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1
70
Bombs were rarely heavier than 100 kilos. and shells generally of 77 and 150 mms.
7
•
The Ambulance Service was also very effective and the Chinese stretcher bearers worked very well indeed.
quads
}
8.
The Rescue and Demolition Squad under the orders of the Director of' Public Works, Colonel Pearce, assisted by Mr. Patterson, P.W.D. Engineer, was also very efficient. My squad at Depot No. 1, to which I was attached, saved 17 persons and the 5 other under the command of. Messrs. Weller, Graye, Holland, Reynolds and Tu-tak-ham, rescued about the same proportion each. In the course of my duties I had to assist in taking out the bodies of a number of Indian soldiers who had been killed and buried under the ruins of the building which was being used as the Headquarters of the volunteers. The building was in Peak Road, near the Peak Road tram stop. This building received a direct hit from a heavy bomb, probably 200 or 300 kilograms; being badly built it was completely demolished and of the 250 Indian soldiers who were in it, about 100 took refuge in Government Tunnel. They were so overcome by fear that it was impossible to get them to come out for 5 days. All the others were killed. Our squad succeeded with great difficulty in getting out 16 bodies from under the ruins. The remainder were covered with lime.
9.
The Governor of Hong Kong, His Excellency Sir Mark Young, visited the scene while rescue work was on; he was extremely friendly, very attentive, calm and decided and also very optimistic and he impressed me strongly with his calm courage and resolution. very sorry to learn that the Japanese keep him in solitary confinement at the Peninsular Hotel.
I was
10. The work of Naval and Military Demolition Squads was absolutely ineffective. No essential service was interrupted for more than a week. The Naval dockyard was working as before and the dry dock was not in any way damaged. The Naval Work Shops at Kowloon, the electric power station and the ferry were all working normally. I would here say that no British technical staff co-operated with the Japanese. In the Japanese newspaper "Hongkong News" which has taken the place of the "South China Morning Post", it is obvious that a British subject is collaborating. It is, however, impossible to say who this is or to give the names of any other collaborators.
11. The fall of Hong Kong after only a semblance of defence of 19 days surprised many people. It would appear that the defence was not as thorough as it should have been; there was little co-operation, no offensive spirit men were badly trained, living in too much comfort and knowing nothing about the nature of the battle area. The troops were also allowed too much
alcohol.
12. Immediately after the armistice the Chinese set about looting systematically all European houses and caused more damage than the Japanese bombardment. The contempt of the Chinese for the whites has become more and more marked after the fall of Hong Kong and Singapore.
13. I left Hong Kong without difficulty on the 16th of March. I had to leave my wife there. I feel that as from April 1st it would be very difficult for a neutral to live there. All Consulates were shut on the 9th of March by the orders of the Japanese Governor, and the French Consul, Mr. Reynaud, who did everything he could to assist Free Frenchmen to escape, helped me and my friend Captain Chevillard. The journey from Hỏng Kong to Fort Bayard (Kwang Chun Wan) was made on board the s.s. Shirogane Maru and
d we arrived on
on the morning of the 18th. Thanks to the help of a friend at
Fort
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