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he put a box around every 34th letter rather than every 33rd, he clearly could not quite remember exactly how to translate it. The two names which make up the keyword are of course his own name and the name of his then fiancée Pamela.
What Did It Say? The diary told the story of the battle for Hong Kong and of life in the Sham Shui Po camp during the period December 7 1941 to March 31 1942. Some extracts are as follows.
December 23rd. Up early, lucky for me, as a bomb lands on my bed just as I leave the room wrecking everything including my kit.
December 25th. What a Christmas day, empty stomachs, tired out, and heaven knows what is going on. At ten am a message arrives saying there is a truce until midday. This news is immediately followed by a terrific bombardment of our positions. Not my idea of a truce.
December 26th. Several (Japanese) officers started arguing and kept pointing at me and looking aggressive. Suddenly one of the officers whipped out his sword and I thought they had decided to bump me off but to my amazement he produced a bottle of beer, nipped the top off with his sword, and handed me the bottle. I was then given a loaf of bread. Two officers decide to drive me back in a Ford Ten. They don't use any lights and we have several narrow escapes from hitting lamp posts. Suddenly I see we are heading for one of the islands in the middle of the road and shout a warning. Too late and there's a terrific crash and we finish up on our backs. By now I am fed up so, bowing politely, I leave them and walk the two miles to China Command.
December 30th. It would appear that we are going to Sham Shui Po. The whole camp has been stripped of every useful article by looters and had also been bombed. All doors, windows, furniture, and fittings had been taken leaving just hulks of buildings. Even in peace time it was an awful dump, but now it looked as if a typhoon had hit it.
December 31st. There are over six thousand men in the camp with no sanitation and rotten food. We have no lights and go to bed soon after dusk. We have one meal at nine and another at five consisting of soggy rice and are permanently hungry. And so ended nineteen forty-one.
163
he put a box around every 34th letter rather than every 33rd, he clearly could not quite remember exactly how to translate it. The two names which make up the keyword are of course his own name and the name of his then fiancee Pamela.
What Did It Say? The diary told the story of the battle for Hong Kong and of life in the Sham Shui Po camp during the period Decem- ber 7 1941 to March 31 1942. Some extracts are as follows.
December 23rd. Up early, lucky for me, as a bomb lands on my bed just as I leave the room wrecking everything including my kit.
December 25th. What a Christmas day, empty stomachs, tired out, and heaven knows what is going on. At ten am a message arrives saying their is a truce until midday. This news is immediately followed by a terrific bombardment of our positions. Not my idea of a truce.
December 26th. Several (Japanese) officers started arguing and kept pointing at me and looking aggressive. Suddenly one of the offic- ers whipped out his sword and I thought they had decided to bump me off but to my amazement he produced a bottle of beer, nipped the top off with his sword, and handed me the bottle. I was then given a loaf of bread. Two officers decide to drive me back in a Ford Ten. They don't use any lights and we have several narrow escapes from hitting lamp posts. Suddenly I see we are heading for one of the islands in the middle of the road and shout a warning. Too late and there's a terrific crash and we finish up on our backs. By now I am fed up so, bowing politely, I leave them and walk the two miles to China Command.
December 30th. It would appear that we are going to Sham Shui Po. The whole camp has been stripped of every useful article by loot- ers and had also been bombed. All doors, windows, furniture, and fit- tings had been taken leaving just hulks of buildings. Even in peace time it was an awful dump, but now it looked as if a typhoon had hit it.
December 31st. There are over six thousand men in the camp with no sanitation and rotten food. We have no lights and go to bed soon after dusk. We have one meal at nine and another at five consist- ing of soggy rice and are permanently hungry. And so ended nineteen forty one.
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