70 years ago: Hong Kong's wartime diaries
11 Aug 1942, Chronology of Events Related to Stanley Civilian Internment Camp
Submitted by brian edgar on Wed, 2012-02-01 23:42Book / Document:Date(s) of events described:Tue, 11 Aug 1942Death of Col. Walter Roy Dockrill, aged 65. Dockrill was a Canadian who worked his way up in the lumber business. In 1915 he went off to the war:
Col. Dockrill’s return to civilian life was marred by his exclusion from the board of directors of the company,and after a year or two in Vancouver, he sold his remaining control to Captain Crawford and moved to Shanghai.
It's not known how he found himself in Hong Kong.
Chester Bennett, the American Council Chairman, and three Britishers are 'guaranteed out' and leave camp - we know from Eric MacNider's diary that one of the others was Mrs. Owens. Bennett was asked by Franklin Gimson to decline repatriation to continue to help the internees (he's the person who organised the food parcels from Habade) and he soon adds illegal money raising and smuggling into camp to his legitimate activities. Eventually he becomes an agent for the British Army Aid Group, working with Charles Hyde and Marcus da Silva.
R. E. Stott, a land bailiff, puts his carefully prepared escape plan into operation.
He takes advantage of a gardener's shed to get over the rear wall of the French Hospital - 'just as dusk fell when people's eyes had not got used to the dark'.
Although he sprains both heels landing, after a short rest he crawls along the nullah running past the hospital and finds some rope hidden there by friends. He crawls through some barbed wire and loops the rope round a support so that he can reach the bottom of the nullah:
With feet so painful I had to sit and drag myself inch by inch along the slimy slippery bottom towards the typhoon shelter into which the nullah emptied...The tide was low and I had to hobble as best I could to the waiting sampan...
which takes him to a shrimp boat in which he lies until 4 a.m. before setting off. Passing between Shampshuipo and Stonecutters Island, they anchor for the night at a point opposite Castle Peak. The next morning they set off at dawn for Macao.
Enid Foy, wife of the uninterned banker Hugo, gives birth to a daughter. The birth is announced in the (London) Times of August 31. It seems the news reached Britain with surprising speed - I know of no case in which the Red Cross postcards were delivered in under three weeks. Messages went from the French Hospital (where I would guess the birth took place) to John Reeves, the Consul in Macao, and the British Army Aid Group were in touch with boith the Hospital and the bankers at the Sun Wah - perhaps a message was smuggled through one of these routes.
Kowloon's St Teresa's Hospital is closed to British patients, who are sent to Bowen Road Military Hospital, where they are the last people suffering from war wounds to be admitted.
The Gripsholm arrives in Rio de Janeiro - 'We had twenty-four hours in Rio, and it was all too short'. Although for two men who show up at 4.05, five minutes after it's pulled away from shore, the stop-over comes close to being greatly extended. In the end, to the accompaniment of much mockery, they get onboard via a tug and the pilot boat.
Sources:
Dockrill: Geoffrey Emerson, Hong Kong Internment, 1973, 271
Stott: Tony Banham, We Shall Suffer There, 2009, entry for Friday, August 14
Hospitals: D. C. Bowie, Captive Surgeon in Hong Kong, 268
Gripsholm: Carol Brigg Waites, Taken in Hong Kong, 2006, Kindle Edition, Location 3850
See also:
Chronology, February 20, 1942
Anslow Diary, August 14, 1942
11 Aug 1942, Barbara Anslow's diary
Submitted by Barbara Anslow on Wed, 2012-02-22 21:15Book / Document:Date(s) of events described:Tue, 11 Aug 1942Mum and I to lecture on Philosophy by Rev. Short - on bank by hospital.
Little Brian and Mrs Gill came to tea in afternoon. Brian so sweet. ((Our family had known Billie Gill's husband Paddy before they were married. Paddy was in the Army and was drafted to UK before Jap attack.))
11 Aug 1942, Rev. Buuck's autobiographical notes
Submitted by Admin on Wed, 2012-06-20 18:31Book / Document:Date(s) of events described:Tue, 11 Aug 1942The following day ((ie the 11th)) after food supplies had been taken aboard we were again under way.
11 Aug 1942, R. E. Jones Wartime diary
Submitted by Admin on Mon, 2012-07-09 21:29Book / Document:Date(s) of events described:Tue, 11 Aug 1942Einige neues kam, aber ich noch nicht hörte.
Wir neu kũchen haben und sie heute mittag starten.
((Jill Fell's translation:
Some news came but I haven’t heard it yet.
We have new cooks and they start at noon today.))
11 Aug 1942, Ella Buuck's wartime diary
Submitted by Admin on Fri, 2012-07-20 19:55Book / Document:Date(s) of events described:Tue, 11 Aug 1942We were up early and right after breakfast we went downtown to do shopping. Had a nice time looking around and bought quite a few things.
At noon we were back on ship, turned in our passes and that ended our shore leave. I got busy right away washing clothes, also did some ironing, then rested and at 4p.m. we were all on deck to see the ship make ready to leave. They lifted the gangplank and slowly moved away from shore.
About 45 minutes later 3 men passengers appeared who had failed to make the ship. A motor boat picked them up and brought them alongside, but they were afraid to try the rope ladder so they were put into the tug and later when the pilot boat arrived they were put on that and finally got into the ship.
We had grand views as we were leaving Rio. The climax was as the sun was just behind the statue and it made a perfect picture to see it that way. The sunset was grand with all the mountains around.
11 Aug 1942, Eric MacNider's wartime diary
Submitted by Richard Iwan Jones on Thu, 2014-07-17 15:11Book / Document:Date(s) of events described:Tue, 11 Aug 19424 persons left camp (Chester Bennett, Mrs. Owens) ((I'm not sure which Mrs Owens this was. The only Mrs Evans on John Black's list is Mrs S. M. Owens. However her baby, born in April 42, is described as American, suggesting that Mrs S M Owens would have been repatriated with the other Americans.))
Death of Walter Roy Dockrill (65)
[Prof. W. Brown - “Spitzbergen”]
