CONFIDENTIAL
1111 Beaver Hall Hill
Montreal,
6th December, 1943.
42
E. D. Robbins
Mr. Robbins was recruited from Shanghai in 1940 as a Health Inspector on a three year agreement. He holds the diploma of R.S.I. in London.
lir. Robbins, who is accompanied by his wife and child, appeared to be in good health and is anxious to preserve his place in the Colonial Service and to undertake any duties which may be assigned to him either in the Far East or elsewhere;
he is, however, particularly interested in reconstruction work in Hong Kong and wishes to return there in due course.
While in Stanley Camp he tells me that lir. H. Pegg of the P.W.D. offered him
lir. Robbins a post-war job in the Hong Kong P.W.D. as a constructional engineer. holds a diploma of some sort in construction work but I do not know exactly what. Two reports which Mr. Robbins wrote on the Gripsholm are appended; there is nothing new in them but they may be useful to fill in some of the details.
lir. Robbins will report to Ottawa and await further instructions. He is anxious about his financial situation and would be glad if it could be cleared up as soon as possible.
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In conversation with me, Mr. Robbins confirmed everything that has been said about the gravity of the situation at Stanley as regards disease and malnutrition. Like the others, he thought that although up to now morale has been high it was due for a slump this coming winter unless some radical improvements could be introduced.
Lir. Robbins is a soft-ball enthusiast and seems to have organised many of the games in the camp. K. Nakazawa, the Japanese Camp Superintendent, is also interested in soft-ball and frequently took part in the camp games. He also bought, apparently with his own money, additional soft-ball equipment for the use of the internees.
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