institutions was another of the problems encountered by Dr. Selwyn-Clarke. In the early days both the St. Francis Foundling Home and the Canossa Convent and Hospital, which were then still open, were in need of supplies and these they received up till April, 1943. This was of considerable importance as these institutions housed large numbers of wives and families of British prisoners-of-war, internees and also destitutes. When further supplies were no longer obtainable for these institutions, no great hardship was encountered as some of the individuals concerned were by that time being supplied with funds for immediate purchases and also he had arranged for the orphans, etc., to draw rations from the controlled depots.
The question of supplies was nothing as compared with the many other intricate little duties Dr. Selwyn-Clarke was called upon to perform on behalf of the staff of these hospitals, etc. It is very difficult to detail these many duties but they were mainly connected with the supply of free light, fuel, gas and water which he eventually secured after much time spent with Japanese officers. This free supply continued up to the time of his arrest and it is to be hoped will continue for some time to come. At all times
so
of the day and night he was bothered by petty requests (especially from the St. Francis and Canossa sisters) and I know of no occasion where he failed to receive these persons in his usual courteous manner and was always able to advise and help them to the best of his ability. On several occasions, in order to save the sisters the trouble of visiting inoculation and vaccination centres, he himself undertook the work of dealing with as many as 800 persons at any one time. He was also able to arrange for the reopening of the King's Park Refugee Camp in Kowloon in order that the refugees, the majority of whom were children, would not be homeless, and although at that time he was ill and in no condition to walk any distance, he undertook the journey of escorting the Japanese Authorities on foot to the camp in question.
(v) Health work.
In the early stages following the cessation of hostilities the greater part of Dr. Selwyn-Clarke's time was taken up in the reopening of the health service, but as he became more and more involved with camp and relief work, he gradually left this work more in the hands of the European health staff. This staff, however, continually referred to him when in difficulty. Having little to do with this side of his work I can say nothing beyond the fact that the Japanese appeared to leave most of the health work to him and to his assistants.
(vi) Destitutes (other than British).
It is most unfortunate that because the Japanese would not permit him to interfere, Dr. Selwyn-Clarke was unable to render much assistance to the many thousands of Chinese destitutes in Hong Kong. Thousands of these poor individuals have died or been forcibly removed by the Japanese in the past year and a half, and had he been able to help many lives would have been saved.
Although he was informed that he was not permitted to help third nationals, he did at least make some effort to help the destitutes and I think these efforts are worth some mention. Most of the so called third nationals were able to arrange for the appointment of special committees these committees undertook all details connected with food supplies, etc., for their own communities. This did not,
however,
and