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wiring and piping ripped out. The ravage was so extensive that many people in the camp thought it must be part of a deliberate policy on the part of the Japanese. This I doubt: whatever pickings there were to be had the Japanese wanted for themselves, and I think the true explanation is simply that they could not at first spare enough men for effective policing. The looters were dangerous, and a party of five Swedes who were foolhardy enough to remain on the Peak were murdered.
It was not long before the Japanese themselves entered into competition with the Chinese looters, but on an official basis. Foodstuffs were their first objective, followed by metals of all kinds and medical stores. Hongkong had been stocked with supplies for 6 months: it held out for only 18 days, so enormous stocks fell into Japanese hands and these were shipped off to Japan as fast as they could be loaded. Of the Hongkong Dairy Farm's herd of 1500 cattle, over 1000 had been shipped away by the end of March.
All the European members of the Police Force were interned at Stanley. The Sikhs and Chinese accepted service under the Japanese. The guards round the internment camp and the gaol warders were principally Sikhs. If drawn into conversation, they would say they must work for the Japanese or starve; but Pennyfeather-Evans, the Chief of Police, told me that the Sikhs had been practically in a state of mutiny during the last days of the fighting.
As regards the Chinese or semi-Chinese members of the Legislative Council, Sir Robert Hotung was, I think, in Macao when the war broke out. He subsequently returned to Hongkong, but I do not know what line he took or what became of him. Sir Shouson Chow, Mr. Kotewall, and Mr. M.K. Lo joined the "Rehabilitation Committee" set up by the Japanese and had to attend official ceremonies such as receptions for the Japanese Governor. Lo, who met A.J. Evans on the street one day shortly after the Japanese occupation, told him that he had at first refused, and that he had then been imprisoned without food till he gave way. I have no doubt similar measures were taken with the others.
I have already referred to the eviction of the staff and patients from Queen Mary Hospital and the War Memorial Nursing Home. The Matilda Hospital was cleared at the same time. Japanese wounded were pouring into Hongkong from other places, and it is clear the Japanese needed all the accommodation and the medical supplies they could get for their own.