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New Introduction
- Hong Kong University Press, HKU
- Chapter
- Additional Information
New Introduction Soon after I began my research in 1970, I read in a Hong Kong newspaper, the South China Morning Post, that a lady who had been interned in Stanley Camp was in Hong Kong from Australia for the publication of her autobiography. The lady was Mrs. Jean Hotung Gittins, daughter of Sir Robert Hotung, well-known philanthropist and multimillionaire businessman.1 The report said that Mrs. Gittins would be signing copies of her autobiography, Eastern Windows — Western Skies. As she signed my copy of the book, I mentioned to her that I was interested in Stanley Camp and said I would like to talk with her. She readily agreed, and our subsequent meeting was the beginning of a lifelong friendship. I spent a lot of time with Jean on several of her visits to Hong Kong from her home in Australia, and I visited her twice in Melbourne before her death in 1995. She had an excellent memory and was usually able to answer without hesitation my many questions about Stanley Camp. Furthermore, she was forthcoming, very certain of herself and strongly opinionated. Some of the former internees I interviewed were clearly hesitant at times to answer my questions; Jean never was. She also involved me with her extended family in Hong Kong, and from them I also learned a lot about the war years. As a Eurasian, Jean did not have to enter Stanley Camp. As far as I know, no other member of the large Hotung family did so. Jean did so voluntarily in January 1942. Her father, Sir Robert, went to Macau and spent almost all the war years there. Jean’s decision to enter Stanley Camp was remarkable because in most other places in the Far East, such as China, Singapore, The Philippines and Indonesia, people entered internment only because they were forced to do so. Jean’s unusual decision reflected the common thinking in Hong Kong, namely that the war would not last long and internees would be treated, if not well, at least satisfactorily. In her book she explained the several reasons why she entered Stanley Camp. Her husband, Billy Gittins, had fought with the Hong Kong Volunteers against the Japanese and was imprisoned in a POW camp in Sham Shui Po, Kowloon.2 Jean had made three very difficult attempts to visit him, but only on one occasion had she even seen him, in the distance, and they were unable to communicate. These attempts were harrowing and exposed her to danger, so she decided it was useless to try. She thought that if she went into Stanley Camp, there was the possibility of an 00a(p.1-30).indd 1 1/11/08 1:16:09 PM Hong Kong Internment, 1942 to 1945 3 Jean and Billy Gittins’ wedding, 19 March 1929. 4 Jean Hotung and Billy Gittins’ wedding, March 1929. From left, the main party: Lady Clara (Jean’s mother), Dorothy Gittins (Billy’s mother), Sir Robert (Jean’s father), Billy and Jean, Lady Margaret, and Henry Gittins (Billy’s father). 5 Jean and Billy Gittins. 00a(p.1-30).indd 2 1/11/08 1:16:10 PM [3.17.150.89] Project MUSE (2024-04-18 00:20 GMT) New Introduction exchange of prisoners and she might be able to join her two children, who had been sent to Australia in May 1941. Jean Gittins was an inspiration to me. Another lady who influenced my writing more recently is Bernice Archer, though I did not meet her until 1991, when she visited Hong Kong to research Stanley Camp.3 At that time Archer was preparing a special study which she wrote in 1992 as part fulfillment of a B.A. at Bristol Polytechnic. She continued her research, and in 1996, she and Kent Fedorowich, of the University of the West of England, Bristol, published a 17-page essay in the Women’s History Review entitled ‘The Women of Stanley: Internment in Hong Kong, 1942–1945’. They pointed out that previous research into civilian internment in the Far East had largely omitted the experiences of women. Their study of women in Stanley broke new ground and showed that internment allowed the women to ‘loosen . . . pre-war social and gender constraints’ and ‘actually promoted self-assurance, individual freedom, and a variety of cohesive female group identities’.4 Archer’s expanded research led to a Ph.D. at the University of Essex and, in 2004, she published The Internment of Western...