Patrick JOY [1892-1970]
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Father Patrick Joy was ordained a priest in 1926 and came to Hong Kong as a Jesuit in 1927. In 1931 he was appointed Professor of Moral Theology at the Reginal Seminary for South China (now the Holy Spirit Seminary, Aberdeen).
In the summer of 1941 he was appointed the Jesuit Regional Superior. As an Irish citizen he was not interned by the Japanese. During the occupation he lived first at the French Hospital, later at Wah Yan College.
He was arrested in May, 1943 and held until August. The charge is not known.
He stayed in Hong Kong after the war and in 1947 resumed work as a teacher. In 1951 he left Hong Kong for Singapore and Malaya.
Sources:
http://archives.catholic.org.hk/In%20Memoriam/Clergy-Brother/P-Joy.htm
China Mail, February 26, 1947, page 3
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Arrest of Fr. Patrick Joy & Gerard Casey SJ
Fr. Joy was arrested on 24th May 1943 at 6am at Wah Yan College, Robinson Road, together with Fr. Gerard Casey SJ as well as Irish-Canadian Tom Monaghan. They were detained at the dingeon of the Supreme Court where many others were also held, tortured and executed as British spies. The two Irish priests were questioned, particularly Fr. Joy, with a view to implicate them in spying for the British. However, they were not tortured. Fr. Bourke SJ managed to supply food to them as well as give them Holy Communion on Sundays. They were probably the only two released in August.
The names of the two Jesuit priests came to light in connection with the BAAG operation code named 'MILKERS & CALVES' in which Fr. Casey was approached, through BAAG Agents to help, and Fr. Joy, his Superior consented. The plan was initiated when BAAG learnt from Prof. Sloss, through agents, that there were many children at Stanley Internment Camp who needed schooling and help. It was conceived that Christian clergies at large in HK could be used to negotiate with the Japanese for their release and repatriation on humanitarian grounds; in exchange for reciprocal actions elsewhere. The mothers would have to be part of the release group too.
Group G was formed to keep these humanitarian actions apart from the intelligence & operational activities. Casey contacted Sloss as well as other Ministers of Protestant churches. The operation did not come to fruition as the British Foreign Office preferred to use other diplomatic channels.
The arrest of the two priests might not have stemmed from this. Earlier in October 1942, Fr. Joy did visit Macao in connection with starting a school for the children of British refugees. During the trip they visited the British Consul General Reeves. Reeves was under close scrutiny by Japanese agents and he was running his own intelligence operations. The Kempatei could have put two and two together with this visit as well as the arrest of BAAG Agent Monaghan living at Wah Yan to cast suspicion over the two Jesuit priests.
No.65 (Paul Tsui), a Wah Yan graduate with close relationship with the Jesuits priests, was responsible for sending two Agents - a Mr. Cheung; accompanied by No.56 Mark Tsui Shing-cheung, another Wah Yan graduate & Paul's younger brother living in Fanling. They visited Wah Yan and approached Fr. Casey for help. Mr. Cheung was not identified in the reports except that he neither spoke English nor knew Casey, hence No.56 tagged along. A member of the Tsui family heard it said post-war that Mr. Cheung was Cheung To-ning, later Headmaster of Kau Yan School in Western, who had been a teacher of Chinese at Wah Yan as well as the Jesuit Aberdeen seminary. During the War, Cheung To-ning married Mary Tsui, an elder sister of Paul & Mark, who was a nurse of the BAAG in Wai Chow.
No.56 Mark Tsui became a Confidential Clerk of FIGS at AHQ as well as Sam Fuo Forward Area Post-2, collecing intelligence reports from the outstanding Group J at cut out points at Tam Shui & Toishan respectively. He drew many of the diagrams (marked M.Tsui) in the BAAG intelligence reports. He was awarded the King's Medal and went on to serve in the HKVDF for many years post war.
Thanks, Lawrence, that's very
Thanks, Lawrence, that's very interesting and illuminating. Colonel Noma, the head of the Gendarmes, mentioned Father Joy's case as an example of his own kindness: he claimed that because the charge was not a serious one he ordered lenient treatment and an early release. What you say about torture not being used supports this, but I can't believe that Noma would have regarded any contact with the BAAG, no matter how purely humanitarian the purpose, to be non-serious. I wonder what Fathers Joy and Casey told their interrogators!
It's also good to have an exact date for the arrest of Thomas Monaghan. It confirms the family's belief he had a chance to escape (using the routes he himself was operating for others) but chose to stay at his post - May 24 is a full month after the arrest of Charles Hyde, with whom he was working.
Fr. Joy & Fr. Casey Arrest
The date was supplied by the Jesuits' HK & S.China history book by Fr. Thomas Morrissey, 2008. Their ordeal while being detained was also described.
Noma did not show leniency until Fr. Bouke SJ went to see the Japanese General who was Commander-in-chief. That General gave a direct order to Noma to let Bourke visit the two.
It was suggested that ill-treating the two Jesuits might undermine Irish neutrality. Theie case against them was tenuous anyway.
I believe Fr. Casey was approached by the BAAG for the humanitarian missions because he was teaching Geography at HKU before teh War and acquainted with Prof. Sloss. He was surprised by the approach, but accepted the mission after consulting Joy.
Cheung To-nin, if he was indeed the Mr. Cheung tasked, not only knew the Jesuits, but was also well-connected to the Protestant church circles, being an active member of the Shung Chun Hui (local branch of the Swiss Lutheran Basel Mission). A number of Protestant ministers as well as the Catholic Bishop (Valtorta) were involved in the planning.