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left there were still many people who had neither beds nor mattresses. With the departure of the American internees at the beginning of July it had been possible to relieve a few of the worst cases of overcrowding, but the relief was quite insufficient, and for many I am tempted to say 'for most' — of the internees the overcrowding, the lack of privacy, and the consequent friction and nervous strain rank as a more serious hardship than the food shortage which I will deal with next.
The food question falls into two phases. During the first 2 1/2 months the food was very bad indeed, totally insufficient in quantity, poor in quality, ill-cooked and deficient in nourishment. When I was in hospital my normal food was: breakfast two thin slices of bread (sometimes with a scrape of jam or margarine, sometimes dry) and one cup of tea; dinner, a bowl of rice and soya beans cooked with two or three small pieces of buffalo beef, pork or fish and some greens; tea, one cup of tea only; supper, one slice of bread, sometimes with a sliver of cheese, and a cup of soup of sorts. (This was better than the ordinary camp fare). During this period there was no way of supplementing the basic rations of rice, soya bean, meat (or fish) and greenstuff, and everyone lost weight severely; some men lost as much as 70 lbs. The hospital was full of dysentery and diarrhoea cases and there were a large number of cases of beriberi and other malnutrition diseases.
In April, however, an issue of 1/2 lb. of flour a day was substituted for part of the rice ration and arrangements were made to bake bread in the camp. An immediate improvement in the general health of the camp appeared, and this was aided by certain other factors of which the principal were
(a) the opening of a canteen where those who had any money could buy limited quantities of oatmeal, margarine, powdered milk, sugar, cocoa etc., at fancy prices, and
(b) permission for parcels of foodstuffs, toilet necessities etc. to be sent in from the town.
Those persons then who had money to spend at the canteen and friends in Hongkong were able to supplement their diet fairly satisfactorily. But there remained a large — a very large residue of people in the camp who had neither money nor friends in Hongkong and who were accordingly entirely dependent on their rations. These consisted when
88
J
left there were still many people who had neither beds nor mattresses. With the departure of the American internees at the beginning of July it had been possible to relieve a few of the worst cases of overcrowding, but the relief was quite insufficient, and for many I am tempted to say 'for most' — of the internees the overcrowding, the lack of privacy, and the consequent friction and nervous strain rank as a more serious hardship than the food shortage which I will deal with next.
The food question falls into two phases. During the first 21⁄2 months the food was very bad indeed, totally insufficient in quantity, poor in quality, ill cooked and deficient in nourishment. When I was in hospital my normal food was: breakfast two thin slices of bread (sometimes with a scrape of jam or margarine, sometimes dry) and one cup of tea; dinner, a bowl of rice and soya beans cooked with two or three small pieces of buffalo beef, pork or fish and some greens; tea, one cup of tea only; supper, one slice of bread, sometimes with a sliver of cheese, and a cup of soup
of sorts. (This was better than the ordinary camp fare). During this period there was no way of supplementing the basic rations of rice, soya bean, meat (or fish) and greenstuff, and everyone lost weight severely some men lost as much as 70 lbs. The hospital was full of dysentery and diarrhoea cases and there were a large number of cases of beriberi and other mulnutrition diseases.
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In April, however, an issue of 1⁄21⁄2 lb. of flour a day was substituted for part of the rice ration and arrangements were made to bake bread in the camp. An immediate improvement in the general health of the camp appeared, and this was aided by certain other factors of which the principal were
(a) the opening of a canteen where those who had any money could buy limited quantities of oatmeal, margarine, powdered milk, sugar, cocoa etc, at fancy prices, and
(b) permission for parcels of foodstuffs, toilet necessities etc. to be sent in from the town.
Those persons then who had money to spend at the canteen and friends in Hongkong were able to supplement their diet fairly satisfactorily. But there remained a large a very large residue of people in the camp who had neither money nor friends in Hongkong and who were accordingly entirely dependent on their rations. These consisted when
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