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Foreword
- Hong Kong University Press, HKU
- Chapter
- Additional Information
Foreword The passag e o f mor e tha n thirt y year s ha s neithe r dimme d th e writer's recollection nor cast any false glamour upon these events as she recall s them . Indee d thi s woul d b e a melanchol y accoun t o f unrelieved hardshi p an d sufferin g wer e i t no t illuminate d b y th e insight th e reade r i s afforde d int o th e courage , enduranc e an d unselfishness wit h which so many of those confined i n the Stanle y Camp responded to the long grim challenge of internment . Jean Gittins' approach to this difficult subjec t is one of objectivity and restraint . Th e fact s ar e allowe d t o spea k fo r themselve s wit h little embroidery an d no flights o f dramatic fancy o r psychologica l speculation. Nowher e doe s sh e eve n stat e i n s o man y word s th e simple fact, surely known to every soul in the camp except the younger children, that surviva l was by no means to be taken for granted by any captive of the Japanese armed forces. Nevertheless the reader is not left unaware, as the tale unfolds, of the backdrop of tension and danger against which these scenes were played. I am sure this book will be welcomed a s filling on e of the gaps in the record of war-time Hong Kong. D.R. Holme s Hong Kong vii ...