70 years ago: Hong Kong's wartime diaries

Things have been happening during these last few days, so I must enter up the facts. First, a most tragic event: Sir Vandeleur Grayburn died in prison last Saturday, 21st Aug at 7.15 p.m. The first the camp heard of it was on Monday evening when his body was brought out of the prison and taken to the one time tool shed for the Indian Warder’s gardens between the hospital and the prison, which now serves as a mortuary. The news came as a great shock to the camp.

A post mortem examination was conducted by six doctors and in their opinion death was caused by beri-beri. Later the prison authorities confirmed this. The post mortem was of a very cursory nature because putrification had set in. And yet, only a few days before Mr Maejima had assured the C.S. that all European prisoners in gaol were in good health. Well, a man does not suddenly die of beri-beri and it means we can place little reliance on the assurances of the Japanese with regard to the state of health of the other prisoners. I am sure Maejima did not intend to falsify the report – he probably just passed on what the gendarmerie in the prison had told him. In fact he is not able to visit the prisoners.

The neglect on the part of the gendarmerie was criminal – so much so that many people think it was deliberate: for some weeks ago Lady Grayburn was allowed to send into the prison a basket of clothes for her husband, and into this basket she also packed two bottles of vitamin B, all that is required to keep one free of beri-beri. After the funeral this basket was returned to Lady Grayburn: everything was complete, including the two bottles of vitamin B; the basket had never been delivered. Poor woman!

Sir Vandeleur and the other three (Dr Talbot, Streatfield, and Dr Selwyn-Clarke) were due out of prison at the end of the month, and Lady Grayburn had given money to various friends of hers and asked them to buy all the food they could on their canteen tickets because she wanted to be able to feed up her husband and restore him to health when he came out of prison (he was not well when he went in some months ago). What an end to such a brilliant man. I believe that crowds attended the funeral. Y and I did not go because we did not know him more than by sight. Well, I only hope the others are alright. I wonder if the other three will be released and returned to this camp at the end of the month.
 
Now to turn to more cheering events: there have been three more air raids on Hong Kong. Y and I have been trying to get down to the beach for weeks and on Wednesday morning, a beautiful sunny morning, we at last managed it – it has either rained or I have been working or a rehearsal had interfered before. We had hardly reached the beach at 9.45 a.m. when we heard a droning in the sky and out from the south, straight over Lamma Island, with the sun directly behind them, sailed eight huge bombers with three tiny little fighters cavorting and twisting about in their rear. Then we heard the popping AA fire and in the direction of the harbour a patch of sky was filled with bursting shells – evidently a box barrage over some important objective – the docks I expect. That was well in advance of these 8 planes and meant that another advance squadron had already gone into the attack, those we did not see. By this time the 8 planes were directly overhead and Y and I quickly kicked off our shoes and rushed down to the sea to have a hasty swim! For the Japanese have issued instructions, that the beach is to be cleared immediately an air raid takes place. Sure enough, in a few seconds the gong was beaten and we all solemnly trooped up the steps and back to camp! We found we had not missed much and that people in the blocks had seen only the 8 we saw.

That night a black-out was ordered from sun-down. But before that, much to our surprise, another air raid occurred. Y and I had taken our books and were going to spend the evening sitting on the rocks beyond the hospital. We had just settled ourselves when Isa, sitting on a rock higher up, shouted that she could hear AA fire and explosions. We rushed up the hill to the Leperosarium and, sure enough, there was another air raid in progress. This time the planes had evidently come in from the West, out of the sun again, for presently we saw a flight of four bombers with one small fighter making off to the East, and a little while later three more bombers flew off.