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During the fighting itself, in the early days they confined their e fforst at bombing military objectives. Their marksmanship was excellent. I later had an OP
tunity of seeing their maps, they were most uptodate and were drawn to the finest detail. In the latter days, they were not so careful and the planes came down between the streets. machine gu ning the crowds waiting for rice and food.
The troops were using flame throwers in large numbers. Eye witness acounts were told to me of numbers of our men who were literally burning from head to foot enveloped in flames and a description of the men using the flamethrowers was given to me, showing that the Japanese using this method of killing, were dressed in asbestos suits with the mechanical device strapped on to their chests.
Flanes which bombed the Colony came from the direction of Canton, but a large numbe also came from Sancho Island which is off Macao. This was later confir: ed to me in Macao by residents who watched them. I also had an opportunity whilst in Macao of watching the planes take off and land again on Sancho Island. This island was taken by the Japanese some two years ago, and none of the
r sidents have ever been allowed to leave the island. It is very carefully guarded as is the strait between that and the next island. They have built a large base there and nobody actually knows just how large it is nor what it contains. They also shelled Fort Davis from the straits between Sancho Island and Colowan Island, also visible from Macao. Residents told me they watched the cruiser shelling at night, the flashes were plainly visible and on a moonlight night the cruiser could be seen. The Governor of Macao protested on several occasions regarding planes flying over Macao to Hongkong, but no notice whatever was taken.
It is also suggested that the Japanese had their guns already in the territories before the fighting actually started. 9.2 guns were used to shell the island, Co-x com ng from the direction of Sha Tin. 9.2 guns need a cement base, and there was not enough time for the Japanese after they landed to have built in these bases. At Sha Tin there was a Japanese golf course, on which foreigners were not allowed to play and were most unwelcome visitors. In fact I have never seen a foreigner on the course, although I have passed it many times. It is suggested that these guns were already in place either behind the bunkers or that the bunkers were camouflage.
MACAO.
4
The Brit sh Consul in lacao has destroyed his cypher books, his only method of communication is now the ordinary code, which can be broken, and which in fact is so old, the Japanese have probably got copies. It is therefore dangerous for any information of vital importance to be communicated to Macao.
The food situation in Macao is extremely bad. Rice and bread riots had already taken place before I left. There is a large infiltration of Japanese into that port, and they are frequently seen on the streets, dressed in full uniform. 3700 Portuguese refugees had landed in Macao from Hongkong and the difficulty of feeding them was a serious matter, as Macao was dependent on supplies com ng in from Hongkong. Tinned food with the exception of fruit was unobtainable.
My information from Macao was that the Japanese had no intention of trying to take over that ort, but their intention was to turn it over to Wang Ching Wei representatives, with a puppett governor.
I am a taching hereto a list of people in Hongkong, whose fate is already known. Most of those people are known to me, a few of them were added by other men who had escaped from the prison camps.
7th April 1942. Delhi.
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