CO129-595-2 Financial compensation for married officers whose families were evacuated in 1940-1 21-2-1946 - 31-1-1947 — Page 31

Copy placed on f. file of Cruttwell,

Cadet, 44.

The Under Secretary of State

Colonial Office

Whitehall

London. S.W.1

ORIGINAL RESISTIRIED 31

ON 22355.CR

Jernuary 211946.

Sir,

1. We, the undersigned, being Hongkong Government serv- -ants, respectfully submit the following facts and views for your consideration, in connection with the compulsory evacu- -ation of our wives and children from the Colony in 1941 and the financial aspect of such evacuation followed as it was by our internment 18 months later.

2. Compulsory evacuation of all women and children, with the exception of certain categories of the former considered to be engaged in essential work or likely to be so engaged in the event of hostilities breaking out involving the Colony, was ordered by the Hongkong Government towards the end of June 1940. The majority of women and children, ourfamilies amongst them, left the Colony by free passage on July.5th. 1940. and were taken to Manilla where they had to stay for some 6 weeks pending free transportation to Australia. Some accomodation was provided free of charge in barracks and else- -where, but partly owing to the short notice given to the Amer- -icans and our Consular authorities, it is submitted, it was unsatisfactory in the extreme with overcrowding, little or no privacy, inadequate bathing, sanitary, and laundry arrange- -ments, and poor food. It is a fact that a number of women, particularily those with young children as our wives had, felt forced to leave this accomodation as totally unfit and go to hotels. During these 6 weeks we had to support our families at some expense.

3. On arrival in Australia our wives had to find furn- -ished accomodation, whereas had they remained in the Colony they would have remained in occupation of Government Quarters with Government furniture, provided at the small charge of 7% on our salaries. Our wives had however to purchase fur- -niture and, even after this initial expense, it is, we sub- -mit, obvious that the two separate establishments we had to maintain must and did in fact involve us in further consider- -able expense continued for 18 months.

-

4. We are not anxious to quote positive instances, but respectfully suggest that it is an acknowledged and indisput- able fact that a very large number of Government and Commerc- -ial families disobeyed the order either by ignoring it from start to finish, or after obtaining temporary exemption remaining on after the reason for the said exemption had ex- -pired, or by returning to the Colony under various pretexts or subterfuges following varying periods of absence and defy- -ing eviction. This is proved alone by the number of

|

: