RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1975 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/j0995146d CAPTIVE SURGEON IN HONG KONG 159 the Military Hospital in Bowen Road, which I scarcely left until we moved to Kowloon in March 1945. 8-25 DECEMBER, 1941 During hostilities eleven hospitals on the Island received casualties. These were: Military Hospital, Bowen Road. St. Albert's Convent St. Stephen's College, Stanley. Stanley Prison Hospital Hongkong Hotel. Matilda Hospital, The Peak. Indian Military Hospital, Tung Wah East. Royal Naval Hospital. Queen Mary Hospital, Pokfulam. University Hospital, University Buildings. War Memorial Hospital, The Peak. The Indian Hospital was responsible mainly for Indian casualties, but like all other hospitals, service and civil alike, admitted any casualties which occurred nearby. The hospital in Bowen Road acted as a Casualty Clearing Station during hostilities, a role which though foreseen was forced upon us very early by shell fire and aerial bomb hits which caused casualties among the staff, destroyed the kitchen and damaged the structure to such an extent that it became unsafe to use the two top floors as wards. After surgical treatment patients, when fit to move, were transferred to other hospitals thought to be a little safer, and to emergency accommodation opened elsewhere such as the Hong Kong Hotel where they were nursed on mattresses laid on the ballroom floor. The main approach road to Bowen Road, Borrett Road, was soon damaged by shell fire and for a time ambulance cars could not reach the hospital at all. Casualties then had to be carried on stretchers by our staff over long stretches of slippery, wet, and steep slopes of mud. The basement operating theatres and X-ray room in the hospital proved to be a great success, and early and effective surgery was carried out successfully. The occupation of Kowloon by the Japanese, complete by 18 December, cut off our sources of supply of anaesthetic gases, mains water, and electricity. We then used our generators to supply light and power and drew water from our reservoir. One of our wards had been made gas-proof but neither ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1975 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/j0995146d 162 DONALD C. BOWIE of 230 moved on 20 January 1942 from Hong Kong to Camranh Bay and thence to Sumatra. The 230 regiment left Camranh Bay on 18 February 1942 and landed at Java. The whole Japanese operations in Hong Kong, the Philippines, Malaya and elsewhere had been carried out by only eleven divisions. As soon therefore as Hong Kong fell on 25 December 1941 it must have been Japanese policy to withdraw the fighting troops in order to replace their losses, which had been substantial, reequip and reorganise them for the next operation. The atrocities in Stanley, Happy Valley and elsewhere were carried out by fighting troops flushed by success in battle. I imagine that these must have been withdrawn before our hospital and Hong Kong generally suffered. This seems the most likely explanation for the facts, for as I said earlier Bowen Road was practically in the front line as the fighting ended and the city of Victoria was an exceedingly rich prize. During hostilities we in Hong Kong learned of the sinking of the Prince of Wales and the Repulse off the Malayan coast, which with the destruction also of a large part of the American fleet of course extinguished any hopes of relief. Rumour spread among us and was eagerly passed on that a Chinese army was hastening to our rescue. To those who had watched the failure of the Kuo Min Tang Chinese to make an effective attempt to dislodge the Japanese armies from Canton and South China since 1938 this story was considered to be most unlikely to be true, as so it proved. Soon after our surrender, nurses and other staff and patients who had survived the outrages of Stanley, Happy Valley, St. Albert's Convent Hospital and elsewhere rejoined Bowen Road and their experiences soon became known to all staff and patients. Even so it came as a shock to many to see and hear Japanese methods with captives. For several nights for example our guards had a number of Chinese as prisoners; these they had tied to trees and seemed to carry out barbarities upon them. Some of our people reported that they had smelt burning flesh and certainly the cries of the prisoners were shattering. Rumour had it that the Chinese were caught looting, of which large numbers were undoubtedly guilty, but this experience shook patients and some staff considerably for a while. One of the early Japanese officers to visit the hospital expressed surprise at finding women there at all, and advised that they should make themselves as inconspicuous as possible. This warning spread ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1975 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/j0995146d CAPTIVE SURGEON IN HONG KONG 279 among us. I have referred to only a few people by name and this has occurred when the story would be incomplete otherwise. In singling out individuals I do an injustice to those who are not named and this is clearly unfair. Some, like myself, had weaknesses, but all could be relied upon in difficult times; at the other extreme, some were magnificent throughout, courageous and dependable in the long months and years of the slogging, unexciting routine work needed to nurse and care for the personal needs of patients, to supply and feed them and keep their surroundings in a state of good order and cleanliness. In all these circumstances, I have felt it improper at this distance from events to single out more individuals by name. In an appendix (Appendix C) is provided a list of those who served in the hospital from August 1942 to our release in September 1945. This is a hospital staff Roll of Honour, which it is a privilege to publish. Though the period December 1941 to August 1942 is not covered by my diaries and I have touched on events during that period only lightly, I must refer specially to the lady nurses of the Q.A.I.N.M.S., the Royal Canadian Nursing Service, the Volunteer Nursing Service, and the Auxiliary Service. Miss E.M.B. Dyson, as matron, was responsible for the training of the additional staff before hostilities and for arranging the staffing of the additional hospitals set up in St. Albert's Convent, in Stanley, in Happy Valley, and in the Hong Kong Hotel. In St. Albert's, the matron, Miss Kathleen Thomson, was wounded, and one sister, Miss Brenda Morgan, was killed by shell fire, and elsewhere, a number of these ladies suffered badly at the hands of Japanese troops. The Royal Naval Hospital had its own nursing service under Miss Olga Franklin and found itself practically in the fighting line before moving to St. Albert's Convent Hospital. When this hospital was overrun, the matron and nursing staff were tied up with ropes for a time. In Stanley, medical officers and patients were murdered before the eyes of the nurses, and some of the latter were criminally assaulted, while nurses at Happy Valley suffered like fates. Our nurses at Bowen Road were spared these fates only, I consider, because the Colony had surrendered just as the hospital was about to be overrun. That these dangers were real is shown further by the advice given to us by a Japanese officer after our surrender that we should keep our nurses away from observation by Japanese troops. All this was known to these ladies, and their courage during ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1977 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/np198x23n 240 LIFE MEMBERS: ALLEYNE, Mrs. E. L. ASOME, Mrs. M. J. BELL, Gordon J. BOARD, D. B. M. BONSALL, G. W. BUTT, Dr. Nancy CALCINA, P. G. CARLSON, Miss R. E. CATER, Jack CHAMBERS, J. W. CHAN, Alfred T. CHENG, T. C. CHIU, Dr. Ling Yeong CHOA, Dr. Gerald CHUN, Miss Oy-Ling CLARK, Rev. Cyril S. COMBER, Leon COSBY, I. P. S. G. CRAMER, B. L. C. CRONE, Dr. D. L. DJOU, G. G. EMERSON, G. C. EVANS, Mrs. P. J. EVANS, Paul J. University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong. A-9 Bellevue Court, Stubbs Road, Hong Kong. The Royal Observatory, Nathan Road, Kowloon. Education Dept., Lee Gardens, Hysan Ave., Hong Kong. University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong. The Grantham Hospital, Wong Chuk Hang, Aberdeen, Hong Kong. Commercial Investment Co. Ltd., Hong Kong. Education Dept., Lee Gardens, Hysan Ave., Hong Kong. 8, Mount Kellet Road, The Peak, Hong Kong. Colonial Secretariat, Lower Albert Road, Hong Kong. Coronet Court, 14th floor "H", North Point, Hong Kong. United College, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, N.T. Dept. of Chinese, University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong. The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, N.T. St. Paul's Convent School, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong. Sailors' & Soldiers' Home, 22 Hennessy Road, Hong Kong. K.P.O. Box 6086, Kowloon. Hong Kong & Shanghai Banking Corporation, Queen's Road Central, Hong Kong. IA Verbena Road G/F, Yau Yat Chuen, Kowloon. 17, Broadwood Road, Hong Kong. American International Assurance Co. Ltd., No. 1, Stubbs Road, Hong Kong. 1, Lower Albert Road, Hong Kong. 33, Tung Tau Wan Road, Stanley, Hong Kong. Ray-o-Vac International Corporation, 405, Hang Chong Building, Queen's Road, C., Hong Kong. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1979 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/2801w5938 236 LOCAL LIFE MEMBERS ALLEYNE, Mrs. E. L. The Registry, University of Hong Kong, HONG KONG. ASOME, Mrs. Josephine Kingly Court, Flat B-G, 5-11 South Bay Close. Repulse Bay, HONG KONG BELL, Mr Gordon, c/o The Royal Observatory, Nathan Road, KOWLOON, BOARD, Mr. D. B. M., c/o The Education Department, Lee Gardens, Hysan Avenue, HONG KONG. BONSALL, Mr. Geoffrey W. Hong Kong University Press, University of Hong Kong, HONG KONG, BUTT, Dr. Nancy S. G. The Grantham Hospital, Wong Chuk Hang, Aberdeen, HONG KONG CALCINA, Mr. P. G., Commercial Investment Co. Ltd., Lane Crawford House, HONG KONG CARLSON, Miss R E., c/o Education Dept., Lee Gardens, Hysan Avenue, HONG KONG. CATER, Sir Jack, Victoria House, Barker Road, HONG KONG. CHAMBERS, Mr. J. W., c/o Colonial Secretariat, Lower Albert Road, HONG KONG. CHAN, Mr. Alfred T., Coronet Court, 14th Floor H, North Point, HONG KONG. CHENG, Mr. T, C., Flat B4, Camelot Height, 66 Kennedy Road, HONG KONG, CHIU, Dr. Ling Yeong, c/o Dept. of Chinese, University of Hong Kong, HONG KONG, CHOA, Dr. Gerald H., c/o Chinese University of H.K., Shatin, NEW TERRITORIES. CHUN, Miss Oy-Ling, St. Paul's Convent School, Causeway Bay, HONG KONG. COMBER, Mr. Leon, K.P.O. Box 96086, KOWLOON. COSBY, Mr. Ivan P. S. G., c/o Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corp., 1 Queen's Road Central, HONG KONG. CRAMER, Mr. B. L. C., 1A Verbena Road, G/Fl., Yau Yat Chuen, KOWLOON. CRONE, Dr. D. L., The Royal Hong Kong Jockey Club, 2 Sports Road, HONG KONG. DJOU, Mr. G. G., c/o American International Assurance Co. Ltd., American International Building, 1 Stubbs Road, HONG KONG. EMERSON, Mr. Geoffrey C., 1 Lower Albert Road, HONG KONG, EVANS, Mr. Paul J., Ray-O-Vac International Corp. 405 Hang Chong Building, Queen's Road Central, HONG KONG. EVANS, Mrs. P. J., 33 Tung Tau Wan Road, Stanley, HONG KONG. ================================================================================