COPY
No. 419.
My dear Morse,
HONGKONG & SHANGHAI BANKING CORPORATION.
CALCUTTA.
3rd April, 1942.
212
CONDITIONS IN HONGKONG
I enclose a letter received from the Chief Censor, Calcutta, addressed to you by Mr. B. Proulx, which speaks for itself.
she
I had a talk with Miss Harrap the other morning; was in the Hongkong Government's service and is one of the main sources of information about conditions as they were in Hongkong up to about the end of January; I have also seen other excerpts from statements of various escapees and none of these support the rumours mentioned by Mr. Proulx in the second paragraph of his letter, in fact Miss Harrap told me that she saw Grayburn shortly before she left and he was in good health and not subject to any specially harsh treatment then. The only other comment I have to make is about Mrs. Black. I was told definitely that Mrs. Black was not with Dr. Black at Stanley and that she and her daughter are both safe and unharmed.
This
I confirm my wire of yesterday to you as attached. embodies to the best of my ability and judgment the information I have had from Miss Harrap and the other reports I have seen.
Miss Harrap was very definite that interned civilians were not being harshly treated by the Japanese up to the time she left and she described the enemy's attitude as 'disregarding' towards the European civilians in their hands.
Unfortunately it seems beyond doubt that bad atrocities were committed before control was obtained by the Japanese authorities, but it does not appear that these were continued.
Lack of proper food seems to have been a great hardship and it is stated that two bowls of rice and a little vegetable was the ordinary daily ration, and this was of course quite insuf- ficient, but later reports indicate that rations have been increased by the addition of some fish and sometimes a little meat.
I asked Miss Harrap where the internees were lodged in Stanley and she told me in a convent, in some club buildings and in some bungalows - not in the jail. She told me there was no furniture except camp beds and lack of medicines is a great hardship, as dysentry was rife, but she told me that just before she left mosquito nets and blankets were being provided and I have heard from another source that some medicines were also being made available.
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