The Lone Flag: Memoir of the British Consul in Macao during World War II

Chapter I: The Beginning

The unbelievable had happened, the unbelievable inevitable, and Japan had attacked. True enough we had all realized that she would, sooner or later, but I, for one, had placed the attack inaccurately; I had expected it between Christmas and New Year 1941 when, I argued wrongly, the Japanese would expect the foreigners in the East to be concentrating more on parties, and on recovery from them, than on defence. But Pearl Harbour had happened, as one of the communities had heard on the radio at 7.30 and telephoned to me. The first bombs were about to fall on Hongkong, forty miles away. Two British ships had left Macao for Hongkong at 3 a.m. and nothing could be done about them. One, the SS Saion remained and was due to sail at eight.1 I pulled trousers over my pyjamas and clutched an overcoat. Luckily the car was not suffering from winter sluggishness and I tore through town with my fingers on the horn, earning for myself then, perhaps, the unjustified reputation of being the most dangerous driver in the Colony. I stopped the Saion from sailing, requesting the Captain to wireless Commodore Hongkong for confirmation. Commodore’s reply was succinct “Stay where you are”. My action and Commodore’s confirmation was frankly not popular with certain members of the Community who, very understandably, wished to rejoin families in Hongkong or who desired to aid in the defence of the beleaguered Colony. Hot words were exchanged but I hope and believe that I have now been forgiven for the only action which appeared right to me. One cadet of the Malayan Civil Service had been recalled to Hongkong the night before.2 The Governor, who heard of the recall, had said at eleven the night before “This means war”. He was right, only too right, but all I Chapter I The Beginning The Lone Flag 12 could do at that stage was to ask the cadet in question, R.G.K. Thompson,3 to advise my wife,4 still in Hongkong for Christmas shopping, to return immediately. The message never reached her and, even if it had done so, she could not have returned; no ships, naturally, could leave Hongkong, already under fire. The next step was to move all papers from the Immigration Office on the Praia Grande up to my house and Consulate, which was, inappropriately , next door to that of my Japanese colleague.5 This was accomplished in the morning. One Chinese optimistically applied for an Immigration Office Permit to enter Hongkong. I am afraid his two dollar expenditure was wasted. The Immigration Office, usually packed with a milling mob, was deserted and some of the staff, very sensibly, settled down to play cards. There seemed nothing else to do. Indeed that seemed the case for all of us for the next three weeks;6 there was nothing to do. Communication was virtually cut off and no one wanted the services of a Consul who could do nothing. The Fletchers,7 whose son was in Hongkong,8 and Mrs. Mitchell, whose husband was second-in-command of the Volunteers in the Colony,9 reacted magnificently. They were determined to show the Japanese, of whom there were many in Macao, that our little Community was not down-hearted. A round of cocktail parties was organized and some, at least, used to drop in at the Consulate for an eleven o’clock sherry, while the sherry lasted. For the rest, our feelings were individual in reaction to the sounds of the conflict, plainly heard in Macao, where, indeed, windows would rattle in reply to some particularly big explosions. The wireless was nothing but depressing, bringing unrelieved news of defeat. Gradually friendly stations in the East went off the air and Japanese cackle was all we could hear. Depressing and discouraging it was, but this is perhaps not an inappropriate place to pay my small tribute of praise to the British Community of Macao and its genuine friends, none of whom ever, even in the blackest days, showed anything but courage and faith in ultimate victory. They were at all times magnificent and I am proud to have been associated with them. The Beginning 13 Hongkong fell on Christmas Day after a gallant defence in which many lives were lost unnecessarily.10 It will always be a point of discussion as to whether the Colony was defensible...