My War Years. 1941-1945.: View pages | Gwulo: Old Hong Kong

My War Years. 1941-1945.: View pages

In December 1938 I arrived in Hong Kong to join the floating staff of the China Navigation Co as Second Engineer Officer and was employed on the general China Coast trade going to Tientsin in the North and as far as Bangkok in the South. On the Northern runs we were frequently harassed by the Japanese Army and Navy for it must be remembered that there was a state of war between China and Japan since 1937. Due to this there was a shortage of rice in Shanghai and elsewhere so our ship the S S "Soochow" of 2,000 tons burden was engaged on a run to Rangoon for full cargoes of rice for the people of North China calling in at Singapore and Hong Kong for bunkers, water and general supplies.

So it was that we sailed into Hong Kong harbour at 6 AM on the morning of December 8, 1941 having obviously sailed through the Japanese fleet the previous evening without detection only to be told that England was at war with Japan and therefore we had to proceed to Holt's Wharf and unload our cargo. We had brought up from Singapore a new Colonial Secretary for Hong Kong whose name was Gimson and who had repeatedly told us that there would be no war in the Far East. The bombing of Kai Tak airport and other parts of Hong Kong at 7 AM that morning proved how wrong he was.


By December 12, there appeared to be a lot of confusion in Kowloon and many people were making their way to Hong Kong Island by various means. Shells from some Japanese field guns were coming uncomfortably close to our ship. Indeed, we witnessed the sinking of the Missions to Seamen's launch the "Dayspring" by one such shell just off the bows of our ship.

Orders came through for us to take our ship across the harbour to Taikoo Dockyard which we did with alacrity and I had to act as Chief Engineer is our regular Chief had gone to Kowloon Hospital to see his wife who was a volunteer nurse there. I did not see him again until after the war when I found that he had been interned in Stanley Camp. We gave a lift to a platoon of Hong Kong Volunteers who had been ordered to Hong Kong Island but had no means of transport. 


The following day ((i.e. the 13th)) we were ordered by the Marine Department to scuttle our vessel alongside the dockyard wall, a task I had to do and which broke my heart to see such a fine vessel which had been home to me for 6 months lost in this ignominious way.

We were offered accommodation in the European Staff Quarters of the Dockyard Company on Stanley Terrace.