R.A.F. Little Sai Wan. Inside Room 53

The door at the rear of the room led onto a long corridor.  Each room had a tannoy loud speaker so that orders could be quickly passed around the camp.  In the evenings the system was used for the camp's internal radio station - usually plenty of pop music with occasional classical music and serial stories.  News bulletins were also relayed to us from Radio Hong Kong and the B.B.C.  The photograph must have been taken some time in the winter as our blues uniforms can be seen.  The room might look rather basic to a modern eye but it was opulent compared with the wooden huts that we'd occupied in the U.K.  However, bed bugs were a constant problem.  They spent the days hiding in the rattan chairs and in the bed frames only to come out and have a good feed on us while we slept.  After a few months one became, sort of, immune to their bites and it was said that they only preferred the thicker blood of new arrivals. Periodically we hauled the bed frames onto the balcony, doused them with lighter fuel and set light to them. This sorted out the bed bugs - but only for a short time.