72 years ago: Hong Kong's wartime diaries |
- 1 Jan 1943, R. E. Jones Wartime diary
- 1 Jan 1943, Harry Ching's wartime diary
- 1 Jan 1943, Chronology of Events Related to Stanley Civilian Internment Camp
| 1 Jan 1943, R. E. Jones Wartime diary Posted: 08 Jan 2013 01:55 AM PST Book / Document: Date(s) of events described: Fri, 1 Jan 1943 Nice day. Monthly I.R.C. rations issued. Children's Party during afternoon. Concert by Co Optimists PM. Extention of curfew to 9PM. Played MaJong with Steve. Ended with G. Lousy. Wonderful start for the New Year. |
| 1 Jan 1943, Harry Ching's wartime diary Posted: 23 Mar 2013 01:41 AM PDT Book / Document: Date(s) of events described: Fri, 1 Jan 1943 New Year's Eve deadly quiet. Contrast against noisy crackers and revelry of other years. Bleak weather. Cold. Using more electricity. Firewood is wet, heavy and hard to burn. Eating plenty corn these days. Everybody buying corn mixing with flour. $1.35 catty. Later price rises to $1.60, then to $1.80. Word spreads and profiteers quick to take advantage of any demand. |
| 1 Jan 1943, Chronology of Events Related to Stanley Civilian Internment Camp Posted: 12 Dec 2013 02:15 AM PST Book / Document: Date(s) of events described: Fri, 1 Jan 1943 Maryknoll Sisters Mary Christella and Mary Eucharista, who stayed behind to help Fathers Hessler and Murphy (see September 12, 1942), are released from Camp some time between Christmas and the end of January. Sister Mary Eucharista described the situation outside: Their truck passed Wanchai, and they noticed the absence of cars or buses on the road. At the foreign affairs office, the Sisters received temporary passes and applied for regular passes. In the beginning, Mary Eucharista was not sure how much freedom she could have though she was released. Soon, she realized that, 'if you walked alone as if you were sure no one would question your right to do so, there was much less danger of being troubled than if you looked the least bit uneasy or frightened.' Only once when she was out on the street she was asked for her pass. There were more damages of war in Wanchai than Central. The further 'along the water front toward St. Paul's Hospital and North Point, where the Japanese made their first landing on Hong Kong, the more war scars there were.' On the Kowloon side, it was a tragic scene. As described - 'Shells of once lovely houses now stand stripped of doors, window frames, floors, not to mention furniture.'
It's a grim picture of a crime-ridden, neglected, dying city - one which tallies with almost every other description of the occupation. Nevertheless, as the new year begins, the 100 or so 'white' Allied civilians still living in Hong Kong - most of them health workers at St. Paul's Hospital or bankers at the Sun Wah Hotel - are still probably a little better off than the internees in Stanley, as they have a small degree of freedom and access to a larger black market to supplement supplies. One of the bankers, Andrew Leiper, reports that about this time (December 1942 or January 1943) they use the excuse of needing a reserve of workers because of illness to get 6 of their fellows out from Stanley 'so that they might benefit from our slightly better conditions'. They try to get 6 men out from Shamshuipo too, but the Kempeitai are furious: these men killed many brave Japanese and shamefullly surrendered - they will not be released. Sources: Maryknoll: Cindy Yik-yi Chu, The Maryknoll Sisters in Hong Kong, 2004, 58-59 Bankers: Andrew Leiper, A Yen For My Thoughts, 1983, 158-159 |
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