COPY.
SI
No. 6
16
MATHEON & CO. LIMIT D,
·3, Lombard street,
London, F.C.3.
JULY 1942.
The highspot of this month's Circular is a letter from David Bosanquet written after his escape from Hongkong• He could say nothing about the method of escape or of his route to Free China in case the letter should fall inte Japanese hands and so interfere with the plans of others. Bosanquet's letter is intensely interesting and is produced in full:-
"Since the Geds have been kind and given me a helpin; hand to get out of Hongkong, I feel, and it was also supposted by John Keswick, that the least I could do would be to give axe firsthand news of those still there, which you could pass an to their relations as and when possible,
To start from the beginning of the end, if you see what I moun, the island was splis in two by the Japs, and I myself together with Harshall, Butler, Hopkins, Hammond and Harrop, finished în tanley Fort. The remainder of J.'s people were the other side of the island, and I know little of what happened to them in the early days after the surrender altho' wo dià compare notes when eventually all the Volunteers were collected in one spot.
For those who do not know Hongkong, tanley Port uns bʊlt at the end of a lon dah peninsular, on the east south east side of the island, primarily against attack from the sea; bartaoka and married quarters most of which we cocupied, were quite comfortable, in fact, compared to many we were lucky. The weather was perfect, as it can be inecerber, and we lazed in the sun welcoming the rest. For three days we speculated upon our fate; every sort of suggestion was put forward, and some of the real optimists even went so far as to say that the Jape would leave us in : tanley, but it was not to be, for we had our marching orders the third evening, and set off the following morning with what we could carry, to march some twelve miles almost into Hongkong itself.
Our home, or call it what you will, for the next three weeks, was to be huts, which we ourselves had built for Chinese refugees, Kany times have I passed that camp and felt that altho' it was not at all bad for the very low class Chinese, whose standard of living leaves mach to be donirod, I should have hated the idea of having to live there myself; I know many others did just the
BAMO.
Pell, here we were about to live there, and under far worse conditions than the refugees, for the huts had been knocked about quite a bit during the fighting, and had subsequently been used as a Japs horse hospital, which moved out almost as we moved in. Flies, we had aʊen pletires of what they could do in Libyn, and the results of their anti-fly campaign, but I realion with their squipment we could have run them pretty ɑloso.
There was a all outbreak of dysentery, but as far as I can remember, none of our people got it, exeert myself, or if they did, it mò a very slight attack. espite this, and the fact that we were living 175 per hut, instead of 0, which was the number of refugees per hut under our rule, and also despite many peoples lack of clothing or feeding implements, the Volunteers in particular, were very cheery, and we settled ourselves down as best we could. Gerry Farahall, I resember, was very short of clothes, but after a few days I managed to
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