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8. Shortly after the outbreak of war all the male officers of the Prisons Service volunteered for duty with the fighting forces. The European officers were formed into an auxiliary unit of the Hong Kong Volunteer Defence Corps and put through a course of training under army instructors followed by field exercises. The Indian officers were formed into a Special Guard Company to be called upon for duty in case of emergency.
9. The outbreak of war necessitated the taking of many precautionary measures not normally connected with prison administration. For instance, detailed A.R.P. orders had to be issued and tests carried out sometimes in conjunction with Colony-wide blackouts and sometimes separately.
II. STAFF.
10. On 15th March Lieut. Commander W. H. L. Harrison R.N. (retired) arrived from Kenya Colony to fill the vacant post of Superintendent of Hong Kong Prison.
11. The authorized establishment of subordinate staff for 1939 was:
Male Staff Female Officers Total Subordinate Staff European Officers 73 Indian Officers 226 Chinese Staff 62 361 28 38912. Within a few days of the outbreak of war Lt. Comdr. Harrison was called up for service with the Royal Navy and Mr. J. W. FitzGerald, Acting Chief Warder, was appointed Acting Superintendent in the absence of Mr. H. Barrett, Chief Warder, on leave. The latter officer returned from leave and became Acting Superintendent on 23rd December, when Mr. FitzGerald reverted to Acting Chief Warder.
13. Whilst on leave in the United Kingdom Mr. H. Barrett attended the annual course of study in prison administration under the auspices of the Home Office.
14. The following table shows the number of reports against members of the staff and the nature of the punishment inflicted in consequence:
Punishment Europeans Indians Chinese Wardresses Dismissed 2 1 Reduced in rank 12 2 Increment deferred 2 Increment stopped 1 Fined from $10 to $25 $5 to $10 2 2 $1 to $5 1 4 3 less than $1 5 Extra duty 3 6 1 Reprimanded 3 5 9 1 36 59 1 20