HONG KONG, after its occupation by the Japanese.
Report: December 25th 1941 to March 22nd 1942.
General Situation. Dec. Jan.
Reasons for Fear.
Dec.
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Jan.
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Dec. Jan. Feb.
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Re-organising Work.
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Immediately after its surrender, inhabitants in the Colony were dazed with fear. No one seemed able to think or talk coherently.
1. Enemy occupation of homes, both European
and Chinese.
Upon landing, Japanese soldiers entered houses and took possession. Tenants were forced to leave; in many cases without their personal belongings. Some unfortunate people were kept prisoners in their own homes and compelled to cook for, and serve the soldiers.
2. Looting.
Looters were well armed with pistols, knives etc., picked up from the streets.
(Ammunition, guns, steel helmets, uniform and suchlike were hastily discarded and thrown everywhere by volunteers, police and watchmen when they saw the Enemy landing.) Many private houses and public institutions had their window frames, doors and floor planks removed, for use as fuel.
3. Humiliation and ill-treatment.
Many individuals were slapped and kicked about for no conceivable reason. Europeans working in hospitals were frequently marched around the compounds and poked in the back by soldiers with bayonets.
A Chinese man walking in the streets may suddenly find himself pushed to the ground and told to kneel for an indefinite period. (This happened often in 'the less crowded thoroughfares. Ex. Shaukiwan). Guards, standing at certain sections to search passers-by, often beat men on the head with the butt of their guns. Women 'had a hard time at the hands of some of these searchers. 4. Raping.
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Women had to dress themselves as poor beggar-maids or dirty servant-girls to escape notice. Some cut their hair and wore men's clothing. Soldiers broke into houses, asking for girls with permanent waves.
Even hospitals were not respected.
(Soldiers got into the Jockey Club Hospital, Happy Valley, and outraged some of the nurses there.
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By Jan. 20th 1942, trams, buses and ferries resumed service.
The water supply was restored and most telephones were repaired.
Streets were swept, 'corpses were allowed to be buried. (In the French Hospital, Causeway Bay, the Japanese Officer-in-charge would not permit the burial of the dead for over a fortnight. The mortuary was packed and stank to high heavens when finally he got a European to collect the bodies.)
Japanese/
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