Long Night’s Journey into Day: Prisoners of War in Hong Kong and Japan, 1941-1945

Acknowledgments

This page intentionally left blank ix Illustrations and Tables ....................................................................... xi Preface .................................................................................................... xiii Acknowledgments ............................................................................... xvii Abbreviations ....................................................................................... xxi Hong Kong Chronology ..................................................................... xxv 1. Hong Kong before 8 December 1941 ........................................ 1 2. The Eighteen-Day War: 8-25 December 1941 .......................... 13 3. The Prisoner-of-War Camps and Hospitals ............................. 45 4. Prisoner-of-War Life in Hong Kong ......................................... 91 5. Trying to Cope with Too Little Food ........................................ 127 6. In Sickness, Rarely in Health: Life and Death in the Camps and Hospitals ...................................................... 155 7. The Overseas Drafts .................................................................... 207 8. POW Camps in the Japanese Home Islands ........................... 225 9. Less than Perfect Soldiers ........................................................... 303 10. The Journey Ends—But It Never Does .................................... 321 Notes ...................................................................................................... 329 Bibliography ......................................................................................... 375 Index ...................................................................................................... 403 Contents This page intentionally left blank Illustrations Figure 1.1 Lt.-Gen. Tanaka Ryosaburo signing surrender papers at Hong Kong, September 1945. ............................... 1 Figure 1.2 Bowen Road Military Hospital, Hong Kong Island, 1930s.............................................................................. 6 Figure 1.3 Loading of Canadian military equipment aboard HMT Awatea, in Vancouver, en route to Hong Kong, 27 October 1941............................................. 10 Figure 2.1 Map showing outline of Hong Kong and New Territories. ................................................................ 14 Figure 2.2 Map showing Hong Kong Island and Kowloon with sites of military hospitals.............................. 16 Figure 2.3 LaSalle College, Kowloon, used as temporary hospital briefly in December 1941. ........................................ 21 Figure 2.4 Lye Mun Passage separating mainland (background) and Hong Kong Island................................... 22 Figure 2.5 Salesian Mission near Shau Kei Wan, Hong Kong, September 1945; scene of Japanese atrocities, 19–20 December 1941............................................. 31 Figure 2.6 Dr. S. Martin Banfill, 1946 or 1947. ........................................ 32 Figure 2.7 Drawing of Salesian Mission and area, based on a sketch made by Norman Leath. .................................... 33 Figure 2.8 St. Stephen’s College, Hong Kong, September 1945......................................................................... 36 Figure 3.1 Ward in British Military Hospital, Bowen Road, Hong Kong Island, 1930s............................................. 50 Figure 3.2 Plan of North Point POW Camp in 1942, based on exhibit from war crimes trial................................. 57 Figure 3.3 Plan of North Point POW Camp, 1942. ................................ 60 Figure 3.4 Aerial view of Sham Shui Po Camp, Jubilee Buildings in the background..................................... 63 Figure 3.5 The Jubilee Buildings, Sham Shui Po, taken in 1941 just before war began................................................. 64 Figure 3.6 Plan of the layout of Sham Shui Po POW Camp, Hong Kong......................................................... 66 Figure 3.7 Interior of barracks at Sham Shui Po POW Camp, 1944. .................................................................... 69 xi Illustrations and Tables ...