210
The air raid siren sounded and I went out to the front
terrace.
I had just finished breakfast and it was 8 a.m. on
the 8th of Dec. 1941.
My house-boy William came out with me, and, quite unperturbed,
pointed out three enemy planes over Kai Tak.
There were four
Smoke and
splashes beside a large ship lying close in shore and then,
appreciably later, the detonation of the explosions.
dust were rising from somewhere in Yaumati.
We watched the Japanese planes diving on Kai Tak for some
time: they seemed to disregard the desultory fire from the
It was a calm ground and came low, using their machine guns. brilliant morning. Sampans and junks crowded the still harbour
and all around Chinese were about their usual business.
returning from market with their string bundles basked in the
Coolies
sun as they slowly climbed the Peak, and I saw amahs hanging out
Parties of women and children washing in nearby gardens.
filtered along the forest paths in the never-ending search for firewood, and a gang of P.W.D. road-menders settled lie surely with their tools round the inevitable excavations in the road-way.
After a while I got out my car and drove down town.
Half-way down Magazine Gap Road a Chinese in the smart green
uniform of the A.R.P. stopped me and said it was forbidden to
move during a raid. So I got out and watched our A.A. guns
firing at the raiders, whose number had now increased to about
a/