ENG-1955 — Page 274

HISTORY

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time, the leaders of all communities resident in Hong Kong became increasingly aware of their social responsibilities towards less privileged sections of the population. From this awareness developed the strong interest in social welfare which has become one of the most marked features of the Colony's life.

Japanese plans for political aggrandizement in the Far East became apparent when Japan presented her Twenty-One Demands to China in 1917. These were followed by intense economic expansion. In 1931, Japan invaded and occupied Manchuria, and in 1937 began a general invasion of China. As the Japanese armies pressed southwards towards Canton, which was taken in 1938, Hong Kong experienced the greatest influx of refugees it had yet seen. It is estimated that about 100,000 entered in 1937, 500,000 in 1938, and 150,000 in 1939, bringing the total population to about 1,600,000. At the height of the influx there were thought to be over half-a-million people sleeping in the streets.

In the earliest days of the Sino-Japanese War it was possible for valuable supplies to reach China through the Colony, but, after the fall of Canton, movement of such supplies was severely restricted. When war broke out in Europe, in September 1939, the position of the Colony became precarious, and on 8 December 1941, the same day as the attack on Pearl Harbour, powerful units of the Japanese Army, supported by the Japanese Air Force based on Canton, invaded the Colony from the mainland. The first attempt to land on Hong Kong Island was repulsed on the night of 15-16 December, but a second attempt, on the 18-19 night, could not be held. After several days of severe fighting, in which many thousands of Commonwealth troops lost their lives, the Colony was surrendered to the Japanese on Christmas Day.

All members of the fighting services, which included the Hong Kong Volunteer Defence Corps, were interned as prisoners-of-war, many being subsequently sent to Japan to work in mines and docks. The majority of British-born civilians were interned in a civilian camp at Stanley. Those who remained free experienced throughout the Japanese occupation a steady deterioration of conditions. Trade was at a standstill, currency steadily losing value, and in neighbour- ing Kwangtung a food shortage culminated in 1944-5 in