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who was in the hotel has sung his praises and I know it, their sincere hope and wish that he will get recognition for his great bravery.
hope
At noon on December 22nd, Mr. Shields came to me and told me that it was impossible for headquarters in town or in Stanley to send us any re- inforcements and that it had been agreed that the best thing to do was to evacuate the soldiers in the middle of the night and to surrended to the Japanese as civilians in the morning. This was approved by head- quarters in town and in Stanley. During the two days before, the ambu- lances from Stanley had been getting through and the severe cases of wounded were taken away. During the morning of December 23rd, between the hours of two and four o'clock, the fighting men were all evacuated in their stocking feet with their boots tied around their necks. They necessarily left their equipment in the hotel. The majority of people in the hotel had no idea of the plans for surrender and it was only the fifty people who had been up every night and carrying on the work in the hospital and kitchens who knew the plans. After the soldiers had been e- vacuated, it was a dreary wait until dawn, when the white flag was put out. We heard a few shots, and Mr. Shields said, "Here they come." He opened the door into the courtyard and, with a white flag in one hand and the other raised high, walked out and called to the Japanese in a clear voice to come in, that there were no soldiers, and only civilians there. It was a terrifying moment, for I expected him to be shot. How- ever, two Japanese soldiers approached him and, with their bayonets at his chest, searched him. They then came into the hotel and asked for cig- arettes, which we gave them. They went away, saying that they would re- turn, and within a half hour, they came back in force. By that time a few more in the hotel had filtered down, but the majority of the people were still in their rooms. They drove us at the point of bayonets to the front of the Eu Tong Sen Castle. While we were being ariven there, they searched our pockets and, in some cases, valuables were taken. They also trained their machine guns on us. Some of them were making whips out of bamboo poles and others were building contraptions that looked like stakes. This was all done to terrify us. When we were finally lined up, we were told that all British and Americans were to step forward. Mr. Shields called to Major Manners and Mr. Seth, and the three men stood forward in front of us and told the Japanese interpreter that they were representing us and would answer any questions. The General, through his interpreter, asked many questions as to why we were there, why we were not fighting for our countries and why our soldiers had gone off and left us. He gave us a very severe lecture and told us that as long as our own soldiers did not take care of us, the Japanese would, and that we were in their custody for safety. In the meantime, we were told to put all our posses- sions in front of us, and they searched us in a very disagreeable manner, but no money and very few possessions were taken. We were sent back to the hotel and the men ordered to carry all the equipment left by our sol- diers to the front of the hotel. Following this, they took our names, occupations, etcetera, and allowed us to have a meal which Miss Mattheson, manageress of the hotel, had ordered prepared for us. We were then sent to our rooms. No supper was served to us that night. The next morning before
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