Sessional_Paper_1938 — Page 134

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7. A magnificent piece of work was done in having accommodation available for 500 persons within 36 hours of instructions being received to

go ahead". Two thousand camp beds were ordered of which 200 were later taken over by the Peninsula Hotel for the dormitory accommodation arranged at that hotel. Blankets, linen and stores were lent by the Hong Kong & Shanghai Hotels, Limited, and were placed in charge of Mrs. A. K. Taylor, as Matron, who had had previous experience in this work.

8. Mr. B. A. Proulx was placed in charge at the Happy Valley Centre and worked continuously there until the Centre closed down on 10th September. He was of excellent service during the very trying period when the refugees were arriving from Shanghai and his previous knowledge of the building was of immense assistance in adapting the premises for their new use.

9. Mr. F. W. Kendall was of great help also in supervising the installation of beds, etc. He has a flair for getting the utmost done in an emergency.

10. As stated earlier, accommodation was available for 500 persons by the evening of 19th August. Subsequently it was clear that we could accommodate at Happy Valley about 780 persons with a further 300 if the stables, attached to the Stand were brought into use. There were of course obvious objections to this latter addition.

11. Meanwhile, however, at the suggestion of Brigadier H. G. Seth-Smith, the new Central British School was prepared for the reception of further refugees by the Headmaster, Mr. D. M. Richards, Mrs. Richards and members of the School staff, Mr. Crozier, Mr. McLellan, Mrs. Cooper, Mrs. Hill and Miss Curtin. Work was commenced on Saturday, 21st August, and some 40 refugees were transferred from Happy Valley to the new Central British School on Sunday, 22nd August. Mattresses, blankets and sheets were borrowed from the Military Authorities and for the first day or so until camp beds were sent over from Happy Valley the refugees slept on the floor. Catering was undertaken by the firm of Kay Lee.

12. The main difficulty at the commencement of our work arose from the fact that we had no knowledge how many of the refugees would require accommoda- tion to be provided for them.

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13. By the s.s. Rajputana", which arrived in Hong Kong on the evening of 19th August, 679 women, 346 children and 4 men came to Hong Kong. Out of this total of 1,029 persons, only 273 sought accommodation at Happy Valley on the morning of 20th August-the remainder having found accommodation elsewhere with friends, in hotels and boarding houses or in the separate centres arranged by the big business houses with interests throughout China. In some cases also the refugees stayed only a few days in the Centre and, having found accommodation elsewhere, left.

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14. The " Empress of Asia " brought 1,368 refugees to the Colony and arrived on Saturday, 21st August, but, partly due to departures to private accom- modation and partly due to the excellent arrangements made for the staffs of large business firms, the numbers in the Centres only increased by 296.

15. It is easy to be wise after the event but such uncertainty prevailed on Sunday, 22nd August, that steps were taken to explore the possibilities of other buildings in the Colony for further centres. Inquiry was also made from Singapore whether accommodation was available there in the event of our being swamped here.

16. As things turned out there was ample accommodation at Happy Valley for all who sought board and lodging from Government and the Centre at the new Central British School need never have been opened. Accommodation was made available by the Military Authorities for men at Hankow Barracks, Shamshuipo, as it was impossible to provide separate accommodation for men at Happy Valley.