70 years ago: Hong Kong's wartime diaries | Gwulo: Old Hong Kong

70 years ago: Hong Kong's wartime diaries

Shows diary entries from seventy-one years ago, using today's date in Hong Kong as the starting point. To see pages from earlier dates (they go back to 1 Dec 1941), choose the date below and click the 'Apply' button.

  • 12 Jan 1944, R. E. Jones Wartime diary

    Submitted by Admin on Mon, 2013-12-30 16:27
    Book / Document: 
    R. E. Jones Wartime diary
    Date(s) of events described: 
    Wed, 12 Jan 1944

    Fine, cold wind.

    Meijima in Camp.

    With Steve pm.

    Black-out.

    Final assault on Hall floor. ((Barbara Anslow explains: The flooring in the Married quarters and American quarters, a few others, and the prewar Prison Officers' club, had parquet wooden floors. When internees prised them up they burned merrily, being used to cook rice flour concoctions etc in their rooms. Alas for those living in the Indian Quarters, for they had stone floors. We Redwoods burned all the parquet in our room, but  the tarry base beneath the parquet was very uncomfortable to bare feet.
    One night the entire parquet on the large communal hall disappeared. From Mr Jones' diary today, he was obviously part of group who removed the flooring.))

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  • 12 Jan 1944, Eric MacNider's wartime diary

    Submitted by Admin on Thu, 2017-01-19 16:14
    Book / Document: 
    Eric MacNider's wartime diary
    Date(s) of events described: 
    Wed, 12 Jan 1944

    Dr. Miyasaka appt’d MO attached to Camp

    B.O.

  • 12 Jan 1944, Diary of George Gerrard in Stanley Internment Camp Hong Kong

    Submitted by Alison Gerrard on Fri, 2019-05-17 13:59
    Book / Document: 
    Diary of George Gerrard in Stanley Internment Camp Hong Kong
    Date(s) of events described: 
    Wed, 12 Jan 1944

    Our 23rd Anniversary and I fell very confident that this will be the last one that will be separated. At any rate we live in great hope as the news at the moment is said to be great.

    I am writing my 25 word postcard for you today. I look forward with great keenness and longingly to our happy day of reunion which of course can't come too soon for us. I hope you keep well.

    Well I entered the hospital on Sunday evening and on Monday forenoon proceeded to the operating room where I was given a general by Dr Bennett, Prof Digby and Dr Kirk were there. Well I passed out under the anaesthetic and came to later in the day back in my bed. I felt all right and I wasn't sick but later in the evening I was given a morphine injection and in the early hours of the morning I became violently sick and felt like as if the end had come. Everything went black, I became hot and cold all over but a dose of something and I felt better and slept until morning. I managed to get rid of most of the chloroform when I was sick. However I'm feeling all right and have a big iron cage over my legs.

    There are nine of us in the surgical ward and very cheery tho' unfortunately there is a blackout which makes the dark evenings so long. My toe-nail has only partially been removed, only a strip having been taken away but the bed has been removed which is the main thing. Three stitches were inserted and these I expect will be cut on or about Saturday and I should therefore be out the following Saturday. I feel all right tho' the bed I'm in is very lumpy. I'll get a change when one of the others go out.


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