-
2. Life in the Camp I
- Hong Kong University Press, HKU
- Chapter
- Additional Information
2 Life in the Camp I Food The three basic requirements of man are food, shelter and clothing. Although the internees had cause to complain about their shelter and clothing, the greatest complaints centred on food. ‘Of all the hardships and privations to which the internees in Stanley were subjected, the insufficiency and unsuitable nature of the food provided were the worst.’1 The food was delivered daily from Hong Kong by lorry and unloaded in a garage near the former Prison Warders’ Club. From the garage it was distributed to the various kitchens.At first each block or group of buildings had its own kitchen, but when firewood became short, the number of kitchens was decreased in order to conserve wood. Most internees were used to large quantities of food — a typical day in pre-war Hong Kong might have included breakfast, morning tea, lunch, afternoon tea, dinner and perhaps something before bed, plus odd snacks throughout the day. Suddenly being faced with Camp food was, of course, a shock for most internees. Usually two meals a day were served, at 11 a.m. and 5 p.m., preceded by rice congee at 8.00 a.m. The meals usually consisted of rice and a stew poured on top, made from whatever meat, fish and/ or vegetables were provided by the Japanese.2 The amount was miniscule by pre-war standards, being often one small bowl of rice and a few spoonfuls of watery stew. 38 The Ration Distribution Centre. 1972. 02(p.79-130).indd 79 1/11/08 2:06:16 PM 80 Hong Kong Internment, 1942 to 1945 39 Sketch: The Kitchen Committee 1943. 40 Sketch: A Food Queue, from Stanley Grams, Camp magazine. Artist was Alex Mitchell, a prison officer. 41 Sketch: Alex Mitchell, ‘Gingles & the Camp’s last sausage’. Gingles was an American cook. 02(p.79-130).indd 80 1/11/08 2:06:18 PM [54.173.221.132] Project MUSE (2024-03-28 17:45 GMT) The quantity was not the only problem by any means. The fact that it was a rice diet caused difficulties for most internees, especially until their stomachs had time to adjust. The period of adjustment was usually a time of severe abdominal pains and diarrhoea. Some never did adjust and suffered throughout their internment. The Geneva Convention of 1929 states that prisoners-of-war should receive the equivalent food of the local troops, i.e. in the case of Hong Kong, rice. Perhaps the food provided to the internees was quite similar to that given to Japanese soldiers, but Japanese soldiers of the Second World War were well-known for their ability to exist on what to Western people were very minute amounts of food. The typical internee faced with such a diet found it exceedingly inadequate. As for the food itself, the rice varied greatly in quality. The first few months, in 1942, the rice was of moderately high grade. Later it was almost always very dirty, containing dust, mud, rat and cockroach excreta, cigarette ends and even dead rats. On at least one occasion the rice lost 25 percent of its weight after cleaning and washing. Internees could collect some of their rice uncooked if they wished to cook their own or grind it for flour. 42 Sketch: Alex Mitchell, ‘The Rat in the Rice Bag. Mrs Dunlop’. Edith Dunlop, aged 45, was a university lecturer. Her husband, R. P. Dunlop, was a POW in Kowloon, Hong Kong Volunteer Defense Corps. 43 Sketch: Alex Mitchell, ‘Crickets in the Veg’. The lady is standing on a ‘Mimi Lau’.2a Food 81 02(p.79-130).indd 81 1/11/08 2:06:18 PM 82 Hong Kong Internment, 1942 to 1945 When meat was provided, it was almost always water-buffalo meat with a low proportion of fat and a high proportion of bone. Early in February 1942, the beef was spoiled when it was delivered to the Camp, and the Japanese substituted tinned corned beef. On later occasions when the meat was found to be spoiled, there was no substitute.3 Sometimes hamburgers were served, but lack of oil for frying prohibited their being cooked often. Also, curry was occasionally on the menu, being stew with a little curry powder added.4 Many kinds of fish were provided, most frequently conger eel, a tough, bony fish. By 1944, however, the fish was either frozen or dried salt fish. With the frozen fish, often the...