CO129-590-22 Situation in enemy occupied Hong Kong 19-1-1943 - 20-11-1943 — Page 151

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RAGNAR BRODERSEN Norwegian, 28 years old.

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I have been working with Messrs. Thoresen & Co., Ltd., for the last five years, partly in Bangkok, partly in Hongkong. back to Hongkong August, 1941, taking over the Import Depart. of the Firm. Prior to that, I had been working also in the shipping export and insurance departments. Besides my ordinary work, I was a keen amateur photographer, member of the Photographic Society of Hongkong. Occasionally, I would send articles and photos to newspapers in Norway (before April 1940, of course) and to America. Ref: "LIFE" - 22nd September 1941, Japanese Naval Ships occupying Indo-China. The pictures I took on that occasion were given to the Naval Information Department in Hong Kong and I understand copies were also sent to Singapore.

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When War broke out in December 1941, I joined up with the A.T.S. and was attached to the Telephone Co., whose engineers formed a volunteer section of signal men. I was Captain WALTER CLARK'S chauffeur and we were driving practically all around the island every day, visiting the various signal posts, and inspecting damage caused by bombing or shelling. When the Japanese occupied the City of Hongkong on 26th December, 1941, I was staying with the Telephone Co's people in Exchange Building. Everybody in the building were interned, regardless of nationality. We had to go up on the roof at 7.a.m. doing physical exercises every morning and had more or less an order of the day to follow. however, generally well treated, having three solid meals a day in Cafe' Wiseman. When the British, Americans and Dutch were sent to the Chinese hotels for internment, they allowed all Third Nationals in Exchange Building to go back to their homes, if there was any- thing left to go back to. As my flat in Conduit Road had been taken by a Japanese Civilian, I was allowed to stay on in Exchange Building until I joined four other Norwegians and took a house on Bowen Road. One of mess mates was Mrs. TUI BERG, a trained nurse, Australian born, married to a Norwegian, SVERRE BERG. The latter was a volunteer in the 2nd Battery and was wounded in the arm. His wife used to go to the Military Hospital every week handing in parcels, until he was transferred to SHAMSHUIPO Camp. I under- stand the treatment and food at the Hospital are better than in the Camps, as Mrs. SELWYN-CLARKE, assisted by Mrs. BERG, Mrs. ODELL, Miss HAHN, and others, handed in considerable quantities of food and medecines every week, to a value of about 1,400 or H.K. $5,600. The financial side was arranged by Dr. SELWYN-CLARKE. general state of health at SHAMSHUIPO has been rather bad, with a high percentage of deaths and sickness. The small field hospital inside the Camp is full, and only in very serious cases patients

From our are sent over to Bowen Road and very often too late. house in Bowen Road, we used to see coffins covered with the Union Jack being carried out of the Hospital quite frequently and buried on the hillside.

The

In July, 1942, the value of the Hongkong Dollars depreciated to the rate of 4 to 1, and the Military. Yen has since been the only acceptable currency for payment of Government bills, tram, bus and ferry fares, etc. Prices went up suddenly after the drop in exchange sometimes twice or three times in Yen compared with previous quotations in Dollars.

A tin costing $2 before would be priced at Y4 or Y6, thus putting the cost of living for those who had to depend on a limited amount of Hongkong dollars to an extremely high level. Shortage of food was beginning to be acute, and before and during the Chinese New Year, there was practically no meat, pork and fish in the arket. There was a ration scheme for rice, flour, sugar and peanut oil, as follows:

Rice.