ENG-1959 — Page 395

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HONG KONG ANNUAL REPORT

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 were 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 con- ditions. Trade was at a standstill, currency steadily losing value, and in neighbouring Kwangtung a food shortage culminated in 1944-5 in famine conditions. Large numbers of civilians moved over to Macau, the Portuguese Colony hospitably opening its doors to them. Toward the latter part of the occupation the Japanese, unable to obtain food for the existing population, organized mass deportations from Hong Kong.

In the face of increasing oppression the fundamental loyalty of the population to the Allied cause was not in doubt. Parts of the New Territories remained in the hands of Chinese guerrillas throughout the war in spite of vigorous punitive measures taken against them. Allied personnel escaping or evading capture were assured of assistance from the rural population.

As soon as news of the Japanese surrender was received, a pro- visional government was established under the Colonial Secretary, Mr., now Sir, Franklin Gimson, assisted by civil servants released from prison camps and by leading citizens of all races. These officers maintained the essential form of Government until 30th August 1945, when powerful' units of the British Pacific Fleet reached the Colony.

SINCE THE WAR

A brief period of military administration was followed by the formal re-establishment of civil government in May 1946. From the moment of liberation Hong Kong made an astonishing re- covery. In August 1945 it was estimated that the population had been reduced to about 600,000. Eighteen months later at least 1,000,000 people had returned, and the population was still rising. At the close of 1947, so far as it is possible to estimate, Hong Kong held about 1,800,000 people, with once again an acute housing problem and water shortage.