CAPTIVE SURGEON IN HONG KONG
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on the same day. Our funerals remained dignified affairs and Mr. Squires usually carried out the appropriate services, though not infrequently a committal service was read by a co-religionist of the deceased. By January 1943, Mr. Campbell, our quartermaster, expressed anxiety about the number of blankets being lost as shrouds. His concern was justified, and thenceforward sacking was used for this purpose. All deaths were reported formally to the Japanese. I do know that on at least two occasions, deaths which occurred in the hospital had not been reported by them to relatives in Stanley or in Hong Kong itself for many months. I do not know whether notification of any of our deaths was made through the Red Cross and eventually reported to the relatives at home. Most men who died, indeed most patients, had few personal possessions. In the case of those who died, any useful article of clothing, boots, etc. was given by us to others in need. Usually, the dead man had a personal friend in the hospital to whom I usually entrusted such articles as photographs, an occasional ring, and so on.
Early in the year, our sappers, aided by some R.A.M.C. men, set to work to repair structural damage to the hospital, the result of enemy action during hostilities. Roofs were re-tiled, holes in walls were closed, the walls of the recreation room were colour-washed, and other walls whitewashed. The Hospital Fund paid for the whitewash. The Japanese encouraged us in these enterprises and even brought in some Chinese workmen to plaster the roof of the recreation room and paint the walls. The weather-proofing of wards and recreation room, the replacement of glass in broken windows, and some redecoration brought about a change for the better in our conditions. During May, we had 8.9 inches of rain, but the repairs had been well done, and we remained reasonably dry. By these improvements, the Japanese could provide more evidence to their inspecting officers and to the Red Cross of their efforts to provide suitable surroundings for sick and wounded prisoners of war. In our turn, we who profited directly by these works began to have a little more confidence in our future as a hospital, though I think many of us, like myself, retained an awareness of the Japanese capacity to change by a sudden decision what had seemed to be a firm policy.
Mail, in the form of cards in which the number of words allowed was limited to about 25, I think, came to us through Japanese sources at irregular intervals throughout 1943. A few, for example,