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91.
A. General
B. Administration
C. Population
TABLE OF CONTENTS
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D. Vital Statistics
E. Deficiency Diseases ...
F. General Measures of Sanitation
G. Investigative Division
H. Hospitals, Outpatients' Departments
I. Refugee Settlements
J. School Hygiene
K. Port Health Work
L. Summary
APPENDIX I.
APPENDIX II.
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Vital Statistics for Stanley Civilian Internment Camp.
An account by Dr. D. J. Valentine of the organization of medical services in Staniey Internment Camp.
APPENDIX III. An account by Dr. N. C. MacLeod of the organization
of health services in Stanley Internment Camp.
APPENDIX IV. An account by Miss M. S. Watson of the work of the International Welfare Committee in Stanley Internment Camp.
Gadok
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Report by the Director of Medical Services on Medical and Health Conditions in Hong Kong for the period 1st January, 1942 to 31st August, 1945. A. General
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During the period covered by this report the Japanese Forces were in occupation of the Colony of Hong Kong. News of the rescript of the Emperor of Japan to his troops indicating that Japan had agreed to the terms of the Potsdam Declaration and would surrender unconditionally was received in Hong Kong on the 18th August, 1945. It was not possible however, to leave the internment camps until ten days later; and another ten days elapsed before the British Fleet arrived and the Japanese medical authorities were willing to hand over their functions. The actual surrender of Hong Kong was not formally signed until the 6th September.
It was the policy of the invading forces to destroy as far as possible all evidence of the previous British Government, statues of our Royal Sovereigns, British street names and direction posts, and even Government House itself (constructed in the reign of Queen Victoria) were removed or dismantled. In this holocaust of things British/ departmental records were also destroyed. In parenthesis, it might be mentioned that this mania for destruction of records was even carried to the extent of one Japanese group handing over to another when, not only were all documents burned but even typewriters, desks and other office furniture enjoyed a like fate, so that the incoming group found bare rooms and empty file cabinets.
This feature is stressed to account for the relative sparcity of facts and figures in the following pages of this report.
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of the wil Adumanistration In point of fact, following the demands of the writer made after the collapse of the Japanese resistance in Hong Kong, the Chief of Staff (Mr. K. Rakumany handed over what he described as the complete available records of the Japanese Medical Department in Hong Kong for the period January, 1942- August, 1945, in a single small envelope, stating that all the remaining data had been destroyed. We think they were annihilated by the war's havoc ! Despite the foregoing it is satisfactory to be able to state that a number of medical and health records were hidden away in safety by underground workers in the British interests. Documents saved included about 80 per cent. of the registers of birth and deaths from 1871 to 1941, over 90 per cent. of the library of the Medical Department, the registers of medical practitioners and a certain number of current documents relating to births, deaths, infectious diseases, etc., occurring in the occupation period.
B. Administration
At the surrender of Hong Kong to the Japanese invaders on the 25th December, 1941, the writer sought for, and obtained, permission from the Japanese Military Commander to continue to collect wounded, bury dead and attend to the medical and health needs of the community. Details relating to these activities are included in the appendix to this report.
On the 1st January, 1942, a Japanese Medical Department came into being (at least on paper) under Colonel T. Eguchi, but the bulk of the administrative and executive work continued to be carried on until the end of February, 1942 when all the European members of the department with the exception of a small skeleton cadre were interned following the escape into China of Dr. King. This group consisted of two Health Officers, one Medical Officer,
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