RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1979
https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/2801w5938
THE MARYKNOLL MISSION, HONG KONG 1941-46

47

requested the use of two classrooms for quartering his men, some two hundred or more, eventually. During their stay they were well disciplined and polite, and upon leaving for the Hong Kong side, they graciously handed over to the Sisters what stores they had left.

On the 21st or so, though Hong Kong had not yet fallen, a Japanese officer appeared and requested space for housing some five or six hundred prisoners, more than half of whom were Indians, the rest English, Canadians, and Portuguese. Some were wounded, and the Sisters were soon at work attending them.

Returning in our narration to Stanley, it may be well to note that in addition to our regular family, we also had with us two Salesians, one a Polish priest, Father Szeliga, and the other an Irish seminarian, Brother Bernard Tohill. As their house at Aberdeen was coming into the range of fire, they came out to the refugee camp at Stanley, bringing with them twenty or more of their orphan boys. Just below our house to the north, the British Government had constructed, as it had in many other places on the island, a refugee camp. Here three large godowns had been erected and had just been filled with stores of rice, peanut, and coconut oil for cooking purposes. A large open-air kitchen also had been constructed, containing about sixty large fireplaces with the usual Chinese wok t'au or rice caldrons, and close by, a huge pile of firewood had been built up. Simple, fabricated refugee shelters had also been planned, but they had not yet been erected. The plan seemed to be that, in case of intense bombing or bombardment of the city, the inhabitants could come out to Stanley during the day and stay at these camps, returning at night to their homes, but as a matter of fact, the camps were never put to much use. At Stanley, there were some refugees, and the Government placed Father Charles Murphy, a member of the Scarboro Mission, who had been studying Cantonese in our Language School for the past year, in charge. Some of our priests and Brothers likewise assisted in setting up some of these shelters, both at Stanley and Repulse Bay. When we learned that the Salesians were at the Camp, we invited them to eat with us, and finally put up their boys on the floor of our Mission Room at night.

To return for a moment to the early days of the war, after their arrival, the new missioners journeyed to Hong Kong in order to satisfy the requirements of the Police Department in regard to pass-
================================================================================
RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1979
https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/2801w5938
106

REVS. J. SMITH AND WM. DOWNS

Hospital. Funeral at 3:00 p.m. with Father Charles Murphy officiating.

JUNE

1- Father Haughey and Brother Bernard Toohill, Salesians, sign their papers and are allowed to leave Camp. The British do not yet believe that we Americans are going to be repatriated, but at the same time, they are hoping for some news about their own release. There are rumors, of course, but nothing definite as yet. The Canadians, too, are also hoping, and are even now trying to join the Americans. Swimming was supposed to start today, but no permission has yet been received. As the weather is beginning to get a little warm, the language school goes on vacation schedule of but one class a day. Strictly speaking, with all the interruptions and distractions of Camp life, we haven't made much progress on the language, but a start has been made.

2- As it is now quite definite that the bulk of the Americans will be repatriated (some forty or so remaining voluntarily) a meeting was held today in which new officers were elected. Consequently, Mr. Bennett becomes Chairman of the Council; Father Meyer Vice-Chairman, Mr. Gregory, Secretary and Mr. Kiley, Treasurer. A tiger cub was reported seen around the Camp. At last, the first parcels of that $300,000.00 food loan are beginning to come in. Each internee had been instructed to make out a list of what articles he would like and individual parcels containing these items are made up in town and sent out to the Camp.

3- Fathers Moore and Madison, again, slightly indisposed.

4- Feast of Corpus Christi. Benediction at 6:45. Report has it now that the newspaper men among the repatriates are to receive one thousand yen from the Japanese authorities for the trip. Incidentally, it may be chronicled that shortly after taking possession of Hong Kong, the Japanese Army introduced the Military Yen, one yen being on a par with two Hong Kong dollars. Later on, this was boosted to one yen for four Hong Kong dollars, and as food prices have risen considerably, this has been a great hardship on the populace, especially those who had Hong Kong money. Then the further discount on high denomination bills made it still more difficult.
================================================================================