Thursday, April 17, 2014

72 years ago: Hong Kong's wartime diaries

72 years ago: Hong Kong's wartime diaries

18 Apr 1942, Barbara Anslow's diary

Posted: 24 Jan 2012 04:55 AM PST

Book / Document: 
Barbara Anslow's diary
Date of events described: 
Sat, 1942-04-18

Less to eat than ever:  cooking (Married Q) dreadful; more kitchen squabbles there . Everyone fed up and starving.  One foot seems going to sleep.

18 Apr 1942, R. E. Jones Wartime diary

Posted: 13 Mar 2012 12:32 AM PDT

Book / Document: 
R. E. Jones Wartime diary
Date of events described: 
Sat, 1942-04-18

Rotten weather.

Cookhouse all day.

Parcels arriving OK.

18 Apr 1942, Chronology of Events Related to Stanley Civilian Internment Camp

Posted: 14 Feb 2013 05:53 AM PST

Book / Document: 
Chronology of Events Related to Stanley Civilian Internment Camp
Date of events described: 
Sat, 1942-04-18

The 'Doolittle' raids take place today: American bombers launch attacks on targets in Tokyo, Yokohama, Kobe and other major Japanese cities. Although not of great military significance, they are valuable for propaganda and morale-raising purposes, as they are the first time that the main islands of Japan have been hit.

 

News of the raids seems to have taken a few days to reach the internees. On April 22 R. E. Jones records 'Japan bombed?' and the next day he makes an inaccurate note of the damage done.

 

American missionary John Bechtel was later to claim that the Japanese-sponsored Hong Kong News was not delivered in Camp, or not produced at all, on this day because of the raids.  The American bombers arrived over Tokyo at about noon Japanese time so it's possible that it was April 19 that the paper didn't arrive.

Source:

Bechtel: John Bechtel, Fetters Fall, 1945, 220
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