70 years ago: Hong Kong's wartime diaries

I have forgotten to mention the all exciting escapes from this camp. Just before Yamashita arrived to take charge here (with Nakasawa as his second in command) two separate parties of people escaped on the same night. There were three Americans (merchant seaman I think) and five British. The British went in two parties: Mrs Gwen Priestwood and Thompson and the other was Miss Fairfax Chumley, ‘China’ Wright and …………………).

The British divided because the two men did not want Mrs Priestwood (who spoke no Chinese) to go, whereas Thompson refused to go without her. Miss Chumley speaks fluent Cantonese. I hear the first couple managed to get as far as Macao where the Portuguese have interned them in the British Consulate! So they are not much further forward. (In fact, this is not correct. They got through to Chungking and Gwen carried with her a full list of British internees.)

The other three, we hear, got right away and got through to Chungking. Good for them! It was a courageous effort. They must have gone by junk and been landed somewhere up the coast and then travelled right inland, avoiding Japanese occupied areas. It must have been a thrilling adventure: no doubt we shall hear all about it one day. I believe Wright was in the Chinese Maritime Customs and consequently had many Chinese friends and connections amongst the coastal trading people; so he was probably able to fix up all the transport.

We have heard nothing definite about the Americans (O’Neill being the name of one of them) but as no news of their capture has come through, we surmise that they too have safely reached Chungking. At any rate, we sincerely hope so.

We think it is partly due to these people and to others such as Gordon King and Phyllis Harrop, who escaped from Hong Kong, having avoided internment, that conditions here have improved. This may seem strange, particularly in view of the fact that when British prisoners from the military and naval camps escaped, as they did, the Japanese imposed punishments of various kinds on the whole camp to discourage any further escapes…………such as cutting down on food rations, fatigue parties etc.  But it is quite evident that reports of conditions in Hong Kong must have been broadcast from Chungking, for we know these conditions were made the subjects of censure, first by Anthony Eden in the House of Commons and later by Churchill himself in a broadcast to the nation. We know this because parts of the speeches were quoted in the local (Japanese) papers in order that they could then be indignantly denied. This, incidentally, is one of our best sources of authentic news! Anyway, Eden referred to the unhappy state of Hong Kong where ‘conditions’ now are mediaeval and barbaric and Churchill threatened retribution on those,

“Who have thrown our people from their homes, herded them like cattle and fed them like pigs.” 

The Japanese papers jeered at the British who after boasting of their invincibility in the East started squealing immediately they had lost and had to suffer hardships. Well, we are prepared to take our medicine manfully, but we expected treatment that was in some measure akin to that laid down by the Geneva Convention and which is meted out to enemy aliens interned in British territory……not to be herded together as we are and practically starved as we have been. But, as I say, these reports have evidently borne fruit for a Japanese naval officer told Vera that instructions had reached them from Tokyo to improve the conditions of internment in Hong Kong because Japan was ‘loosing face’ by reports of bad conditions here, which were being broadcast from Chungking. That was a pretty frank admission! The Japanese naval officers seem to be a fine type of man from what I have seen and heard of them. Our fear, which has crossed the minds of one or two of us, is that these better conditions will prevail until the departure of the Americans (so that they will circulate the news of fairly good conditions) and thereafter things may fall off somewhat. I very much hope not!

The Japanese authorities did not seem to be unduly disturbed by these escapes and nothing much was done about them. They would have obtained nearly 48 hours start before their absence was discovered, but Bill Hunt, Chairman of the American Community (who was trying to keep in with the Japanese as much as possible) gave the alarm that three Americans had escaped. We all thought it pretty scurvy of him. Later, he again played the same kind of game by notifying the Japanese that it had been brought to his notice that another escape was being meditated that night. In consequence the concert that Saturday evening was cancelled and we all had to be in our rooms by 9 p.m. for a roll call which the Chinese block supervisors had to carry out.

I consider Hunt to be an unscrupulous man, not far removed from a slippery customer. Apparently he is wanted in Shanghai by the Japanese to answer various charges of espionage or providing information contrary to Japanese interests. In that case, I suppose he is doing all he can to ingratiate himself with the Japanese here at the expense of anyone who comes within his grasp. He seems to be the type of man who will end up either very wealthy or behind bars!

However, it was not very much later before 4 police cadets attempted to escape. They were Brian Fay, Morrison, Bidmead and Randall. News of their escape got out soon after they had started and in a day or two we heard that they had been recaptured. We did not know quite what to believe. I thought that if they had been recaptured a great song and dance would have been made about it in the local paper, and no mention was made of it whatsoever.

Various stories circulated; one was that they had been caught while trying to get across Lei Yue Mun pass, to the mainland, in a junk; that they had been pretty badly knocked about and that Bidmead, I think, had a bayonet wound in his thigh. Then one of the Chinese constables, (ex police) who is now one of the camp guards, told one of the police cadets that he had seen these four, either tied up or under guard, in the back of a lorry being exhibited around town and that they were then taken to the Central Police Station.

One day our speculations came to an end when a lorry turned up at the prison here with the four of them in it. They were in a terrible condition: thin and emaciated, covered with dirt and sores, with long hair and with their clothes in a filthy condition. They had evidently been in the same clothes day and night for the six weeks they had been away. I did not see them (fortunately) but those who did said that Morrison was the only one who could walk or stagger in by himself, Randall and Fay staggered in supporting each other and Bidmead had to be carried in. A night or two later a doctor and a nurse from the hospital were sent for to attend to Brian Fay who was evidently quite ill. They seem to have recovered now. Conditions in the gaol here would be infinitely better than in the cells at the Police Station. Poor chaps!  Apparently they made their escape without any well prepared plans, but expected to contact Chinese friends who would be able to help them.

After the second attempt at escape considerable precautions were and are being taken to prevent any such recurrence. The whole camp has been encircled by a pretty formidable barbed wire fence and big gates have been erected (also covered with barbed wire, broken glass etc.) at the approach road to the camp. There is a guard of some 20 armed Indian and Chinese ex-police who are posted at various points all round the camp. The whole camp, also, is surrounded by fairly powerful lights (which coolies from the HK Electric Co. were brought out to erect). These lights are on poles or standards about 50 yards apart. They are switched on all night. This is in accordance with international law or the Geneva Convention for POW Camps which demands that all such camps shall be clearly lit at night to avoid aerial bombing by their own countrymen. So we, 3,000 civilians are being treated as prisoners of war! By international law we should not be in a prison camp at all. However, I really believe we are better off here than we should be outside in the town. 

I should also mention that there is a curfew from 8 p.m. till 7 a.m. and we have to be in our own rooms at 10 p.m. for a roll call, to make sure no one is missing. Now we are allowed to be within the vicinity of our own blocks after 8 p.m. but we are not compelled to be indoors by then.

At first when this curfew was imposed there were some nasty face slapping incidents. The Sikh police here, many of whom have turned completely anti-British, are by far the worst. It is unfortunate that the Army absorbs almost all the better type of Sikh and leaves (for a small place like HK) only the riff-raff, for some of them are real scum. Mr Pritchard was walking from an adjacent block in the Indian quarters to his own block at just about 8 p.m;  he was accosted by two Indian guards (one, an ex-prison guard who was known before the war to be anti-British) who held him at the points of their bayonets. Then this particular truculent guard gave him a tremendous slap on the face which knocked Mr Pritchard right off his feet. He scrambled up only to be knocked down with another similar blow. What can you do? If you try and defend yourself the guard would probably shoot and then explain that you offered physical resistance or even say you attacked them. The only thing to do is to give these wretches as few opportunities as possible to find an excuse for doing such things. Some of them are ex-Hong Kong police and they seem to go out of their way to be offensive to the European police officers whom they meet about the camp.

Before the Japanese Civil Administrators were in charge of the camp there were many face slapping incidents, both by the Japanese gendarmes and the Indian guards (few if any of the Chinese indulge in this pass-time be it said to their credit).

On one occasion a fairly senior Japanese officer departed by car from the prison (the gendarmes have their quarters in the prison). Two internees (men  were standing quite along way away, over 50 yards, chatting to each other, one smoking a pipe. After the departure of the senior officer, a junior officer strode over to the two men and said (in English),

“When one of your officers passes by you always salute, why don’t you show proper respect to our officers and bow as you should?”

Then he gave the first one a good slap and turned to the other and said, 

“And why didn’t you take your pipe out of your mouth?” 

Then he knocked the pipe out of his mouth and sent it for six! The truth of the matter was these two had been so engrossed in their conversation that they had not even noticed the departing officer.

On another occasion about 14 European police were sitting on a garden wall of the administration building on the hill, waiting to form a labour squad to remove bricks etc. from Bill Hackett’s bombed house for building operations in their own quarters. Presently a little Japanese officer strode over to them and using a Chinese interpreter he lined them all up and demanded to know why they were looking into the prison, which it is forbidden for anyone to do. They replied that they were not intentionally looking into the prison grounds but that while they were waiting and talking it was difficult not to glance occasionally in that direction. But this did not satisfy the little officer and so, just to harm them, he proceeded to walk along the line slapping the faces of all fourteen of these large police! It must have looked funny.

Various other people have been slapped and occasionally knocked down, quite often for being near the road when some high Japanese official is due to pass by. When this happens the whole road is closed for about an hour and internees have to keep away till the officer has passed. Very often this information is given at very short notice and we internees are notified by means of a notice posted on our board. Thus it often happens that we are not aware of such an event (if you happen not to have looked at the board) until it is over, consequently it is not difficult, inadvertently, to trespass and get slapped for it. This has happened to women as well as men and sometimes to quite old men. However, Yamashita has said this must stop and future incidents are to be reported to him with the number of the guard in question.  

Various rules and regulations have been posted concerning the respect due to the Japanese: 

1. No one may look into the prison grounds (our blocks are situated on a hill which overlooks the prison) or towards the barracks of the fort now occupied by the Japanese.
2. No one is to watch any squad of gendarmes or soldiers doing exercises or carrying out some work. (It is a grave insult to look down on any Japanese soldier as he represents the Emperor, before whom all must bow).
3. No European may pass a gendarme, who is on duty, with his hands in his pockets or a pipe or cigarette in his or her mouth.

So we have our orders.