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HISTORY

Japan entered World War II with its attack on Pearl Harbour and an attack on Hong Kong the following day, December 8, 1841. The Japanese attacked from the mainland and subsequently the British were forced to retire from the New Territories and Kowloon to Hong Kong Island. After a week of stubborn resistance on the island, the defenders, including the local Volunteer Corps, were overwhelmed and Hong Kong surrendered on Christmas Day. The Japanese occupation lasted for three years and seven months.

Trade virtually disappeared, currency lost its value, food supply was disrupted and government services and public utilities were seriously impaired. Many residents moved to Macau, the Portuguese province hospitably opening its doors to them. Towards the latter part of the occupation, the Japanese sought to ease the food problems by organising 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 escaping allied personnel were assisted by the rural population. Soon after news of the Japanese surrender was received on August 14, 1945, a provisional government was set up by the Colonial Secretary, Mr (later Sir) Frank Gimson. Rear Admiral Sir Cecil Harcourt arrived on August 30 with units of the British Pacific Fleet to establish a temporary military government. Civil government was formally restored on May 1, 1946, when Sir Mark Young resumed his interrupted governorship.

With the return of peace, Chinese civilians who had moved from Hong Kong to China during the war moved back again - and with them many other migrants. The population rose from an estimated 600,000 in August, 1945, to more than two million in 1950. The government's early efforts to cope with this population explosion had, of necessity, to concentrate on basic needs. But from these efforts grew the social structure' that is now an integral part of modern Hong Kong.

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