[
    {
        "id": 208606,
        "series_id": 26,
        "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine",
        "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊",
        "series_use_hku_proxy": false,
        "document_key": "RAS-1979",
        "page_number": 63,
        "title": "RAS-1979",
        "content_text": "36 \n\nREVS. J. SMITH AND WM. DOWNS \n\ntions were flying thick and fast from both sides. Everybody was happy and elated, and when we retired it was with the thought of arising the next day to celebrate the glorious Feast of our Blessed Lady, Her Immaculate Conception, and to make preparations for our trip to the missions. \n\nDecember eighth in the Far East and December seventh in the Western world! Maryknoll at Stanley rose as usual. Masses and breakfast followed and shortly after we were electrified by the report that Kai Tak airport had been bombed at 7:45 and that the Pan American Clipper which brought our new missioners had been destroyed. WAR! And Hong Kong is in the news! Being eleven miles over the mountains from Hong Kong we had, of course, heard nothing of the bombing, and were inclined to believe that the whole thing was a hoax of some kind. But soon we were entirely disillusioned when the radio flashed news of Pearl Harbor and when shortly after tiffin the planes flew over Stanley and dropped a few bombs to the west of us, apparently over the sea. We tried to get news from Hong Kong over the telephone but nobody seemed to know just what was happening. We anxiously gathered around the radio and tried to pick up what news we could. Evidently, war was on in earnest and America and we were involved. \n\nAbout five o'clock in the afternoon, our telephone jangled and we heard the voice of His Excellency, Bishop Valtorta, saying that all his Italian priests had been interned by the British Government, and that he would like to have Father Downs come to help him out at the Cathedral. His priests were given only a short time in which to pack up their personal belongings and were immediately taken away to a destination which was not disclosed to the Bishop. Father Downs hastily packed his suit case and caught the half past five bus for Hong Kong, and it must be confessed, with no little trepidation. The trip to the city was a tense one. Along the route the bus was stopped periodically by the British sentries, inspected and finally diverted by way of Aberdeen, instead of the usual Happy Valley route. The whole city, too, was tense, and though the downtown streets were crowded, there was fear and uneasiness everywhere. \n\nAt the Cathedral were His Excellency, Father Rosello, a Spanish priest attached to the Cathedral and Father Craig S.J., from Wah Yan College, as also a few young Chinese priests. His Chancellor,",
        "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1979.txt",
        "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/2801w5938",
        "rank": 0
    },
    {
        "id": 208612,
        "series_id": 26,
        "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine",
        "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊",
        "series_use_hku_proxy": false,
        "document_key": "RAS-1979",
        "page_number": 69,
        "title": "RAS-1979",
        "content_text": "42\n\nREVS. J. SMITH AND WM. DOWNS\n\nrelease, at least of a few of his most important helpers. In the meantime, Father Craig had taken up his residence with the Italian Sisters at their Canossian Convent where, in addition to their large family, there was a large number of refugees and orphans. More people were crowding into the Bishop's house as a place of comparative safety and were loath to return to their homes. Little children kept close to their mothers, and fathers walked around distractedly, not knowing what to do or to expect. All heard Mass every morning, which was celebrated in the Bishop's house after daylight, as we were not allowed to have any lights showing. We said Mass as early as we could, but very often during one's Mass planes were roaring overhead, bombs dropped, shells screeching and anti-aircraft batteries popping all around, so that Father Downs confessed that more than once his knees were pretty wobbly as he celebrated the Holy Sacrifice.\n\nNaturally during these first days of the war, all sorts of rumors were abroad. Of course we knew that the Japanese had landed somewhere in the New Territories and that the British troops had engaged them in battle, as we could hear the distant boom of guns, but with what success we knew not, until reports began to come in that the Japanese were in Shamshuipo on the outskirts of Kowloon. This heightened the fears of the populace of Hong Kong, but still everyone hoped that the British troops would succeed in holding back the enemy. However, the booming of heavy guns came nearer and nearer and finally news came that the Japanese were actually in Kowloon.\n\nOn Thursday, and on the following morning, we distinctly heard machine guns rat-a-tatting away not far from the Kowloon Star Ferry landing. We later learned that Indian troops were fighting a rearguard action at this point, and from then on all communication with Kowloon ceased, the last ferry being scuttled on the Hong Kong side.\n\nAbout this time, during an air raid, a bomb struck one of the many godowns or warehouses along the Kowloon dock area, and immediately a huge volume of yellowish-green smoke rose up from the ruins. Evidently some sort of chemicals were stored there and the fire burned for several days, casting a lurid light at night on the surrounding buildings. Shortly after, also, a string of small barges was seen slowly drifting away from the Kowloon docks and out",
        "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1979.txt",
        "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/2801w5938",
        "rank": 0
    }
]