Not the Slightest Chance: The Defence of Hong Kong, 1941

8 - The Week Immediately Following the Fighting

On Saturday, 27 December, the Japanese flag is raised in Central. However, they are still not fully in control of the Island. Lewis Bush HKRNVR, a fluent Japanese speaker with a Japanese wife, is sent at the request of the Japanese to the Little Hong Kong ordnance depot near Aberdeen, where some Royal Engineers are still refusing to surrender. Eventually they emerge and the Japanese take them to Aberdeen, treating them as heroes (95: 163).1 Security is lax, and for those willing to take a gamble escape is possible. Corporal Salter of the Royals Scots declined to report to POW camp, instead donning civilian clothes and passing himself off as a Norwegian.2 St Stephen’s temporary hospital is finally evacuated. British and Canadian casualties go to the British Military Hospital on Bowen Road or to Queen Mary Hospital, Indian forces to Queen Mary Hospital, and light cases to Stanley Fort. On Sunday, 28 December, the Commanding Officer of the Middlesex sends out a message: To All Ranks I am directed by the Commanding Officer to inform you that he wishes all ranks to know how proud he is of your magnificent The Week Immediately Following the Fighting 8 未命名59@ 284 NOT THE SLIGHTEST CHANCE: THE DEFENCE OF HONG KONG behaviour in the short period of hostilities which unfortunately ended in the surrender of the Crown Colony of Hong Kong. The garrison was up against a division and a half of enemy. We had no Air Force and no Navy and, regrettable as it sounds, this was inevitable. The gallantry, devotion to duty, and the loyalty displayed by all under the most harassing and nerve-wracking conditions has not only earned the praise of HE The Governor and the General Officer Commanding, but the entire civilian population of Hong Kong, who now realise what the Battalion has done. Individual acts of gallantry have been performed but the Commanding Officer finds it difficult to single out any particular soldier as one and all did their utmost and deserve his praise. The sticking power shown by all is traceable to the high standard of discipline which Colonel Stewart has insisted upon ever since he was honoured with the command of the 1st Battalion. He knows that all ranks, after due consideration, will realise this. Lastly, while in captivity he looks to all ranks to uphold this fine tradition of unflinching obedience to orders. The time will one day come when we shall reach what we most wish, namely our homes wherever they may be. Time will hang heavily but patience must be exercised. The Regiment has nothing to be ashamed of. Fortune has not shined on us just lately but remember that all things work together for good. His thanks are due to all. Hong Kong 28.12.41 A.G. Hewitt, Capt & Adjt 1MX. (76: 6) That day, Major Young of the Royal Rifles and the thirty-four men with whom he escaped from Altamira on the 23rd, land at Telegraph Bay (having hidden on the wreck of HMS Thracian and on Lamma, in the mean time) and are captured by the Japanese (100: 160). As the Japanese mount a victory parade of 2,000 men in Victoria led by the Divisional Commander (Lt. Gen. T. Sano) on a white-nosed horse, and their air force gives an air display, the garrison troops and civilians are rounded up. The Royal Naval forces from the dockyard are marched to Murray Barracks and imprisoned with army personnel, and RAMC personnel are ordered to gather at British Military Hospital Bowen Road, but alien internees are released by the Japanese and driven to Repulse Bay Hotel. Conditions in the hospitals, overflowing with wounded, are 未命名59@ THE WEEK IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWING THE FIGHTING 285 becoming intolerable. Dr Isaac Newton at Argyle Street Hospital: ‘I am beginning to find the stench of pus pretty trying. The mortality is going to prove terrific.’ Monday the 29th sees the water supply finally restored in Central (44: 115), and permission is at last given for Commonwealth forces to search for their wounded. Many are found along Repulse Bay Road, tied up and murdered. Others are found bayoneted in pillboxes or shot in ditches. Most who avoided summary execution have already died of wounds (8: 26). Two thousand two hundred Allied POWs from East Brigade at Stanley are paraded in front of General Sakai and told they will be marching...