940. I am in touch with the family and hope to put them together. 24 Tai Hang notes: “TK and I discussed the history of Hong Kong stamps yesterday. The following story of keeping hope in a bad time may be of interest to the readers of your website.” Again I had been vaguely aware of this, but without the details.
23 Tracy Morgan-Humphreys (granddaughter of William Tyner, RAMC, who is buried at Yokohama) reports that: “Yoshiko Tamura at the POW Research Network, Japan is still overwhelming us with her generosity of spirit in remembering us following their annual commemoration on 6th August at the Yokohama War Cemetery”, kindly attaching several photos.
21 Long time correspondent Tan notes that: “I see the stone wall outside old Wanchai Market destroyed! Some stones on the wall marked with IL86 and Navy sign. It should be for the old navy hospital located there. Too bad that they can’t save those historical stones for the work. An air-raid tunnel below Wah Yan College also destroyed by the slope work on there.” I’ll have to go there and take a look myself, because part of that wall also showed clear bullet damage from the Japanese attacking via the nearby ARP tunnels. It would be very unfortunate if they have been lost.
19 The facebook page “Old HK in Colour” had an interesting shot of Happy Valley and Leighton hill then and now today. You can see why Leighton Hill was such a commanding vantage point for Z Company, Middlesex.
17 Mike Babin of the HKVCA let me know that: “Our next virtual event will be on Monday, September 19 at 7:30pm ET here in Canada, which is Tuesday, Sept 20 at 7:30am for you. The topic is ‘Lives Lived: Edmund Lionel Hurd’, and will be presented by his son, Fred Hurd. Capt Hurd was Battalion Quartermaster, RRC. Here’s the registration link. Please feel free to include it in your blog!”
16 I received an email from an Australian local history researcher looking into Valentine Vincent MacDonnell (Stanley internee) of the Import & Export Department (later Customs & Excise) anti-sabotage branch. I knew he had served in the Great War, but learned from them that he had lost two brothers in that conflict in 1917.
15 Today I was able to put two Hong Kong Dockyards families – who had been friends there exactly 60 years ago – back in touch with each other. 15 The Battle of Hong Kong Spatial History Project today featured Peter Wing, probably the only ethnically Chinese member of C Force. They also announced a new project to map the 3 years and 8 months Occupation of Hong Kong.
13 Dave Deptford notes: “As time and tide permit you may be interested in ‘Issy WONG’ via Google and Wiki, a talented female cricketer currently very active in England, and representing same. She is reportedly related to Anderson KIA 19.12.1941 and also to the Nolasco da Silva families.” I am always fascinated to hear about the descendants of the 1941 garrison.
6 It was George Macdonell’s one hundredth birthday today. Debbie Jiang did a good job of getting people together to write best wishes for him on this notice board, and for getting others to record birthday greetings on video (which Eric Brunt turned into this rather good compilation).
2 The great grandson of Sub Shah Muhammad (2/14 Punjab Regiment) got in touch. Shah Muhammad’s brother in law, Akbar Ali, was in Hong Kong too. The latter’s story is straightforward. He was in 17HAA Battery at Brick Hill and was killed there in the Japanese attack of 25 December 1941. But the family tell me that Sub Shah Muhammad never came home, which is odd as I have no record of his death, the CWGC have no entry for him, and the book An End to Tears by Russell Clark (a journalist who arrived with Harcourt’s fleet to relieve Hong Kong in August 1945) mentions him as being alive at that time. Of course there are a number of issues with the records of Hong Kong POWs of Indian regiments. Firstly, there were many men with the same (or almost identical) names, secondly the spelling in army documents was not always accurate, and thirdly the war and the occupation of Hong Kong meant that many records were lost. Having said that, officers such as Shah Muhammad are generally better documented. That book says that he had been sent in 1942 by the Japanese to Canton with 100 men, and was very badly treated. The author also implies that after the liberation of Hong Kong, Sub. Shah Muhammad made a statement about Japanese war crimes to the British authorities. All this clearly implies that he survived the war. We know of course that after Hong Kong was liberated, the surviving Indian ex-POWs were put on board a ship called the Takliwa which ran aground on the Indian coast on 15 October 1945. Official documents state that there were no casualties, but in fact I believe at least four men died. I suppose it is just possible that one might have been Shah Muhammad, but again I think it’s unlikely as documentation of officers is normally quite complete. Yet another mystery, and one more name to look out for until it is resolved.
1 Long-time correspondent George Kelling kindly sent a photo of himself with Jim Fallace of the Lisbon Maru (and famous escape from the islands after its sinking) taken at Eastborne in around 2005. 1 Just too late to be included in July, Brian Finch kindly sent a photo of Kenneth Haywood (Royal Scots, Lisbon Maru) from the latter’s son.
August 1st, 2022 Update
Image:
July Images
UK Shell case collection (author), Sam Tse letter (via Kenneth Wong), 7 Rajputs flash (author)
Football Club knife (via Oliver Win), RN Tin Hat (via Martin Heyes), Savitsky birthday card (courtesy Michael Martin)
BAAG Anniversary (courtesy 'George Best'), Stanley Police Station (with apologies), Chinese Sappers (courtesy The Battle of Hong Kong 1941: A Spatial History Project)
July News
We spent all but four days of the month in the UK, mainly clearing the North Norfolk house that I grew up in. I was amazed by how much second world war stuff was still there. It included my maternal grandmother’s 1940-45 diaries (they lived in the outskirts of London), ration books, photos, my father’s tin hat, a 1940 shell dressing that my grandfather had from fire watching duties, and so forth. Rather embarrassingly, there was also my teenage collection of shells and shell cases – rather more of them than I had recalled - which eventually went to a local collector of militaria. The other thing that struck me forcibly is how much people used to write to each other pre-Internet! I found sacks of letters going right up to the late 1980s, far more than I’d remembered. Now I never write to anyone, and nor does pretty much everyone else. That’s an enormous amount of primary source lost to future historians.
30 Justin Ho kindly let me know that the medals of Corporal Charles William Standen, RAOC, are for sale.
28 Martin Heyes let us know that a friend of his, at auction, bought a very unusual Hong Kong made steel helmet. The description read: “Extremely Rare Hong Kong Made WW2 British Royal Navy Port Defence Hong Kong Steel Combat Helmet, the helmet is an excellent example overall which retains much of the original green paint finish to the exterior of the shell. Royal Navy decal insignia to the front of the helmet and remains of a painted marking to the rear. The helmet brim is folded over to give it the look of not having a rim, known as a ‘Dutch Fold’, this is a characteristic you find on these Hong Kong made helmets. The helmet is complete with the original liner system which was made by the Chiap Hua Manufacturing Company in Hong Kong and is dated 1941. Helmet has the original chinstrap. The liner dome pad is present but loose. Very few of these Hong Kong made helmets are in existence today and are missing from most of the serious WW2 British helmet collections.”
25 Today I was emailed by someone interested in writing a piece about the eightieth anniversary of the Lisbon Maru. 25 On the Battle of Hong Kong Facebook page “George Best” posted the invitation / menu for the BAAG 10th anniversary dinner of 1942.
21 Michael Martin posted a couple of Stanley drawings by his grandfather, policeman Arseny Savitsky, including a nice 26 August 1945 ‘birthday card’.
20 The Orders and Medals Research Society, Hong Kong Branch held a talk entitled Project Avenger by Craig Mitchell today. It was advertised as: “In 2012 local resident and military historian Craig Mitchell, whilst hiking the hills on HK island, stumbled upon the wreckage of a wartime U.S. Navy plane. Upon investigation, the aircraft was found to be from a U.S. Navy Task Force consisting of no fewer than 10 aircraft carriers engaged in a bombing mission of Japanese-occupied HK on 16 January 1945. This amazing discovery kick-started what became known as ‘Project Avenger.’ Craig initiated a 10-year campaign for funding to research the crash site in Tai Tam; negotiating with the relevant authorities, (including the U.S. Navy’s Heritage Command), and obtaining the required local permits and licences. Much of this activity had to be conducted whilst the city was experiencing both social unrest and restrictions imposed by the Government due to the Covid pandemic. Craig’s team was finally assembled in 2018 and Project Avenger was underway. The team, comprising both local and overseas experts in the fields of archaeology, geographical surveying, orienteering and historical conservation, ‘broke ground’ in 2021. The project became HK’s biggest professional WW2 archaeological study. It was conducted in collaboration with 4 HK universities employing the latest remote sensing technology, high-resolution light detecting and ranging, photogrammetry and cloud technology and ground penetrating radar.”
19 I heard today that Rod Fry’s book A Message for Nasty (original title Snake Boats, the story of Vincent Broom’s rescue of his wife Marie and their four young children from wartime Hong Kong), is due for release on August 28 at the Auckland Writers Festival. The editor notes: “Of those who were children when these events happened, you might be interested to know that Marie Jr is still alive and living in Auckland, Cynthia is alive and living in Vancouver. Vincent Jr died a few years ago. Margaret (the oldest child) died just a few weeks ago in Auckland. The book had been read to her.”
16 I came across a great photo of Stanley police station today, probably taken in the ‘60s and showing it much as it would have been in 1941. Unfortunately I neglected to note the source.
15 It’s George Macdonell’s 100th birthday on 5 August, so film maker Eric Brunt is making a video compilation of birthday greetings for him. I’ll publish the link next month. Meanwhile, Debbie Jiang sent everyone a link to his story and another for an article last Saturday in the Globe and Mail.
14 QM Coy on Facebook posted a map showing the Volunteer HQ in Hong Kong. That old building (just south of the cathedral) had been knocked down by the time I arrived in HK but it was good to confirm it was where I had been told – on Lower Albert Road. This was the scene of the wartime disaster when a Japanese bomb fell into the miniature rifle range there, killing many Indian soldiers.
13 I had an email today from someone working for Alpha Education in Canada. I came across Alpha quite a few years ago, but found them (at least at that time) to be more anti-Japanese than pro-history and have not really had anything to do with them since. Does anyone know if they have changed?
8 Justin Ho notes that he has found a “A talk by Mandeep Singh (Col., Retd.) regarding the History of the HKSRA. Some contents are informative, but sadly not sourced.”
7 Having seen a newspaper clipping on my site (13 August 2021) about cutlery removed and then returned to Hong Kong Cricket Club by Captain Wilfred Bashford, RAOC, Oliver Win kindly noted: “After reading your article on your website from an old newspaper clip, I reached out to a friend at the club if he could find the knife that was returned by the good Captain. I am pleased to attach a photo of it.”
6 Today I was contacted by the family of Corporal Guy Ralph Taylor, RE, who was on the Lisbon Maru and died on 17.10.42 of bacillary dysentery at Osaka Military Hospital.
5 Jennifer Dobbs kindly sent me the final draft of her book Lost In China. This is the story of how her British father Francis was lost in the Battle of Hong Kong, while American mother Alice was interned in Stanley and Jennifer and her younger brother were left in China for a year before escaping to New York. It’s well written and quite a story. Francis Dobbs (illustrated) is recorded in the list of civilian dead, but his remains were lost.
4 The Orders and Medals Research Society, Hong Kong Branch July Newsletter has been published. 4 A recent Facebook discussion about battlefield finds of shoulder flashes made me dig mine out – a rare 7th Rajput Regiment one, actually found by the late Toby Brown. 4 I was contacted again today by the family of Sam Tse, who worked for the Harbour Department as Chinese assistant lighthouse keeper before and after the Second World War. The family believes that he was evacuated from Waglan Lighthouse on 13 December 1941 by the APV Frosty Moller (a note by Harbour Master James Jolly mentions this evacuation). The question is: Does anyone have details of this evacuation and the list of names of evacuees? We know that Tse was in Macau for the duration (thanks to letters found by Professor S.W. Poon of HKU Faculty of Architecture) and that his services back in Hong Kong were requested soon after liberation. 4 This evening we flew out of Hong Kong for Heathrow. The airport was amazingly quiet. Very strange as I used to fly on business through its bustle almost monthly, and this was my first flight since December 2019.
3 Colin Standish kindly sent this link to a Eugene Lapointe, Royal Rifles of Canada, obituary (he passed away on 17 June). There are only three Canadian veterans of the battle still with us now. 3 On the Battle of Hong Kong Facebook page there was an interesting link to Savitsky's Stanley Camp album in the Weekly Newspaper of the Russian Community in Australia. 3 Note that the Researching FEPOW History website is now being regularly updated and is worth checking.
2 Steve Denton kindly confirmed that Lance Corporal Cecil Joseph Abson, RASC, was on the third draft of POWs to Japan. I had deduced as much because he turned up at Tomano POW Camp there, but the smuggled list made no mention of him being on the draft.
1 The Taiwan POW Camps Memorial Society Spring-Summer 2022 newsletter "Never Forgotten" is on their website now.
July 1st, 2022 Update
Image:
June Images
Propaganda poster (courtesy Mark Hammett), Zimmerns in the HKVDC (from Recollections Of My Life), Military Structures (author)
Two internal shots of Rosary Hill (IRC via Antonio Fragoeiro), The Royal Navu 1941 (The Telegraph)
RBL mini-histories (author), RBL 100th anniversary dinner (courtesy RBL), 229th Memorial in 2009 (author)
June News
1940 saw the forced exodus of thousands of British women and children from Hong Kong to Australia, followed in 1941 by the one hundredth anniversary of the Colony. There have been mass leavings of Hong Kong since, post-1945 for example, then after the 1967 riots, and then prior to 1997. Now we have just experienced – thanks to Hong Kong’s Covid travel restrictions – the biggest exodus of people in my 30+ years here. And tomorrow, 1 July 2022, sees the 25th anniversary of the handover. In those years we have also had the Asian economic crisis, SARS, the 2008 global financial meltdown, Occupy Central, the troubles of 2019, and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Say what you like about Hong Kong, but it’s never dull! It’s a good place to study history, because history constantly happens all around you. As I always say to people here: “Don’t worry! This time next year we’ll be talking about a different crisis entirely.” And it’s always true.
27The July Java Journal was published today, but for once didn’t include any Hong Kong stories.
26 Today I received a rather unexpected email from a neighbor in the UK village where I grew up. It turns out their brother in law is a member of the Millington family from Hong Kong. Grandfather Henry Millington and three uncles (Harry Millington, Leslie Millington and Victor Millington) all served in the HKVDC. As both Henry and Harry are officially called Henry James Millington in the files, I had always been a bit confused about them. Now I can confirm that Sergeant Harry Millington was killed in 1 Bty in the defence of Stanley, while Harry senior, Leslie, and Victor all became POWs. Three further siblings (including the mother of the person concerned) were evacuated to Australia with their mother in 1940.
24 Walking with a friend, we were discussing the fact that at the start of the Second World War, the Royal Navy was still the largest and most powerful in the world. I then recalled seeing a sketch (originally created for the Telegraph newspaper) of the whole navy in 1939, including ships expected to be at sea by 1941 but excluding all those already ordered which wouldn’t be launched till ’42 or later. Most of the smaller vessels represent a number of that class (including the Scout class destroyer, with HMS Scout herself oddly enough being in Hong Kong and escaping to Singapore on 8 December 1941). It’s well worth a look. And if you’ve ever seen the gigantic HMS Belfast on display on the Thames in London you might be surprise to see that it wasn’t considered very significant then, and is hidden away in row D at the back (number 15).
22 In an email conversation with David St Maur Sheil (great grandson of Sir Grenville Alabaster) the Kotewall family came up for discussion, and whether the Kotewall sisters were related to ‘the Kotewall who was executed’. I recalled I had a book written by a Kotewall, and I finally found it. It’s called “Recollections of My Life” by Cicely Winifred Zimmern (nee Kotewall, the daughter of Robert and Edith Kotewall). Unfortunately it doesn’t have much about the war years, but does mention Alabaster. It was of course the Kotwall brothers who were executed with BAAG, rather than Kotewall - yet I am sure they were originally all one family! I can’t now recall the cause of the split and name change. But one of the photos in the book is interesting. The original caption says: “The Hong Kong Volunteers, back row: Archie [Zimmern], far right; Ernie [Zimmern], 4th right; Andrew [Zimmern], 4th left.” Although Andrew Zimmern is labelled, I suspect that this is actually Francis and that the photo is of 7 Platoon, 3 Coy. The Kotwalls were in the same company, though different platoon. (The right hand man of the two gentlemen in the middle looks like Alec Itenson to me, also 3 Coy).
21 Justin Ho kindly sent me this article about conserving ‘orphan heritage’ in Hong Kong and Malaysia, looking at British battlefields.
20 Mark Hammett, on a facebook page, posted a photo of a World War Two poster he had in Hong Kong as a child. I had always wondered if the British had any Allied propaganda aimed at showing that China and the UK were aligned against a common enemy, and this is a good example. The Chinese text roughly translates to: British Army, Navy, and Air Force unite with China to fight public enemy.
19 Alexander Kennedy’s book “Full Circle” came up in conversation. I still have two copies (only 500 were printed, so they are good for swaps), and in the discussion we concluded that probably all 500 were signed by the author, as all the ones we possess have that honor. 19 Steve Denton kindly sent me some biographical details of Hong Kong escapee David Bosanquet.
18 Today was the dinner (at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club) in honor of the 100th birthday of the Royal British Legion. It had been postponed a couple of times because of Covid, but went well with around 100 attendees. The usual crowd were there, with Douglas Haig’s great grandniece (who happens to live in HK) being a special guest! Lindsay Ride and Douglas Clague were also honoured for their role in restarting the RBL post-war. The photo above shows (L to R) Captain Albert Lam, Professor Kwong Chi Man, Haig’s great grandniece, author, and Bill Lake. The RBL also kindly gave every attendee copies of four historical booklets: A History of the World War II Veterans Association, A History of the Hong Kong Locally Enlisted Personnel (LEP) Trust, A History of the Royal British Legion Hong Kong & China Branch, and A History of the Hong Kong Ex-Servicemen’s Association. These were all prepared under the direction of Nigel Collett, who was also responsible for their huge Book of Remembrance.
16 I visited Professor Kwong Chi Man at Baptist University today, discussing other maps and data to be added to the Spatial History Project. He kindly gave me a copy of the book “WWII Military Structures of The Southern District”. This is a bilingual and comprehensive account, generously illustrated with colour photos and maps (very handy for any hikers with an interest in the period). We also discussed the fate of the memorial to the Japanese 229th division, which I was shown in Chung Hom Kok around 12 years ago. At the time I wrote: “Visited Chung Hom Kok to investigate rumours of a memorial to Japanese soldiers who blew themselves up at the end of the war rather than be captured. I had heard this story thanks to the kindness of two members of the Hong Kong Club. The truth turned out to be different, but at least equally interesting. It was in fact a ‘Toba’. The exact wording is: ‘Memorial service stave to pray for the repose of the war dead, the foot soldiers' No.229 regiment No. 10 company, for the 50th anniversary. From No 10 company volunteers’. These staves are left at graves or burial sites in a Buddhist ritual 1, 2, 6, 12, and 49 years later (and then 50 years after that, in theory). The question is, are there others like this still dotted around Hong Kong?”
15 Had lunch today at Crown Wine Cellars, courtesy of Greg De’eb. The Little Hong Kong Ordnance Store that the club is housed in is still a great piece of Hong Kong’s heritage. 14 Today I had my traditional annual walk with two friends from Discovery Bay to Silvermine Bay, ending at The Kitchen. Each time we do this I think that I should explore Lantau more, and try to come to grips with its wartime history better.
13 The Researching FEPOW History Group have announced that their next conference, hosted by the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine (LSTM), will take place 10 – 11 June 2023. Updates will follow on their website in August. 13 I have Google set up to alert me to any mention of the Lisbon Maru, and received this link today. It’s not bad, but just an old rehash of well-known information, combined with the incorrect (but common) statement that Canadian POWs were on board.
12 Today Antonio Fragoeiro posted a photo – taken in October 1944 - of the Rosary Hill Red Cross Camp, showing many of its inhabitants in their Dining Room. My initial thought was that I hadn’t seen such a photo before, but then I recalled that Vaudine England wrote an article about Rosary Hill in Volume 57 of the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society Hong Kong. For some reason I had completely forgotten (which is disappointing, as I am now the editor of that Journal!) It even has the same photo, and 11 more all taken on that same October 1944 date.
9 On eBay, Justin Ho “managed to acquire a postcard supposedly showcasing the HMS Thracian, likely taken between 1925-1930.” It certainly looks like Thracian to me (illustrated).
3 Metal detectorist Timothy Rankin has been finding a lot of ordnance recently. Some looks like expended shrapnel shells, and others have possibly been defused and left, but clearly there’s still lots of potentially dangerous items in the hills.
1 Ken Skelton kindly let me know that the Japanese Marines (in the photo I published here last month) should properly be called their Special Naval Landing Force.
June 1st, 2022 Update
Image:
May Images
Gilman's Motors and US Bombing Damage (both via 'George Best'), Japanese Marines in HK (courtesy Jon Reid)
Marjory Braga's pass (courtesy Stuart Braga), HMS Tamar book (courtesy Stephen Davies), the Vincent Broom book draft cover (courtesy Awa Press)
May News
On the last day of the month I finished reconciling the causes of POW deaths in JA177, 178, and 179, with my original lists. There were 615 names, and although there was plenty of duplication, and mistakes in names and dates and so forth, I now have a pretty good record with at least 95% of British and Canadian deaths now explained. But the Indian data is much sparser. For example, for the Punjabis alone there are 21 POW deaths with no known grave or cause, and a further 11 with a grave but no cause. My guess is that these men were out of the POW Camp system and its administration. Also, I wonder what happened to the American POWs who died in the camp (generally from the American Merchant Service)? Their deaths are recorded in these documents, but I can’t yet find their graves.
27 I heard today from the family of Private John D. Minhinnett, ASC Unit HKVDC (lost on 22 December 1941) and Private Ronald Douglas Maxwell, 3 Coy, 9 Platoon (lost on 23 December 1941 and uniquely buried in the grounds of St John’s Cathedral).
24 QM Coy posted on the Battle of Hong Kong facebook page: “Prince Tsuneyoshi Takeda of Japan Royal Family visited Hong Kong in January of 1942. He was then Lt. Colonel of IJA during WW2. This picture is seen in the Japanese Pictorial World magazine dated 1st of March, 1942.” I wonder if this was the prince who knew the Price family, who ran a major lumber business in Canada? Scions Major John Herbert Price and Captain Charles Edward Price both served in the Royal Rifles of Canada and at some point early in the occupation the brothers were visited in POW camp by a Japanese prince the family had once hosted in Canada. He asked if there was anything he could do for them. They quite rightly refused help themselves, but asked for medical assistance for Major Charles Boxer who otherwise would have lost the use of his arm.
23 Ron Taylor in the UK posted this link to an interesting interview with Robert Barter, Royal Rifles of Canada.
21 Justin Ho pointed out that as well as the HMS Cicala Christmas Card (see last month) an HMS Rainbow card is now on eBay too. This rather implies that these cards were normal practice, at least in this time and place, and thus it should be possible to find similar for Thracian, Tern, etc. (Rainbow was one of HMS Medway’s submarines, which left HK in 1940. The boat was lost during the war when rammed by an Italian merchantman).
20 Francis Cheung kindly sent this video link to Professor Kwong Chi Man talking about the 1941年香港戰役空間史研究計劃 The Battle of Hong Kong 1941: A Spatial History Project (in Cantonese).
19 One of the unsettling discoveries from JA177: two Royal Rifles of Canada riflemen, who died of diphtheria just one day apart: Allen Benjamin Welsh, died 07 October 1942 aged 29 (son of Ruben and Sarah Welsh, of Entry Island, Magdalen Islands, Province of Quebec), and Delbert William Louis Welsh, died 06 October 1942 aged 21 (son of Philip and Hester Welsh, of Entry Island, Magdalen Islands, Province of Quebec; step-son of Leonard Chanell, of Entry Island). Entry Island is just a little fishing island which even in those days couldn’t have had a population much more than a couple of hundred. They must have been from the same family.
16 QM Coy posted an interesting magazine article about Phyllis Harrop (including a photo) on the Battle of Hong Kong facebook page. I have seen her signature on a number of documents in the PRO in London, so clearly she had some sort of governmental job after returning to London, but I have yet to learn the details.
14 I heard today the welcome news that the book covering the story of Vincent Broom’s rescue of his wife Marie and their four young childrenfrom wartime Hong Kong should soon be published.
13 Apparently the Sir Mark Rylance episode of “My Grandfather’s War” was broadcast in the States today, and I received several emails commenting on it.
11 Stephen Davies’s book Transport to Another World: HMS Tamar and the Sinews of Empire is now available.
9 Regular readers of this site will be well aware that during the construction of the new tunnel for the Sha Tin to Central link, no fewer than three unexploded American 1,000 pound bombs were uncovered. One is now on show at Exhibition Station, and several people sent me their photos of it. 9 I came across another relevant facebook page today: Hong Kong Veterans Tribute.
8 Robert Parkinson’s (Royal Navy, Lisbon Maru) grandson got in touch. He notes: “My Grandad wrote a short account of his experiences on the Lisbon Maru and I wondered if you would be interested in reading it? He mentioned his life being saved, by someone called Casterton, though doesn't state which service he was from unfortunately. I had heard the story from my Grandad about him being hauled out the water by someone on many occasions and seem to recall him saying that his rescuer was Canadian, but that could be my memory playing tricks on me.” In fact it was seaman Gunner Reginald Gaze Castleton HKRNVR who was born in TsingTao, China 16 September 1909. Unfortunately I don’t know what nationality he claimed (though he was certainly in Canada at some stage), I just know where he was in the fighting for Hong Kong, and that his wife and either one or two children were evacuated from HK to Australia in 1940 (I suspect it was one child, and his wife was pregnant and had a second in Oz). Castleton had worked as an assistant at Butterfield & Swire in HK before the war, and survived till liberation. He passed away on 30 November 1950 in The General Hospital, Saffron Walden, Essex, England. Parkinson’s account read, in part: “After swimming around for a while, I teamed up with an Able Seaman named Chilcroft who I think was a Londoner. We had a small piece of wood between us and we seemed to be making headway towards a group of islands. Some fantastic things happened during our long spell swimming. I remember seeing a raft with a bloke called Mickey Miles of the Scots sitting in the middle with about 10 others hanging on to the sides. He was singing ‘Pull for the Shore Boys’. Two other chaps both former members of the Royal Navy water polo team were throwing a water bottle to each other as if they were warming up before a match. Incidentally both were never seen again. After another period of time Chilcroft and I joined up with a fellow called Casterton and a WO Jupp of the HKRNVR who had a hatch board.” Neither Chilcraft (his actual name, he was on HMS Cicala) nor Jupp survived.
6 Stuart Braga notes: “Have you ever wondered what happened to the silk top hat worn by Sir Mark Young? No? Well here is the answer. It may be an invention, but you never know.” He included a newspaper clipping quoting Bob Hammond as saying that, a few days after the fighting ceased in Kowloon, he saw a dustman dressed in rags, but with the Governor’s hat on his head! “I note that the American, Bob Hammond laughed. A British subject, if any had not yet been rounded up, is more likely to have been scandalised in that era. Hammond’s memoirs strike me as being exaggerated at several points. I am going through a box of papers from my uncle, Tony Braga, who kept an incomplete file of the historical series that the ‘Post’ used to put out from time to time.”
5 Local battlefield guide Martin Heyes has been accepted into the Guild of Battlefield Guides, and has the tie (illustrated) to prove it! He notes: “Nice tie…not when I will ever get to wear it though!”
4 Geoff Pickard notes: “Forgive me for contacting you but I spotted your email address whilst researching the sinking of the Lisbon Maru. I do have a small piece of background information about one of its tragic victims: D/MX 53857 Leading Sick Berth Attendant Ronald Howson RN. As a small boy in the 1970s I would visit our local cemetery with my family to pay respects at my grandfather’s grave. Directly on the row behind was a family plot to the Howson family. Very often Ronald’s father, Mr Howson, would be there and place chrysanthemums on the grave. My father would tell me that Mr Howson’s son died in WW2 as a POW. There is an inscription on the headstone which states ‘Our Beloved son Ronald Howson Died as a prisoner of war whilst in Japanese hands’, followed by the date of death. The plot was always immaculately kept and all year round there would be a big display of chrysanthemums on it. The choice of the most Japanese of flowers was very poignant and moving. Why he chose it we can only speculate all these years on. It must have been particularly hard for him to lose his only son, because also named on the headstone is his daughter who was killed in an accident in childhood before the war. When we saw him he was also already widowed but would go on to reach 98 years of age. The headstone was laid down a few years back by our local council along with many others on the grounds of health and safety. Now exposed to the weather, in time the wording will fade away. The grave does not now seem to be visited and I do not know if there are any family descendants who survive in the area to pay for the headstone to be returned to its correct upright position. I intend to make inquiries and if it’s possible would pay for it myself in honour of Ronald and his father.” The cemetery is in the village of Brierley in Yorkshire.
3 Stuart Braga notes: “You are probably aware of the passes issued to about 600 people, including many members of the Braga family, early in 1942. I did not think that any had survived until my cousin Maurice Braga in Cornwall sent me photo of his mother's pass which he found recently in her papers. Have you seen one of these passes?” Actually I had not, and he very kindly sent me copies. These were issued by Francisco Soares, Hong Kong's acting Portuguese Consul. I believe they would have permitted travel to Macau. 3 The Alabaster book is finally in – at least some of - Hong Kong book stores! 3 Jon Reid in Canada sent me a fascinating photo, asking where it was taken. I was a bit put off by the fact that it clearly shows Japanese marines, so reached out to Kwong Chi Man who identified the location as the Kadoorie familyhouse at Kadoorie Beach near Tuen Mun.
2 Sandy Wynd was kindly also looking for information on Michael Hyde, and in his researches: “drew a blank but I did find a three part series of the memories of Jock Morrison of HSBC who escaped occupied Hong Kong. Nothing really new – but what a great story.” The three articles can be seen here, here, and here.
1 ‘George Best’ posted two interesting photos of Wanchai and the scene around Gilman’s Motors (Monkey Stewart’s forward HQ in the defence of that area). They show the same pillbox, with one photo being taken immediately post-war demonstrating the American bombing damage very well. 1 I have been wading through the POW causes of death in JA177, 178, and 179 (see last month) and updating my records accordingly. I have found just five that I cannot reconcile with my garrison records: Ram Singh, 23.8.44, concussion of the brain. Fateh Mohd, 26.5.42, Punjabis, appendicitis. Thakur Singh,15.6.42, aged 55, TB. Abdullah, 15.3.43, bronchial pneumonia, wet pleurisy. Ibrahim, 10.12.43, amoebic dysentery. 1 There are a number of cases of fathers and sons both being lost in Hong Kong, and I identified one more today: Private Frederick Austin Rapp, Hong Kong Volunteer Defence Corps R.A.S.C. Coy, died 22 December 1941 (so presumably the massacre), and Private Frederick Christian Rapp, Hong Kong Volunteer Defence Corps, died 12 August 1942 aged 59. Trying to research the family I see in the Rosary Hill files under lists of ‘Eurasian and British Subject by Marriage’ a Mrs Catherine Winnie Rapp (Fred junior’s mother, and senior’s wife. Constance Gertrude Rapp and Donald Christian Rapp are also listed as ‘Eurasian Race but unknown nationality’ – presumably Fred junior’s siblings? But then who was ‘A Rapp’, listed by the CWGC as a wartime civilian fatality? Theoretically I have all the Death Certificates for the period, but not this one. 1 Brian Edgar very kindly sorted out the Michael Edward Hyde question (see last month). Probate records show that Michael Edward Hyde of Corunna Barracks at Aldershot Hampshire died on 6 May 1958 at Wheatley Military Hospital Oxfordshire leaving effects of £9147, 5s, 1d Administration to George Nether Burgess (a builder – Michael’s mother’s maiden name was Burgess). He kindly attached two newspaper reports: Headline: Death of Officer Shot on Range. Lieutenant Michael Edward Hyde, aged 20, of The Duke of Cornwall’s Light Infantry, died yesterday in the Wheatley Military Hospital, Oxfordshire, from gunshot wounds in the head. On March 20 on the rifle range at Aldershot he was struck in the head by a ricocheting bullet. His home was at Meadows Cottage, Staplefield, Sussex. (The Times, Wednesday 7 May 1958). Headline: Coroner to Protest to War Office. The Oxford coroner, Mr Harold Franklin, waited an hour yesterday for a number of the Army witnesses summoned to attend an inquest. Finally he had a call put through to Aldershot. He was told that the Aldershot police had been asked to inform him that the men were flown to Cyprus at short notice. Adjourning for a month an inquest on 2nd Lieut. Michael E. Hyde, 20, of the Duke of Cornwall’s Light Infantry, attached to the Parachute Regiment, the coroner said he would protest to the War Office at not being informed that the witnesses were unavailable. Lieut. Hyde died in Wheatley Military Hospital, near Oxford, after being shot in the head during firing practice at Aldershot. (News Chronicle, Thursday 19 June 1958). The key point was the address: this was Lady Grayburn’s UK address, which implies that the adoption of Michael was not just for the duration of the war at Stanley, but continued post-war in England. 1 A number of wartime explosive devices were found this month, this one reported under the name “Bomb Hunter”.
May 1st, 2022 Update
Image:
April Images
HMS Cicala (via eBay, courtesy George Boote), 13mm examples, Life and the Press poster (both author)
Little Boy pit on Tinian (via Internet), HKPOWA badge (courtesy Fender Taylor), HKPOWA newsletter (author)
Hongkong sappers (via Kwong Chi Man), Ishitake (courtesy The Battle of Hong Kong 1941: A Spatial History Project), HMS Ruler (author's collection)
April News
The depth of outrage I felt when President Putin, simply to feed his imperial fantasies, ordered the invasion of Ukraine is interesting. Growing up after the Second World War it always seemed that that conflict – a fixed part of our shared history - must have been inevitable, but of course it was not - and people living at that time were probably just as outraged as I am now. Full-scale warfare like this has no place in the twenty-first century.
29 Mucking around on the web I came across a ’new’ photo of Little Boy in Hiroshima Pit #1 which I thought worth sharing.
26 This evening saw the 2022 Annual General Meeting of the Royal Asiatic Society, Hong Kong. The highlight for me was Dr Colin Day’s presentation on the history of the Ride Fund and the 35+ essential books on Hong Kong history which it has so far helped sponsor, and which would probably never have been published in its absence. I have been lightly or heavily involved in many of them – as many cover the war years one way or another - and the full list (constantly updated as new titles are added) can be seen here.
25 Stuart Braga (the well-known academic and historian) in Australia kindly let me know that: “I was pleased to see the Hong Kong Volunteers in today’s Anzac Day March in Sydney. They were led for many years by Dr Solomon Bard, that truly outstanding man who made an enormous contribution to so many aspects of life in Hong Kong. I feared that his passing might mean the end of their participation, but there would have been between 12 and 15 beneath the banner today. It bears, as you probably know, the Battle Honours of Hong Kong, Stanley, Wong Nei Chong Gap and Repulse Bay. I hope that I am not the only person today who knew something of the grim significance of those names.” 25 I helped my wife take some things to work at Jardine’s Lookout and then walked back (as I quite often do) via Sir Cecil’s Ride and Black’s Link. Near the eastern end of Black’s Link I passed – yet again – an odd spanner-shaped steel device stuck in the concrete (illustrated). Some time ago I saw a photo of something very similar in the UK which was identified as part of an old rifle range.
23 Harold Downing’s family (see below) kindly sent me some pages from his memoires. The pages they selected covered the sinking of the Lisbon Maru, and it’s interesting that yet again he described the kindness of the Japanese navy in stark contrast to the army. 23 Reading (and enjoying) Kwong Chi Man’s new book “Hongkongers in the British Armed Forces 1860-1997”, I couldn’t resist copying a photo of Hong Kong Sappers of the Royal Engineers shortly before the war.
22 Every now and then that well known photo of HKVDC ex-POWs being brought to HK from Australia on HMS Ruler surfaces, and I am able to refine the names again. I now have: Front Row, L to R: Gunner Douglas Geoffrey Allen, Gunner Barry O’Meare Deane, Signalman James Joseph King, Private Bill Lowe, Lance Corporal Edgar George Mathias, Private Walter Duffield, Gunner John Ken Fitzhenry, Gunner George Ronald Ross, Private Alan Esra Goldenberg. 2nd Row, L to R: Sergeant Ernest Hillas Williams, Soos Knox, Lance Corporal Lyall James Glendinning, Gunner Ernest Oswald Butler, Silo Fisher, Private John Kempton, Private Freddie J.D. Clemo, Signalman Charles Barry Le Patourel, Private Douglas G. Day, Private William Murray Wilson, Private Douglas Haig Hamilton, Private Kenneth Lynn Keen. 3rd Row, L to R: Jim Fisher, ...?..., CQMS Edward Fincher, CSM Victor Harold White, Warrant Officer Fred Arthur Fabel, Sergeant Robert John V. Everest, CQMS Leonard Sykes, Private Anthony Wilfred Lapsley, Private Robert Henry Lapsley. 4th Row, L to R: Corporal George Cottrell, Private Arthur Cecil Tinson, Private Fred Cullen, Private Ernest Allen Fowler, Private William Graham Lamb, Private Reggie Thomas Broadbridge, Private Victor Charles Bond, Private Ferdinand Lapsley, Private Charles Joseph Manson, Private Brian Hailstone, Charles Tandien?, Private Boris Gellman, Private Herbert Otto Kees, Private Leslie Fred Coxhill. 5th Row, L to R: ...?..., Gunner Norman Mackenzie, Signalman Albert William Rowe, Private Ian Gordon Dixon, Private Alfred Leonard Eastman, Lance Corporal Norman Broadbridge, Sergeant George Dodds, CSM Leslie Charles Millington, Private John W. McDonald, Private Eric Neville Matthews, Private Raymond Walter Smith. I am not sure if ‘Soos’ Knox was Corporal William Thomas Knox or Private Douglas Haig Knox. ‘Silo’ Fisher and ‘Jim’ Fisher could be any two of Private Edward Joseph Fisher, Private John Arthur Fisher, or Private William Diego Fisher. ‘Charles Tandien’ might be Gunner Edward Tandy. Note that Norman Mackenzie was a professor, and Ernest Hillas Williams was a famous judge! 22 William Shaw’s (Stanley Internee) family got in touch. I was able to provide them with the circumstances of Mr Shaw’s death but as I have had no reply I assume that – yet again – my email is holidaying somewhere in their spam folder!
19 On the Facebook Battle of Hong Kong page, Fender Taylor posted a photo of the Hong Kong POW Association badge. I don’t recall much about that Association, except that Arthur Gomes wrote a monthly newsletter for it until shortly before his death. I have around a hundred copies, mostly kindly supplied by Jennifer Dobbs, and in some ways these monthly updates on my site keeps this going. 19 I had a very interesting email from the Broaddus family in the States today. The Broaddus’s were a family of missionaries based in Hong Kong. An American citizen, Mr Emmett Broaddus’s second wife was Canadian (his first wife Margaret died very young in 1930 and is buried in Happy Valley), so apparently she and their many children were evacuated as ‘British’ citizens in July 1940. But they elected to stay in the Philippines and were thus interned in Santo Tomas. Emmett stayed behind in Hong Kong, and ill health caught up with him shortly after the invasion. I was fascinated by the fact that I had never come across his name until now, even though he died during the Occupation. I have put them in touch with an expert on Santo Tomas who can hopefully answer their questions.
15The Battle of Hong Kong 1941: A Spatial History Project is growing by leaps and bounds. Recently they have started publishing fascinating images from the diary of Sergeant Shiro Ishitake of the Artillery of the Imperial Japanese Army. They note: “The first page of the album shows the photographs of the owner of the album, Shiro Ishitake, a Sergeant Major of the Imperial Japanese Army. The photos were taken in August 1942 and Jan 1943, both in Beian, Heilongjiang, Manchukuo (now part of China). We know very little about his life before the war and what happened to him after January, except that he belonged to the 1st Heavy Artillery Regiment (1FeA), part of the 1st Heavy Artillery Group (thereafter as 1AG) during the period covered by the album. On closer inspection, however, the erased cover shows that it is ‘volume two’ of his album. Given the fact that he is already a Sergeant Major when he joined 1FeA, it is of little doubt that Ishitake served before 1940.”
12 In recent weeks while coming up the Mid-Levels escalator I have noticed a large sign advertising an exhibition called ‘Life and press under the Japanese Occupation’. I took a photograph today. Unfortunately it gives no real details, but sounds interesting. The location is the HKNE on the south side of Bridges Street. 12 Royal Rifles of Canada veteran Hormidas Fredette celebrated his 105th birthday today, an event fortunately captured by CBC.
11 Tan and his fellow researchers have kindly released their excellent Gin Drinkers Line book. 11 Fellow researcher Steve Denton has found a very useful document comprehensively showing causes of death for POWs in Hong Kong. The first section covers these few: MacCulloch, David M. Corporal 7588090 K 9.1.45 Brain embolism Williams, Herbert J. SSM S/13005 12 Coy K 16.1.45 Heart failure / malaria Lumby, Walter Ernest Private BRH K 17.1.45 Hardening of liver Munshi Khan Jem 3169 HKSRA U 21.1.45 Forehead crushed Mubarak Ali Gunner 5240 K 21.1.45 Chest injuries / heart Goldman, Harry Chief Eng. US Merch Serv UX 18.2.45 Arteriosclerosis Sukh Ram Singh Sepoy 13854 MiD K 28.2.45 Fracture of cranium Cullen, Fred Solomon Private 64 BRH K 2.3.45 Hardening of liver Bala Singh Sepoy 7232 K 26.3.45 Bullet wound in head Hansen, Thornwald Sailor Suicide (haemorrhage) Sheo Raj Singh Sepoy 14445 K 6.4.45 GSW in abdomen Sai Khan Sepoy 18821 K 5.6.45 Pulmonary TB I just had ‘Cirrhosis of Liver’ for poor Lumby, and ‘Killed in air raid (WMH or Matilda Hospital)’ for the unfortunate Munshi Khan (which both fit well), but nothing solid for the others. I didn’t even have a date of death for Mr Hansen. Later Steve sent me the whole file, but it will take a while for me to reconcile the entries with my own records as there are several hundred of them. Very welcome nevertheless, especially as they confirm the names of 15 forgotten Indian soldiers killed when the USAAF bombed the Hong Kong docks on 1 December 1943. But I have to admit that some of it makes for very miserable reading, such as the case of 19 year old Rifleman Gordon Garnet Kellaway of the Royal Rifles of Canada who was wounded in the fighting (gunshot wound to leg and rectum), admitted to Queen Mary Hospital on 28 December 1941, and died of blood poisoning on 18 March 1942
10 Today a Japanese mortar bomb was found (and three more turned up later in the month). According to one source: “When Japanese forces were about to assault Hong Kong Island on the evening of 18 December 1941, the 21st Mortar Battalion was deployed near Devil's Peak to shell Chai Wan and Aldrich Bay. The unit was equipped with Type 94 Mortar (90.5mm). It is possible that the bomb was one of the many fired by this unit.” 10 This afternoon the Hong Kong Maritime Museum hosted a Zoom seminar by Geoffrey Charles Emerson entitled ‘Hong Kong Internment, 1942-1945: Life in the Japanese Civilian Camp at Stanley’. They note: “2021 marks the 90th anniversary of the Mukden Incident, as well as the 80th anniversary of the Asia-Pacific War, and the devastating dark period of the Fall of Hong Kong during the Japanese Occupation, also named as “Three Years and Eight Months”, a metonym of the occupation. Starting from November 2021 to May 2022, the Hong Kong Maritime Museum will organize a series of seven talks using cross-disciplinary approaches and various perspectives such as war-related historical sites, archives, oral history, medical science, history, visual culture, literature, and film to reveal more about this neglected Hong Kong history. In addition, this talk series will be the prelude to the new special exhibition entitled ‘Hong Kong’s Maritime Miracle: The Story of Our City Since 1945’ organized in mid-2022, that will introduce the rebirth of this port city and her development after World War II.” Unfortunately they don’t yet appear to have put Geoff’s presentation online.
9 My collection of POW Index Cards for Chinese personnel released from Shamshuipo is growing. Corporal Lau Sheung Lai, HKVDC 960, and Gunner Hoy Lee, 8 Coast Regt RA 5112 were kindly added this month.
5 Steve Denton in the UK has been trying to discover, among other things, the oldest POW in Hong Kong. For a while William Forrster, Master Mariner, born 17 March 1876 looked like the record holder, but now we think it may well be Thomas Jones, Master Mariner, born 5 June 1873. On a personal note it’s amazing to me that I used to know quite a lot of ex-POWs, yet their oldest member appears to have been born 13 years before the first car was built! History contracts as one ages. 5 Florence Eileen Hyde’s (nee Burgess, Stanley internee) family got in touch. Florence was married to Charles Hyde. The story is well known: both died in Stanley, and their son Michael was adopted in camp by Lady Grayburn. But they would like to know what happened to Michael between leaving Stanley at Liberation, and his accidental death on national service.
4 Lance Corporal Harold Downing’s (Royal Scots, Lisbon Maru) son-in-law got in touch. He notes: “an unpublished book has come into my possession. It is the wartime account of [H Downing] who was captured in Hong Kong and was aboard the Lisbon Maru, and was one of the survivors. The account, which is of his wartime experience, is very anodyne, but nonetheless you may be interested in some of the extracts from his book. It bears the title ‘The Road to Kobe House by F.E.P.O.W. 283’.” 4 Sylvio Sylvester Souza’s (HKVDC) daughter got in touch.
3 Unfortunately I didn’t get early notice, but today the HKVCA advertised an event entitled ‘GANDER in Hong Kong’ for the 18th. They note: “Gander was a large, black Newfoundland dog who struck fear into the Japanese soldiers attacking his human companions in Hong Kong in December 1941. Gander was not only fearsome to look at, but every bit as brave as the Canadian soldiers he went into battle with. Together, against a vastly superior force, they demonstrated the determination and grit of Canadians in battle. George MacDonell, one of only four living Canadian veterans of the Battle of Hong Kong, and writer/researcher Sue Beard tell the fascinating story of this most unusual soldier.” Fortunately it was recorded and can be watched here.
1 Someone reported finding a Japanese 13mm bullet. These turn up from time to time (I think I’ve seen four or five) and are often mistaken for American .50-cals. The key differences are that the Japanese rifling goes counterclockwise rather than clockwise, the 13mm has no (or virtually no) cannelure whereas the .50-cal has one (or sometimes two) clear ones, and the 13mm is slightly longer.
April 1st, 2022 Update
Image:
March Images
Collossus Hangar deck (via Antonio Fragoeiro), Cohen grave (Joe King, via Bill Lake), PB29 (courtesy Ricci College, HKU)
Ferguson POW Index Card (author's collection), Steenwijk POW Index Card (via Justin Ho), Devonshire autograph (courtesy Sheila Forsyth)
Japanese HK medals (Chao Hui, via facebook), Alabaster book (author), Britnell & Stanton (author's collection)
March News
I’m pleased to say that The Battle of Hong Kong 1941: A Spatial History Project was the winner of the Digital Humanities Awards in the category Best DH Data Visualization. The reason I think this is so important is that books, by definition, are static. Once they are published, they can never evolve. But the database approach used in this project allows data to be constantly added to, corrected, and refined. In practice it creates a dynamic repository of knowledge which will only grow and evolve over time, modelling and representing the Battle of Hong Kong better and more completely than could possibly be allowed by any other approach. It will become the dynamic interactive encyclopedia of the battle, and many other theatres may follow its lead.
29 The Royal British Legion (Hong Kong & China Branch) kindly sent me a copy of their latest revision of Volume 3 of the Branch’s Book of Remembrance.
25 I have been helping a TV company with photos for a film about Hong Kong POW Harry Odell, HKRNVR.
23 I had a very interesting email from Eursal Kaine’s (Winnipeg Grenadiers) daughter who I met in 2000 when she and others visited Hong Kong. She notes: “I am working on the story of my father, his brother, and as it turns out several cousins and relatives in the Hong Kong battle and POW in Japan. My dad was Eursal Kaine, Platoon 17 D Company RRC, (E30003) and his brother John (E30211). And as you probably know, there were a large number of men from the Mann Settlement area in Quebec who were all related (Irvines, Lyons, Mann, and Kaines) in some way. Over 30 as far as I can tell. My father was wounded (head and leg) on the last battle in the Stanley Cemetery on Christmas Day (I recall you pointing out grave markers there), and was in hospital for over a year, was only in Sham Shui Po for a few weeks before he was sent to Japan. I have a few interesting things from his time in Japan. As you mentioned, there were a lot of little diaries from those days. I have three. One is a hand-made affair with a cardboard cover and a shoestring binding, another is a small maroon soft-covered notebook and another is one of the autograph books you mentioned. I have typed out the contents of these if you are interested in them at some point… He and John were on the Tatuta Maru draft in January 1943, and they ended up in Omine… John was injured in a mine cave-in and was a paraplegic for the rest of his life. My Dad used to have to carry him around the camp on his back.” Eursal’s head injuries were severe; he was taken to Queen Mary Hospital three days after the battle, where he had surgery to insert metal plates into his skull. He was moved to Bowen Road Hospital on 21 January 1942 and stayed there (with other seriously wounded men) until 26 November of that year when he was finally moved to Shamshuipo. The autograph book contains identified entries from: Captain Ernest Harry Padwick, Hongkong Dockyard Defence Corps (HKDDC) Captain Joseph Charles Gavey, Royal Rifles of Canada Private William E.F. Collins, RAMC A.B. Samuel MacQuay, Royal Navy (served aboard the destroyer HMS Thracian) Private Edward Thomas Johnson, Winnipeg Grenadiers, died 25.2.44 in Japan CSM James Thomas Emo, Canadian Provost Corps Staff Sergeant Charles Albert Clark, Canadian Postal Corps Private Isaac Sanderson, Winnipeg Grenadiers Private Harvey Lawrence Berry, Winnipeg Grenadiers Corporal Clarence Earl Burgess, RCOC Private John Spikula Smith, Winnipeg Grenadiers Rifleman Raymond Elliott, Royal Rifles of Canada Captain Charles Edward Price, Royal Rifles of Canada Rifleman Reginald Samuel Taylor, Royal Rifles of Canada. Died 23.12.43 in Japan. CERA Ernest Richard Morris, RN (served on HMS Thracian) Lieutenant Richard Queens-Hughes, Winnipeg Grenadiers Lance Corporal Leslie Caulfield-Kerney, C Coy, 1st Battalion Middlesex Regt. Corporal Albert Devonshire, Middlesex (whose helmet was found in HK last year) Rifleman Percy H. Wilmot, Royal Rifles of Canada Rifleman Seymour G. Allison, Royal Rifles of Canada Corporal George Nelson Peterson, Winnipeg Grenadiers. Sergeant Lancelot Ross, Royal Rifles of Canada Rifleman Valmont Lebouef, Royal Rifles of Canada Private Herbert Bowman, Winnipeg Grenadiers Rifleman Matthew D. MacKenzie, Royal Rifles of Canada (lost an arm at Stanley) Leading Seaman Robert Edward Halfyard, RN, HMS Thracian, died 2.6.43 Rifleman Louis Brown, Royal Rifles of Canada Marine Fred Moxham, Royal Marines Sub-Lieutenant Walter Nash, HKRNVR Private Reginald Joseph Banks, HKDDC Lance Corporal George Thomson, Corps of Military Police Private John Glassey, Royal Scots Sergeant William Dyson Hawke, Royal Rifles of Canada Rifleman James Richard Patterson, Royal Rifles of Canada Lance Sergeant Alan Everest Murray, RAPC Private Leslie Robert Gregory, HKVDC Private James Keddie, Royal Scots SPO Albert John James, RN, HMS Tamar Corporal Oliver Ray Sauson, Royal Rifles of Canada CQMS Thomas William Smith, Royal Rifles of Canada Randy Steele, Royal Rifles of Canada Rifleman Harold Albert Baker, Royal Rifles of Canada Along with many sketches and ditties. 23 My “author’s” copies of “More Than 1001 Days and Nights of Hong Kong Internment” arrived today. It is available from HKUP.
22 Today Martin Heyes and Julien Lehoux gave an online presentation to the HKVCA. It was entitled ‘The WW II Civilian Internment in Hong Kong’ and described as: “Beginning in December 1941 well over 100,000 Allied civilians across China and Southeast Asia were taken prisoner by the Japanese, including entire families. Although at the outset these civilians were in general not treated quite as harshly as were military POWs, their internment was extremely unpleasant, and for many, deteriorated drastically later in the war. Some 2,800 civilians, among them a number of Canadians, were interned in Hong Kong. Our two speakers, Martin Heyes of Hong Kong and Julien Lehoux of Montreal, will tell you about Hong Kong’s civilian internees and how they lived during their imprisonment, the complex negotiations to repatriate the Canadians among them, and the impacts on their lives after their return to Canada.” I heard very good feedback about it (but I’m not going to tell them that!) A recording can be watched here.
20 Justin Ho sent me a fascinating photo of a 1937 kit inspection at Shamshuipo Barracks. I think it might be of wide interest to modern researchers for the details it includes (illustrated). 20 Antonio Fragoeiro posted a well-known photograph, but in high-resolution and colourised. He notes: “One of the interior decks of HMS Colossus, prepared for housing former allied POWs. Aboard on arrival in Hong Kong, were also Portuguese ‘SSVF’ (Straits Settlements Volunteer Force) and ‘HKVDC’ elements. An original photograph by Teresa da Rosa, now enhanced and colorized.” I have a copy of the black and white original, but this version is far better. The carrier was of course used to bring liberated POWs back from Japan. 20 Bill Lake kindly forwarded two interesting ‘then and now’ videos, here and here, and a colourised version of the famous Japanese film of the invasion of Hong Kong. The colours really bring it to life! Who was the mystery Scotsman filmed marching? Bill believes he may have been an engineer captured at the Kowloon Reservoir.
19 My arrival anniversary. It was 33 years ago today that I moved permanently to Hong Kong (having previously only visited the then Colony once, in 1987). Today when meeting young Hong Kong people I confess I get a great deal of childish delight, when asked “How long have you lived here?”, by answering: “Longer than you!”
18 Jessica Park (and Gordon Andreasand) very kindly sent me a soft copy “of the original Winged Dragon originally published in hardback in 1996 and now republished as a PDF just at the end of last year”. Of course I have a hardcopy somewhere, but my office is such a mess (compared to everyone else’s except, obviously, the infamous Professor Kwong’s!) that I can’t find anything - and thus a soft copy is far more practical.
17 Alex Macdonald had a query about the Mulvaney brothers (Leonard and Thomas of the Winnipeg Grenadiers). “According to a post from Winnipeg Free Press dated 19 Oct 1946 it was reported that on 8 Mar 1943 Leonard carried his brother Thomas into a Japanese Prison Camp Hospital at Hong Kong.” He would like to know why. I am sure that the Shamshuipo medical records survived the war, but unfortunately I don’t have them. 17 Philip Cracknell wrote a blog about Brigadier Cedric Wallis today. One day I’d like to write a full biography of him!
14 I saw this, with the attached photo, on facebook: “Aside from the dedication and excellence in sports, Riccians are also passionate in heritage conservation. A team of Riccians, while abiding strictly by the pandemic countermeasures, made an expedition to Pillbox 29, Tai Tam Bay to assist conservation work. Professor Lawrence Wai-chung Lai (Riccian 1978), of HKU’s Department of Real Estate and Construction, and his team have devoted himself to the study of Hong Kong’s military relics. Pillbox 29, as part of the coastal defense system during the Battle of Hong Kong, was deserted, and the pathways nearby have been obscured by overgrown vines and weeds. In light of this, Riccians took up the initiative to conserve the site, thereby, also has ensured tourists’ safety. Professor Lai , Mr Nixon Tit-hei Leung (Riccian 2011) and other experts also stressed the value of these monuments and the importance of heritage conservation. It is hoped that Riccians’ efforts would inspire others to follow and participate in heritage conservation efforts, playing their part in passing the baton to following generations.” Text: Sam Liu (Riccian 2021), Jeffery Wei (Riccian 2021), Elijah Tong (Riccian 2018) Photo: Rick William So (Riccian 2021). 14 Colin Standish kindly sent this modern clipping about the famous Stanley Tiger.
12 A fellow researcher has been studying released Chinese POW Index Cards and sent me those for the following: Lance Bombardier Chan, Charles, HKVDC 2659, 13 Lee Tung St (Top Floor) Hospital Coolie Chan Cheong, SJA, 3129, 15 Cheung Lok St, 2nd floor (24th) Lance Bombardier Chan, Hoi Kee, HKVDC 3740, 297 Hennessey Road, 1st Floor Gunner Chan Kam Tong, 8th Coast Regt. 5135, Hong Hom Village - Chindit Private Chan Kan Ming, SJA, 3131, 40 Johnston Rd, 3rd Floor (24th) Sapper Chan Kong, RE 560, Shanghai Street Lance Corporal Chan Ping Sing, RE, 63 Sapo Road (1st Floor) (20th) Private Chung Hui On, SJA, 3104, 2 West Street, top floor, Western Market. (24th) Lance Corporal Cheung, Thomas, HKVDC 3373, 792 Nathan Road, 1st Floor Private Cheung Yan Sing, 4th Bty HKVDC, 169 Hennessey Road, Ground Floor Sergeant Kim Toon Goh, HKVDC 2882 Private John Cecil Fenton, HKVDC DR277, Field Ambulance This is interesting as a number of these men, like Chan Kam Tong, went on to serve with the Chindits and other units. Also, it confirms that the SJA used serial numbers. He also kindly sent me the POW Index card for Douglas Ferguson, RE, who quietly escaped with his mate Howarth. I think it’s the first escapee Index Card I have seen. There are also a couple which give home addressed in Japan! A surprising number of HKVDC personnel had some sort of connection to the country, and even spoke Japanese. 12 Alex Macdonald was asking where Lieutenant Commander William K.L. Lore, RCN, (reputedly the first Allied officer to land in Hong Kong at liberation in 1945) was interred. I recall that his post-war office was in Central and he passed away in Hong Kong, but I don’t recall where he was buried. 12 “QM Coy” noted on facebook: “Mr. Chao Hui (赵晖先生),one of my old friends in Beijing published an excellent pictorial reference / guide book for badge and medal collectors on the subject of Medals and Badges Collection during World War 2 in China. It’s interesting to see some rarely seen Japanese medals issued for invading and occupation of Hong Kong in 1941 including one to commemorate some Japanese soldiers KIA (with names) in war fighting in Stanley of Hong Kong. He really did a great job.” (He also posted two Japanese invasion photos, showing light tanks and a ‘knee mortar’). 12 Walked along New Street again today, and I think my speculation about the air raid shelter (see last month) was wrong. On second glance it seems more likely that whatever it is, was built for HK Electric.
7 Bill Lake kindly sent a copy of a short biography of Two-Gun Cohen, which included a photo of his grave that I don’t think I’ve seen before. 7 Justin Ho is continuing to look at the Dutch POW graves in Hong Kong. I’ve given a little help on a few of them, and Justin is planning to write a paper explaining the circumstances of the deaths of all 72.
6 The HKVCA published their Spring 2022 newsletter today. 6 Steve Denton in the UK has been doing some interesting research into POW Index Cards from Hong Kong, and reckons Leonard Ackerman, RASC, was the first POW death recorded by the Japanese. His official date of death was 3 January 1942, but (for reasons I don’t currently recall) I thought he died on the 13th.
1 Justin Ching Ho notes: “I just saw your post regarding the Dutch gravestones. I believe I can help answer some of the queries. Some of these were reinterred from other places, such as Hainan Island, with Kah (the photo you have) being an example.” See last month.
March 1st, 2022 Update
Image:
February Images
Air raid tunnel (courtesy HK Urbex), PB36 now and then (courtesy Rob Weir)
Edwin Husband's medals (courtesy Ken Williams), James Logan's medals (via Martin Heyes), Mike Babin's photo (courtesy Mike Babin)
Albert Etherington (courtesy Andy Lockley), Shamshuipo Barracks (courtesy 'George Best'), New Street ARP entrance? (author)
February News
It’s quite surreal writing a blog about a conflict that ended in 1945, while the largest scale warfare in Europe since that date suddenly flares into life. Those who study history are doomed to watch those who don’t, repeat it. And while it is easy to compare Vladimir Putin with Adolf Hitler, the truth is somewhat more complicated – and vastly more dangerous with nuclear weapons are at stake. I am infamous for telling people, in whatever trouble we find ourselves: “don’t worry, we’ll be facing entirely different problems this time next year”. I have seldom hoped so much to be right.
26 Mosie McElroy’s (Royal Navy, Lisbon Maru) grandson got in touch. McElroy served on HMS Thracian.
25 My wife and I enjoy walking from our home on Conduit Road to the Centre Street market in Sai Ying Poon, and we take different routes through the fascinating little streets in between. Today we walked most of it along the length of Staunton Street, which continues as New Street. On the corner as New Street turns through ninety degrees to intercept Queen’s Road West I noticed a possible air raid shelter entrance I hadn’t seen before.
24 “George Best” continues to post interesting photos to the Battle of Hong Kong facebook page. Today’s was of Shamshuipo barracks, presumably taken shortly before the war.
23 Yet another good blog post from Philp Cracknell, who appears to be working overtime this month! This one covers Pillbox 9.
21 Hong Kong University Press have nicely updated their website.
20 The Dutch graves at Sai Wan came up in conversation today, thanks to a photograph (illustrated). There are 72 of them: 60 army, 10 navy, and 2 merchant navy. But who were they and why are they here? One was from the Dutch submarine O-20 (the captured crew was held in North Point and then Shamshuipo), and Michael Hurst in Taiwan confirms that 10 were deceased POWs reinterred from there post-war. He kindly provided this table: ALLIROL, J. LT./COL. ROYAL NETH. INDIES ARMY 13.06.45 BAIER, LOUIS N.E. TEL. ROYAL NETHERLANDS NAVY 28.08.45 DE BOER, HENDRICK C. MARINE ROYAL NETHERLANDS NAVY 20.06.45 ELZENGA, LUCAS F. MAJ. ROYAL NETH. INDIES ARMY 12.06.44 HIDMA, GERBEN SGT. ROYAL NETH. INDIES ARMY 09.06.45 JONKMAN, MARTEN MACH. NETHERLANDS MERCH. NAVY 05.10.42 NEERINGS, SIMON TEL. NETHERLANDS MERCH. NAVY 22.11.42 POSTHUMUS, RIMKE COL. ROYAL NETH. INDIES ARMY 22.09.44 PRINS, PIETER LS. SLD. ROYAL NETH. INDIES ARMY 12.09.42 SCHULTZ, GEORGE L. S/LT. ROYAL NETHERLANDS NAVY 10.01.43 The reason for the remainder being in Sai Wan is still a mystery. 20 I heard today that Jennifer Dobbs has finished writing a book about her parents’ time in China and Hong Kong (her father Francis Dobbs was killed in the fighting in Causeway Bay and his body has never been located). 19 HK Urbex (Hong Kong Urban Exploration) “an anonymous, grassroots collective that seeks to unearth and document hidden sites in and around Hong Kong” posted some quite good photos clearly taken in old air raid shelters. 19 Ken Williams (Edwin Husband’s – RCoS, Lisbon Maru - grandson) posted a photo of Husband’s medals.
15 Richard Gibson’s (Royal Scots, Lisbon Maru) family got in touch. 15 Philip Cracknell published a blog about PB14. As is well known, all the crew were killed. Philip believes (probably correctly) that the bodies found at PB15/LL15 were likely them. A war crimes trial deposition by Lt-Col John Crawford WG stated: “We proceeded to the south coast of the Island and visited several machine gun pillboxes along the coast. In two of them I saw the crew of the six lying dead near the pillbox but outside of it. The bodies of these men had their hands tied together with rope. They had all been bayoneted. One body had the head severed from the body as if it were from a sword cut. These men were all members of the Middlesex Regiment.” But Philip has another quote, which seems familiar to me too, for which neither of us can put our hands on the source: “On the steps leading to Lyon Light No. LL15 by the roadside, west of Deep Water Bay, were the bodies of 6 Middlesex ORs, recognisable by their ????. Their hands and feet were still tied. There were large blood stains on the cutting and the roadside on the opposite side of the road, and streaks of blood stretching from this, across the road to the steps where bodies lay in a heap. Their heads had been almost completely severed by sword cuts." (By the time that PB14 fell, all the nearby pillboxes had already been evacuated, with many of the men moving to positions on Bennet’s Hill).
14 Today I was contacted by the family of Stanley internee Lucille (Lucy) Dianne Eichenbaum. Unfortunately I don’t know much about her aside from the fact that she was Polish and a friend of Margaret Jay. Post-war she married Albert Victor Currie was a Gunner in 2nd Battery, HKVDC, and spent the war as a POW in HK and then Japan. In Stanley she shared a servants’ quarters with one other: Eichenhaum, Lucie Miss, British 26.08.14 F, Teacher, Stanley A3/SQ4 Smalley, Grace Mrs, British 1903 F, Housewife, Stanley A3/SQ4 (the latter being the wife of POW Sub Lt W. N. A. Smalley, HKRNVR). However, this article notes that Eichenbaum was interned in one of the bungalows before the Americans were repatriated.
13 Mike Babin of the HKVCA notes: “Here is the registration link for the upcoming HKVCA virtual event, ‘The WW II Civilian Internment in Hong Kong’. The event is on Tuesday, March 22 at 7:30am in Hong Kong (Monday, March 21 at 7:30pm in Toronto).” 13 Yet another blog from Philip Cracknell, covering the Stone Hill Shelters and Pill Boxes. 13 Geoffrey Emerson notes: “Going through some old files concerning my Stanley Reunion 2015, I came across some correspondence from Rita Phipps, daughter of Royal Artillery Gunner Reginald Samuel Richardson, Number 860044.” He kindly sent a number of photos and other documents.
12 Andy Lockley wrote a post on The Battle of Hong Kong 1941 To 1945 facebook page: “Pictures of my grandad Albert Etherington who died at home in Lancaster in 1980. I believe he was based in middle-east somewhere before war but then ended up in Hong Kong until capture where he spent rest of war in a POW camp. Trying to do some research to find out more so any good info source suggestions would be really appreciated.” Etherington was in A Coy 2nd Royal Scots and was on the third draft of POWs from Hong Kong to Japan. He was liberated by the Americans from Nagoya #9B (Toyama Nippon Express), having previously been at Narumi. 12 I was contacted today by a Russian researcher living in Zhoushan who has a deep interest in the Lisbon Maru. He notes that although some accounts of the incident state that fishermen from the islands Miaozihu, Qingbang, and Xifushan were involved in rescuing British POWs, in fact this is incorrect as Xifushan island is and was uninhabited. 12 I heard from Researching FEPOW History today that their delayed 2020 conference is being delayed again (because of Covid) until 2023.
7 Thomas Castle’s (Middlesex, Lisbon Maru) family got in touch and I was able to provide them the information that he was i/c Pillbox 9 and died in Hiroshima Military Hospital shortly after the sinking.
5 Mike Babin sent me a photo, asking whether I thought the troops were Canadian and the photo was taken in Hong Kong. My guess is a) yes, and b) no. To me the trees look like firs rather than Hong Kong’s more tropical vegetation.
4 With reference to my mention of PB1 (see last month), Rob Weir notes: “Sometimes the elements turn up strange things. I did a trip to Big Wave Bay after that typhoon in late 2018 for no particular reason other than to get out of the house. I had searched for PB 36 and the LL for years but, like PB 1, came to the conclusion it had been demolished for a building that is there now. There had been some damage to the beach area from the typhoon and I was surprised to find myself standing in the middle of the PB. I had been in that exact area several times over the years and it wasn’t apparent then. Nor was the remains of the LL, the base of which now had also been exposed by an apparent landslip. The grass tussocks in the PB make me think it might have been exposed sometime earlier but the point is that what you think has gone, might just be hiding. Bring on PB 1!”
3 Martin Heyes notes that he took I took Joyce Logan and her family on the Wong Nai Chong Trail yesterday. “Her paternal grandfather, James Bartholomew Logan, married a Chinese lady and they had two boys. He was a serving soldier with the RASC and was killed, probably at Overbays”. Martin included a photo of Logan, and continued: “Her maternal grandfather (surnamed Kelly) was also serving in the Army here when he married his Chinese wife. He served with B Coy, 2 Royal Scots and was a Lisbon Maru survivor.” On his return to the UK after liberation, Kelly apparently remarried an English lady bigamously. This seems to have been a relatively common story. Marin also added a photo of Logan’s medals, noting: “Some of the handwritten notes next to them are incorrect. The top one is the 1939 / 45 Star, although it could be issued with the clasp ‘Battle of Britain’ to those eligible. The War Medal shown has no Oak Leaf clasp (which would signify that the recipient was Mentioned in Despatches). I have no idea if Logan did receive an MiD. The lower medal is the Pacific Star, to which Logan was entitled. The Burma Star is a separate award. It may be that Logan was also entitled to the Defence Medal - not shown here.” I realised afterwards that I had been in touch with the family in 2016.
2 I had another one of ‘those’ emails today. Every year it seems I get one or two emails which lead to people discovering things about their families – issues of one sort or another created by war – which they never knew of. This is definitely one of those. I will report as much as I can, later, within the limits of privacy. 2 Way back in 2015 I wrote about a cocktail shaker presented to John Edward Potter on the occasion of his marriage by the members of the HKVDC Air Arm on 29 November 1939, noting that it: “has an amazing survival tale to tell. It was looted by Japanese soldiers from my parents' house on the Peak and made its way to a post-war market somewhere in the East where it was bought by an Englishman who happened to recognise some of the names on it. By then we were living in New Zealand, but on a brief and rare visit back to England (her birthplace) my mother met the said Englishman, who enthusiastically returned the shaker to her. Each name on it has a story: W.E. Peers – Killed in 58 Squadron, 15 January 1941. S. Grove – Possibly the auditor Stephen Grove? No war record found. R.G. Parker - Possibly in my records as R.J. Parker, who served in the HKVDC. A.F. Walkden – Transferred to the HKSRA as Lieutenant. Died in Japan, 23 February 1943. K.W. Forrow – Served in the HKVDC and survived. D.H. Stewart – A Douglas Harrison Stewart was killed in the RCAF, 15 October 1942. G.H. Fowler – Was killed in an accident at Kai Tak, 25 August 1940. B.M. Hynes – Brian Maurice Hynes was killed on 28 October 1944 over Germany. L.M. Wylie – Killed in 1 Coy HKVDC, 19 December 1941. P.E. Bedell (Instructor) – Probably Patrick Edwin Bedell, killed in the Singapore campaign, 205 Squadron, 7 December 1941. John Potter himself, of course, was lost with 1 Coy HKVDC in the defence of Stanley, 25 December 1941.” Now Gordon Andreassend of the HK Historical Aircraft Association has added: “Stephen Grove left HK in 1940, and served in the RAF in Singapore, Java and Colombo. From 1943 he flew in the UK until 1945, as a Flt Lt. Post war he returned to work in Hong Kong.”
1 For last month’s photo of policeman Lance Searle, Dave Deptford kindly noted: “I think this photo is of the HQ New Territories Staff, most likely at a farewell. The Officer on the left, with moustache, looks like McHardy. Venue looks to me like the old Tai Po, the one on the hill.”
February 1st, 2022 Update
Image:
January Images
Joseph Melius Blaquiere (courtesy Richard Blaquiere), Neve portrait (via RAS), Indian Arty officer (courtesy Justin Ho)
HMS Tamar (via Mast in Victoria), Jitts's medals (couresty Martin Heyes), Quarry Bay rice cookers (courtesy Rowena Banham)
Police Training School (courtesy Jonathan Searle), HKVDC Cricket Team (via 'George Best'), HK Shooting team (via Dale Gordon)
January News
I had forgotten about the communal kitchens up in the hills above Quarry Bay for years, until my wife’s trip there this month reminded me. They’re well worth a look, as they are a reminder of a very different Hong Kong: a Colony full of starving refugees, hundreds of thousands of whom probably perished by the end of the war. As the excellent information board there states: “Newspapers in 1941 detailed the 10 proposed sites of communal kitchens along the streams of Taikoo Reservoir, which included the provision of canvas shelters and 40 brick stoves in large and small sizes each. Based on 1960s maps and aerial photos, the sites of 9 groups of wartime stoves can be identified to the south of Taikoo Reservoir and Woodside. Today the wartime stoves still survive in three locations, with workbenches down either side of the stoves and a larger stove possibly used for boiling water. The brickwork of these facilities is still well preserved. Another site retains only two original stoves, while none survive at four of the sites. The condition of one site is unknown due to the coverage of dense vegetation over a prolonged period of time.”
31 While looking at the South China Morning Post online this morning I saw this Jason Wordie article about Stanley that I missed earlier.
27 This morning my wife went for a hike in the hills with friends and brought back a number of photos of the various al fresco rice cooking facilities built in the hills around Quarry Bay to feed the refugees there (who were in the camps managed from Woodside under Charles Mycock). One included a very good new (since I was last there, at least) sign board displaying a clear explanation. Each time I see these stoves I think of Theodore Leslie Bell, a civilian working under Mycock who was shot and killed when the Japanese arrived, but whose name I have so far failed to have added to CWGC records.
26 As a result of yesterday’s talk I received a number of interesting emails. One of the topics which came up in questions was the passport-size photos that seem to exist for all Canadians (at least) shipped to Japan, and yet I’ve never found the ‘mother lode’. Joseph Blaquiere’s (Royal Rifles of Canada) son kindly emailed me with just such a photo of his father. This one has an October 1943 date written on the back, which implies it was taken in Japan rather than pre-embarkation in Hong Kong.
25 This morning (though still the 24th in Canada) I gave my ‘Shipped to Japan’ presentation – which can be watched here - to some 100 or so members and guests of the HKVCA. I wanted to come up with a topic which would be of interest, might not be common knowledge, and which covered the garrison as a whole rather than just C Force, so spoke about the seven drafts of POWs from Hong Kong to the mines and docks and factories in Japan. It was a lot of fun (if I might use that word for a rather serious topic).
24 It’s worth keeping an eye on the Portugal 1939-1945 web site as they are adding quite a few of the Hong Kong garrison to it. See this example.
22While searching for something complete different (as always…) I found a photo of Derek Bird’s (son of Godfrey Bird, RE) christening. The names of the celebrants were listed as: Back row: Tony Lomax, Pat Skipwith, Sandy Godley, Margaret Whyatt, Front row: John Whyatt, Godfrey Bird, Daphne Bird with baby Derek, Valda Godley, and unknown, at the christening of Daphne’s new baby [Derek], on 24 Oct 1939. See the 18th for more detail on the Godleys. 22 Philip Cracknell published a new blog entry today, covering the experiences of Private Donald MacDonald, Royal Scots.
21 Dale Gordon put a wonderful annotated photo on Facebook: “Hong Kong Shooting Team, picture taken from The Royal Scots Bulletin, April 1941.” As always, I went through the names: Lieutenant T. Drummond Hunter, Royal Scots. WIA but survived the war. I spoke to him a number of times. CSM James Charles Mead, Royal Scots. Lost on the Lisbon Maru. Sergeant Frank Cole, RM. Survived the Lisbon Maru and the war. Lieutenant-Colonel Simon White, MC, Royal Scots. Commanded the battalion in the fighting and survived the war as senior officer in Shamshuipo. Sergeant Thomas Frederick Baker, Middlesex. PB33a. Lost on Christmas Day 1941. Lance Sergeant Frederick Green. Lost on the Lisbon Maru. Sergeant Puran Singh, HKP. Possibly the Puran Singh who died as POW 15 March 45. Sergeant Walter Nunn, RE. Wounded in the fighting and lost a leg. Survived the war. Sergeant Pan, HKPR. Uncertain. Private Scott. Uncertain (three possibilities with that surname). I searched the London Gazette for the whole of 1941/42 to try to find the gazetting of Simon White’s promotion from Major to Lieutenant Colonel (when he replaced Lt. Col. Douglas James McDougall – who was posted to Burma halfway through 1941 – as CO of 2nd Royal Scots) but to no avail. 21 This is far from Hong Kong, but this story from the sea off my hometown in the UK illustrates the continuing serious dangers of unexploded ordnance.
20 The first trailer for Crag McCourry’s film Battlebox has been released.
19 Martin Heyes kindly sent a photo of Geoffrey Clayton Jitts’s medals. Jitts was the 3 Coy HKVDC man who crawled into the catchwater by JLO PB2 (LPB9, to give it its correct number) and intercepted the Japanese crawling towards him. He killed them with his Thompson but was mortally wounded in doing so (though whether he died of his wounds or was executed when the Japanese took PB2 is uncertain). 19 Today we received a copy of the final cover for the new Chaloner Alabaster book. 19 Jonathan Searle kindly sent me three photos of his father (wartime Hong Kong policeman Lance Searle) and recruits at the Police Training School in 1949. The gentleman to Searle’s right (our left) might be Wright-Nooth. Searle of course – who Wright-Nooth described as “one of the bravest men I have known” (Turnip Heads, page 77) - transferred to Malaya Special Branch in Johore in 1950 where he joined the Communist Section. He was shot by communists in April 1954 and died at the General Hospital, Kuala Lumpur, on the twentieth of that month.
18 Anne Amundsen reminded me that she is still: “desperate to find a book I purchased in Sydney in 1986, whilst staying at the Wentworth Hotel (23.8.1986 to 9.9.1986)… I’ve forgotten the title and the author, making the 35-year search so difficult… It was a novel/thriller, about Tonga, (Tonga Trench, undersea action) where I was living when I visited Sydney that year. Extraordinarily, this novel had a passage in it about my real life uncle (Captain Robert Newton), who was killed in Hong Kong in 1941 when the Japanese invaded.” She really would like to find another copy of that book if anyone can help! 18 I received an email from the Royal British Legion today, on the subject of a multi-volume Book of Remembrance they have created, listing the names of all those who are known to have died during military service in the China theatre. I can see that Volume 3 (which covers the Second World War) is in need of some additions and corrections, and we are now discussing how best to facilitate that. 18 ‘George Best’ posted on Facebook: “A truly historical photo from the file of HK Public Records Office dated December 1940 and it was taken before a cricket match between the HKVDC and Royal Scots at the So Kon Po Playground with Causeway Hill in the background. Many familiar faces and names.” There’s nothing as valuable as names on a photo, so I went through it as: Back Row (from L to R): Private Marshall, RS, (it’s a common name, so there are five possibilities). Private Peter James Cheyne, RS, died as POW 19 October 1942 A Zimmern, HKVDC (could be Andrew or Archie. Archie survived the war, Andrew did not). Private Jack Renton Newsome, RS, MIA 23 December 1941. Private Norman Alec Mackay, survived the war (he was actually HKDDC). Captain Alsey, RS, (probably Sergeant Arthur Alsey, and thus team captain rather than rank captain?) Ronald Hannan Griffiths, HKVDC. Killed at Stanley 25 December 1941. David Orchard Parsons, HKVDC Z Force, survived war. I corresponded with him for years. Signalman Ken Mackenzie Baxter, Fortress Signals Coy, HKVDC, survived the war. Second Lieutenant Brian Alfred Fargus, posted back to UK March 1941. Became full Colonel. Second Lieutenant James Ford, RS, survived war. Nice chap. Awarded MC. Private Chares Henry Peacock, RS, (three possibilities). D. Hone. Uncertain. There was an A. Hone in the garrison. Cyril Edwin Ganhagan, HKVDC, survived the war. Seated: Private Frank Bateman, RS, survived the Lisbon Maru and the war. Lieutenant Donald James Anderson, HKVDC, killed at Jardine’s Lookout 19 Dec 1941. Lieutenant David Mclellan, HKVDC, survived the war. Captain Patterson, (three possibilities, if team captain). Lieutenant Colonel Lindsay Ride, HKVDC, escaped and formed BAAG. Survived the war. Major Alexander Shepstone Godley, posted to UK in March 1941. His wife Valda Godley died on 6 June 1944 at Sumatra POW Camp. Godley remarried, and died 17 October 1980 in Zimbabwe. Sergeant Neville John Booker, HKVDC, POW in Japan, survived the war. Captain D. A. Duke, posted to to Staff College, Quetta half way through 1941. Lieutenant Arthur Edward Perry, HKVDC, survived the war. Gunner Ken John Attwell, HKVDC, survived the war as POW in Japan. On ground: Sergeant Taylor, RS, (two possibilities). Sergeant John Devereux, shot in face, survived the war as a POW in Japan. He is the subject of the book Escape To Pagan which unfortunately contains a number of inaccuracies such as claiming that he was on the Lisbon Maru. (For the Royal Scots, note that on March 1941 the following officers sailed for the UK: Major A.S. Godley, Captains R.B. Freeman-Thomas, A.C.F. Drew-Wilkinson, Lieutenants J.A.H. Douglass, F.W.A. Glossop, K.I.M. Buchanan, D.G. Gibson, B.A. Fargus. Between April and December the following left the Battalion: Lt. Col. D.J. McDougall to Burma, Captain D.A. Duke to Staff College, Quetta, Major H.C. Harland as Brigade Major, Lt. A.C. Patterson to UK, Lt. G.D. Dunlop to Burma, and Lt. (QM) J.R. Pirie to a Staff appointment. In addition the Battalion lost many NCOs when they were accepted for commissions. These included Campbell, Niven, Graham, Ross, Green, Bremner and Stephenson. Sergeants Nealen, Robertson and Taylor went with Dunlop to Burma.)
12I received January’s Java Journal today, and there was quite a lot relating to Hong Kong. 12 Last month Justin Ho sent me a number of photos presumably relating to BAAG – and certainly relating to special forces in wartime China. I have posted one above to see if anyone can identify this Indian Artillery officer.
11 Indirectly – via the Royal Asiatic Society - I had a very interesting query today from a branch of Major Neve’s family who I hadn’t spoken to before. They are trying to locate a portrait that hung in the Neves’ quarters when the Japanese invaded. There is surely a 99% chance that it was destroyed, but you never know. They note that: “It is believed that this portrait may have been in the quarter / hiring they occupied. If so, as Mrs Neve and the children were evacuated in April ‘40, the portrait remained with Maj. Neve and upon his death in the house / flat. Our present assumption is that it was subsequently stolen / destroyed during the remaining years of the war.” 11 Mast in Victoria posted a very good image of HMS Tamar in 1922 today. It’s a shame they put their watermark on it, but understandable.
7 Mick Newbatt let the FEPOW Family group know that today the CWGC posted photos of the first snow at Yokohama cemetery for four years (illustrated).
6 Thanks to Tan’s (et al’s) book, I had a better poke around at the site of PB1 today, looking further downslope and nearer to the sea. And this time I spotted various lumps of concrete both on the hillside and the beach below that may well have belonged to the PB or its Lyon Light.
5 According to Brian Edgar, Eric Percival Hunt was the brother of Peter Norman Hunt of the BAAG (who served as Rosario – see last month). Their father was Sergeant Hubert James Hunt, Hong Kong Volunteer Defence Corps, who died as a POW 31 May 1944, and Julia Gertie Hunt, of Kowloon, Hong Kong. As Eric was Eurasian he could presumably pass as a local civilian, and most likely dumped his uniform to evade capture and internment. Brian found this detail in ‘Statement made on 17 April 1943 by Karminder Singh’, WIS No. 28, 25th April 1943, Ride Papers, WO-343-1-189, part 2, p. 12. Thanks to Philip Cracknell I also know now that Eric had the serial T/215977 (next to Peter’s T/215978), so presumably they joined up together. Interestingly, Philip also had a record with ‘date of will’ 24 March 45, stating that Eric Hunt was no longer missing. Clearly there’s a story there. 5 I received an invitation today to speak to the kids at Kowloon True Light School who are currently studying the Battle of Hong Kong. I hope we can arrange something, though the current Covid rules make it unlikely to be face-to-face.
Guterres medals (via Anthony Correa), French Stanley ceremony (courtesy French Consulate), Japanese POWs in Shamshuipo (courtesy Canadian War Memorial)
December News
The eightieth anniversary of Japan’s invasion of Hong Kong has gone past relatively unnoticed, and yet I would argue that there is more interest in the period locally than ever before. But with Covid and other events dominating life and discourse so much, the dice were loaded against any large-scale commemorations. But there were many smaller-scale or private memorials, and perhaps the most interesting was the series of facebook posts called “The Battle of Hong Kong in Rare Photos, 8-26 December 1941” from The Battle of Hong Kong 1941: A Spatial History Project. I have chosen three of my favourites as illustrations this month. But the biggest celebration was surely discovering that Yeung Ming Hon of the HKVDC Field Ambulance was still with us! To the best of my knowledge he is the sole surviving member of the Corps today.
29 Correspondent Roy Delbyk noted that he had purchased a rare printed edition of the famous (infamous?) Duff report about C Force. It is also available online here.
25 Andrew Holland kindly sent a copy of a 1944 Shamshuipo Christmas card from Majors Ernest Hodkinson, Henry Hook, and John Bailie of the Winnipeg Grenadiers. 25 I was one of several interested parties interviewed for this article which appeared on Nikkei Asia today.
23 Today I went for a regular physiotherapy session in Sandy Bay and got there a bit early to see if I could find any remans of nearby PB1. I searched – as far as I could – between Victoria Road and Sandy Bay Road but found nothing. I checked with Rob Weir and he said that he had had the same experience. I suspect it was removed when the new water pumping works were built at the location in 1964.
22 Today Steve Denton kindly sent me a copy of “The Lisbon Maru Massacre: a dramatis personae” by Steve Denton and Robert Widders. As a listing (with some biographical details where available), of every participant in a Second World War incident, it may well be unique.
21 Anthony Correa put a photo of the medals of Lieutenant Joaquim J. Guterres, HKVDC, on facebook. He notes: “His medals here kept proudly by his son Peter Guterres and daughter in law Yolanda Guterres”. Guterres commanded 19 Platoon, 5 Coy, HKVDC and died in St Theresa’s Hospital on 26 July 1942 of dysentery.
16 Jon Reid kindly sent a link to his interview: “WW2: The Canadians Who Fought for Hong Kong | The Agenda”. It included a very unexpected photo from within a Shamshuipo POW Camp hut, showing what appeared to be Asian POWs. When I checked with Jon he noted that the producers got it: “from the Canadian War Museum. On the back of the photo is written: ‘Japanese living in the same prisoner quarters the Allied prisoners had been kept in, within HK, post surrender’.” That makes sense!
15 Albert Sellers’ (Middlesex, Lisbon Maru) great nephew got in touch via Philip Cracknell. 15 The South China Morning Post today carried an interesting article about the Watershed group, who are now leading tours to wartime sites, sometimes in period uniforms.
9Emile Bertulli’s (Winnipeg Grenadiers) grandson got in touch. 9 I have been working with Peter Cundall and Yoshiko Tamura in Japan on confirming the identities of some of the lesser-known ships that took POWs from Hong Kong to Japan during the Occupation. I will report back in this in January. 9 Doug Smith kindly let me know that Geoffrey Clarke’s, RASC, name is on the City Of Birmingham Tramways Department War Memorial as he was a member of the Head Office Staff. 9 And on a lighter note: Owning your own internet domain always attracts a certain amount of spam, but this is the first to have made me laugh out loud. Apparently I just fired myself:
“Dear Tony, Employee at hongkongwardiary.com Company,
We are deeply saddened to inform you that your term of employment at hongkongwardiary.com company has come to an immediate end. Due to the affect of covid-19 epidemic in our company, we have no choice but to end your employment with us because we cannot service all the employees anymore. This decision is effective immediately and the original documents for the cancellation of your employment will be given to you in three days time. Note! this is just like a redudant leave. Find attached your 2 months salary receipt. We thank you for your service and we wish it didn't have to end this way.
Sincerely,
Human Resources Manager cc: ceo@hongkongwardiary.com” (It included, of course, an attachment ridden with viruses).
8 For its fall 2021 issue, Canadian Military History has published a special issue to commemorate the Battle of Hong Kong’s eightieth anniversary. This issue explores various aspects of the battle, its aftermath and its memory. Very kindly they have added all the .pdf files for download here. There was a bit of a surprise in the article Objects Relating to the Canadian Experience in Hong Kong: the ‘bullet fragment’ is quite clearly a .45 fired from a Thompson! 8 Bill Lake and David Kerr gave an online talk to the Royal Asiatic Society, Beijing. This evening, which I joined online. It was called: “Legacy, WWII Allies and the Battle of Hong Kong”, and covered both the Chan Chak escape and Donald Kerr’s rescue after being shot down over Hong Kong in his P40. 8 Stewart Sloan published an interesting article about his father, Charles (Chucky) McConnell Sloan, HKVDC. 8 The Royal Hong Kong Regiment (The Volunteers) Association, in conjunction with the Hong Kong Prisoners of War Association, held a simple wreath laying ceremony at the Shrine in the City Hall Garden of Remembrance at 11.00 today to commemorate the 80th Anniversary of the start of the Battle for Hong Kong.
7 Here’s a mystery that I have been discussing with Professor Kwong Chi Man. A certain Eric Percival Hunt of the Royal Army Service Corps married a Mabel Suen immediately before the Japanese attack on Hong Kong. And yet there is no record of a man of that name being killed in the fighting, being a POW, or having escaped. I really do not know who he was. 7 The Taiwan POW Camps Memorial Society has just published their Vol. 22, Number 2 Fall-Winter 2021 newsletter. 7 Those with a deep interested in the Battle of Hong Kong have often discussed the case of Swindon man John Frelford of the Middlesex. It was said of him that he was interned as a civilian in Stanley (rather than as a soldier in Shamshuipo) because he had saved the life of a Japanese soldier in the heat of battle. I have to apologise as I didn’t keep note of who sent this, but it is an article by Frelford, Swindon published in the Daily Sketch of 1 July 1964 in their “great war stories for £1,000 series”: “The machine guns crackled in quick staccato barks. They seemed to be so near I could almost hear the spent cases tinkling on the ground. The mist that had protected us from observation all night had lifted and we – the survivors of ‘D’ company of the 1st battalion Middlesex Regiment – were on an exposed hillside in the Stanley Peninsula, Hong Kong, pinned down under a murderous fire. It was one of the most miserable days in my life. Tired, hungry, our uniforms in rags, we had been 17 days in the field, trying to stem the Japanese attack. But the night before they had attacked, carrying everything before them. The main impetus had passed us and we were now trying to link up with ‘B’ company on our left. It was 6.30 a.m. on Christmas morning in 1941. At home in England, even in wartime, people would be wishing each other a Merry Christmas. Children would be undoing wrappings on such presents as could be got during the war. Like Henry V’s soldiers said before Agincourt: I would rather be up to my neck in freezing Thames water, if only I could be home. We in the seven-man section that had set off to climb the hills towards Deepwater Bay, to try the link-up, had not even a cigarette between us, let alone any food. And now our cover was gone and we were exposed to the full weight of the Japanese guns. It was not exactly the time for peace on earth and mercy mild. To escape the machine-gun fire I crawled forward in the open to a crevice in the rock. The machine-gunner followed me. He fired burst after burst at the crevice, sending chips of rock flying around, as well as the ricocheting bullets. I squeezed down as much as I could by the dead Canadians and Japanese who were sharing my shelter. And to make things worse my move to apparent safety had attracted the attention of a jap sniper. He fired methodically and at regular intervals. His shots cracked past my head like metal bees. Then a Japanese soldier I took to be dead with a shot in the head, slowly opened his eyes. Was he wounded enough to be harmless? Should I kill him? The questions flashed through my mind. Then I noticed that he gestured with his hand to his helmet and then mine. I decided to take mine off. I had nothing to lose. No sooner had I done so and squeezed down beside the Jap than the sniper, who obviously couldn’t see very well, left me alone. But the machine-gunner continued firing. The Jap kept saying a word in Japanese. Over and over again. He wanted water. We were both in the same boat. He had saved my life. It was Christmas Day and I was very likely going to die, so what the hell. I gave him all he wanted. I bound up his head with a shell dressing. Moving around tying the wound brought me very close to the machine-gunner’s shots, but I was past caring. I just thought that if I was killed at least I’d done something decent on that terrible Christmas Day. By pointing at himself and saying the word ‘Gota’ over and over again, I gathered it was his name. I told him mine – John. We both then settled down to get what rest we could. But 17 days in the field had worn me out. I fell into a sleep like death. I was awakened by a foot on my chest and a bayonet against my throat. Dizzy with fatigue I saw a Jap standing over me. He pulled back his bayonet and made as though to lunge, to finish me off. But Gota had also woken up. He shouted something to him. The soldier paused, puzzled, then grounded his rifle, motioning me to get up. For the second time that day Gota had saved my life. I was now a prisoner of the Japs, but at least I was alive. And as the soldier walked me away I looked over my shoulder and waved to Gota. He waved back. I never saw him again. I was taken before an interrogating officer, who tried to bully and bluff information out of me. But I gave none. Then he asked me about Gota. He seemed to be puzzled by such behaviour. I explained that I thought the man was dying and did for him what I hope he would have done for me if the situation was reversed. But I also told him that if he had not been wounded I would have tried to kill him. The officer’s face brightened. ‘For that answer,’ he said, ‘your life is saved.’ I had a lot of time to think about things in the prison camp. I often wondered what had happened to the enemy who saved my life twice. Without the chivalry of an unknown enemy soldier I would be lying in some war cemetery in the Far East.”
6 Anthony Yeung kindly let me know that his father, Yeung Ming Hon (98 years old and still healthy) was a private in the HKVDC Field Ambulance and was captured at Stanley. He notes: “As this year is the 80th anniversary of the defence of Hong Kong, it piqued my interest in the HKVDC. My father, now with dementia, did talk about the war and said the HKVDC fought gallantly. I was informed by Ronald Taylor of HKVDC that my father is probably the oldest living member of the HKVDC who saw action in the war.” To the best of my knowledge, he is in fact now the last surviving member of the wartime Corps. 6 Cecilia Burroughs published, on facebook, an interesting six-page account of her personal experiences during the Battle of Hong Kong. 6 Surveying & Built Environment, of the Hong Kong Institute of Surveyors today published “A Special Commemorative Issue Marking the 80th Anniversary of the Battle of Hong Kong, 8 December to 25 December 1941” (illustrated).
5 Justin Ho kindly sent this link to the medals believed to be (but not certain) of Corporal Herbert Stockham, R.A.F, who was killed on 19 December 1941.
4 My Zoom talk “Shipped to Japan” for HKVCA is now confirmed for 24 Jan 2022 19:30 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada) / 25 Jan 2022 08.30 Hong Kong time, and anyone interested can register here. 4 Peter Weedon kindly let me know: “This medal group appeared on a dealer’s list today and is now heading my way - which I would not have been able to afford had I bought the dockyard group. The critical point from a medal collector’s perspective is that there are two named medals.” The medals – to 6202309 Corporal Sidney Robert Mitchell–Gears, Middlesex, were: 1939/45 Star, Pacific Star, War Medal, General Service Medal E2 clasp Malaya Long Service and Good Conduct Medal Regular Army E2. He was “born in Lambeth, London 12th October 1914, serving with the 1st Battalion Middlesex Regiment in Hong Kong, he was taken prisoner of war when the colony surrendered to Japanese forces 25th December 1941, his next of kin (presumably his father) recorded as Mr Edward Hope Mitchell–Gears of 20 West Square, St Georges Road, London. The War Office casualty list recorded he was missing 25th December 1941 TNA WO417/37 and later confirmed prisoner of war in War Office casualty list WO417/37. Private Mitchell–Gears survived the sinking of the Japanese Transport Ship Lisbon Maru 1st October 1942 whilst enroute to Japan. He is recorded as being a member of the second draft to Kobe POW camp, Osaka, Japan when the list was compiled in 1943 TNA WO361/1780.” He also notes: “The Malaya clasp on the General Service Medal represents post-1952 service. It’s likely that the recipient was a pre-war Regular not a conscript who continued serving after captivity.” He was one of seven named prisoners of war at Kobe who voluntarily gave their services as Medical Orderlies in the Camp Hospital (which had upwards of 240 patients - mainly suffering from dysentery - in the charge of a Staff Sergeant RAMC as there was no Medical Officer). Mitchell–Gears remained in the Army, he was awarded the Long Service and Good Conduct Medal 1st June 1953 and served with the now amalgamated Queen’s Regiment in Malaya. He married in 1967 and died in 2001 aged 86 years. 4 The Consulat Général de France à Hong Kong et Macao posted a photo of their event at Stanley Cemetery today.
3 Roy Delbyk kindly sent me two items: a July 1938 assessment of the fighting capabilities of the Japanese army (possibly written by Charles Boxer?) and two interesting letters relating to IOUs in Stanley. These have been widely discussed, but I believe they are the only examples I have actually seen.
2 Mike Babin kindly let me know that Sam Chiu has recently published the article: “Adding new knowledge: Canada’s C-Force in Hong Kong” in The Canadian Philatelist, the Official Journal of The Royal Philatelic Society of Canada. Unfortunately it is not available online. 2 Peter Weedon let me know that for the believed Serwar Khan Dockyard Police medal auction mentioned last month: “The group hammered for £1,500 so with commission and VAT probably near £1,900.”
Links to other Primary Sources.
George Bainborough, Leading Writer, Royal Navy. (Sound File) Kenneth Cambon, Rifleman, Royal Rifles of Canada. (Website) Maximo Cheng, Gunner, HKVDC, later with Chindits. (Sound file) Lloyd Beresford Chinfen, Hong Kong civilian, later fought with SOE. (Sound file) Charles Colebrook, Lance Corporal, RAOC. (Sound file) Francis Deloughery, Reverend Captain, Canadian Chaplains Service. (Website) Phil Doddridge, Rifleman, Royal Rifles of Canada. (Website) Tom Forsyth, Private, Winnipeg Grenadiers. (Website) Arthur Gomes, Corporal, HKVDC. (Sound file) Marjorie Grindley, Auxiliary Nurse, Stanley internee. (Sound file) John Harris, Second Lieutenant, Royal Engineers. (Sound file) Buddy Hide, Acting Stoker P.O., Royal Navy. (Website) Donald Hill, Squadron Leader, RAF. (Website) Drummond Hunter, Lieutenant, Royal Scots. (Sound file) Charles Jordan, Gunner, Royal Artillery, Lisbon Maru. (Sound file) Daisy Joyce, Stanley internee, embroiderer of bedsheet. (Sound file) Uriah Laite, Reverend Captain, Canadian Chaplains Service. (Website) David Lam, Private, HKVDC, later with BAAG. (Sound file) Tom Marsh, Sergeant, Winnipeg Grenadiers. (Website) James Miller, Private, Royal Scots. (Website) Raymond Mok, Sergeant, HKVDC Field Ambulance, later with BAAG. (Sound file) James O'Toole, Acting Staff Sergeant, RAOC. (Website) Maurice Parker, Major, Royal Rifles of Canada. (Website) Andy Salmon, Sergeant, Royal Artillery, Lisbon Maru. (Sound file) Joseph Sandbach, Reverend, Stanley internee. (Sound file) Albert Shepherd, Lance Bombardier, Lisbon Maru. (Sound file) Alexander Shihwarg, Private, HKVDC. (Sound file) William Sprague, Private, HKVDC. (Website). Charles Trick, Private, Winnipeg Grenadiers. (Website) Montagu Truscott, Corporal, Royal Corps of Signals, Lisbon Maru. (Sound file) Alec Wright, Second Lieutenant, HKVDC. (Sound file) Bernard Felix Xavier, Signalman, HKVDC, later OSS agent in Macau. (Sound file)
