ENG-1961 — Page 406

346

HISTORY

The outbreak of war in Europe in September 1939 gave Japan the advantage of being able to expand her ambitions over the whole of east and south-east Asia, and the position of the Colony became precarious. On 8th December 1941, the same day as the attack on Pearl Harbour, the Japanese attacked from the mainland, and the British were forced to retire to the Island. The Japanese crossed at Lei Yue Mun on the night of the 18th 19th December and after a week of stubborn resistance the defenders, who included the local Volunteer Corps, were overwhelmed and the Colony surrendered on Christmas Day. The Japanese occupation lasted three years and seven months.

-

British civilians were interned at Stanley. The Chinese population and neutrals had to suffer steadily deteriorating conditions. Trade virtually disappeared, the currency lost its value, food supply was disrupted and government services and public utilities were seriously impaired. Many moved to Macau, the Portuguese Colony hospitably opening its doors to them. Towards the later- part of the occupation the Japanese sought to ease the food problem by organizing mass deportations. In the face of increasing oppression the bulk of the community remained loyal to the allied cause; Chinese guerillas operated in the New Territories and allied personnel escaping were assisted by the rural population.

Soon after the news of the Japanese surrender was received a provisional government was set up by the Colonial Secretary, Mr (later Sir) F. Gimson, until Rear Admiral Sir Cecil Harcourt arrived with units of the British Pacific Fleet to establish a temporary military government. Civil government was formally restored on 1st May 1946, when Sir Mark Young resumed his interrupted governorship.

THE POST-WAR YEARS

From the moment of liberation Hong Kong began a spectacular recovery. The Chinese returned at a rate approaching 100,000 per month and the population which by August 1945 had been reduced to about 600,000 rose by the end of 1947 to an estimated 1,800,000. Then in the period 1948-9, as the forces of the Chinese Nationalist government began to face defeat in civil war at the hands of the Communists, the Colony received an influx of people unparalleled in its history. About three quarters of a million mainly from