19 Nov 1945, Chronology of Events Related to Stanley Civilian Internment Camp
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Ssiter Mary Paul of the Maryknoll Convent writes to General Officer Commanding, Major-General F. W. Festing.
By the end of January 1943 all of the Maryknoll Sisters had left Hong Kong. They started to return soon after the surrender, but found that the Maryknoll Convent School had, like a number of other Hong Kong public buildings, been turned into a Japanese military hospital. At first there were 1200, but in November the British sent 800 more. The Sisters were living in a small bungalow on Prince Edward Road and they wanted their building back so they could start teaching again. A letter to David MacDougall on November 16 met with short shrift, so Sister Mary Paul is trying again today.
Major-General Festing is a Catholic and grants her an interview, at which he will eventually agree to let the Sisters use part of the top floor and have their own entrance and chapel. On Decmeber 18 the army will help the sisters move in, and they're allowed to use more rooms than originally planned. The doors and windows been there, but much has been destroyed and much looted. Japanese POWs help them move furniture and clean.
They will get the entire buildin back one day, but until May 1946 the sisters and sharing it with 600 Japanese soldiers.
Source:
Cindy Yik-yi Chu, The Maryknoll Sisters in Hong Kong, 2004, 59-60
