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My own surmise was that the authorities realised that I was going downhill (I might have survived for, perhaps, two months longer) and that they did not want to be further embarrassed with questions from Tokyo, stimulated by London through Geneva. The Japanese had received a vigorous protest when the Chief Manager and the Manager of the Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation had died of malnutrition and neglect in the same prison. Both the deceased had given invaluable help in raising funds for the care of prisoners of war, civilian internees and their families, and deaths shocked the whole community profoundly.
As you can well imagine, it was a real red letter day when I rejoined my wife (now white haired) and my little daughter after rather over nineteen months in prison.
After my release and internment, I served for the next seven months as the one and only doctor-dentist-obstetrician in a camp made up of 15 different nationalities. My wife was senior mistress in the little camp school. During this period, there were a number of impressive air raids on Hong Kong and Kowloon by land- based aircraft from the Philippines and Free China and from carriers forming part of task forces in the China Sea. Shipbuilding and repairing were brought to a standstill. Large sections of the city near the docks were obliterated. Naval vessels, transports and tankers were sunk and the blockade of Hong Kong by the allies became practically complete.
During these raids, hospital buildings were sometimes hit and casualties occurred in both prisoners of war and civilian internment camps.
In all cases, however, military objectives were not far away from the places struck. In spite of such casualties, both British and Chinese welcomed the raids as an indication that the allies had taken the initiative, possessed complete aerial supremacy and that the day of deliverance was near at hand.
On the 6th of August, news came through of the devastation produced by atomic bombs on Hiroshima. Two days later, the long expected and hoped for declaration of war by the Soviet Union was announced, following on the 9th of August by a second atomic bomb attack on Nagasaki.
There are some who criticise the use of this terrible weapon. While one deplores the fearful havoc it caused and the loss of lives of tens of thousands of women, children and non-combatants, there is little doubt that the use of the bomb and the entry of Russia combined to bring the Japanese Militarists to their knees and made them accept the Potsdam surrender terms.
It gave us all a wonderful thrill to learn from a courageous Chinese girl who came past the camp on the 11th of August that the allies had agreed to the Japanese surrender proposal which included the provision relating to the sovereignty of Emperor Hirohito.
It was not until the 15th of August that we learnt definitely of Japan's surrender on the previous day, thus bringing to an end the Second World War and China's eight years war of resistance.
An act which may have some significance to Far Eastern Policy took place on the 18th of August, on which date France signed a treaty returning to China the Leased Territory of Kwanchowwan.
On the 21st of August I endeavoured to persuade the head of the Japanese Medical Department to hand over control to me so that I could get the hospitals and public health services restarted as soon as possible. Only two hospitals of any size were
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