Imperial War Museum
Lawson, J K
Wolsey Barracks, London, Ontario
Levett, E
Royal and Gurkha Signals Squadron
McEwan, M C
author’s possession
Newnham, L A
Imperial War Museum
Newton, L
Imperial War Museum
Otway, C E
author’s possession
Redwood, M
Imperial War Museum
Skelton, S
National Defence Headquarters, Ottawa
Strachan, T
author’s possession
Templer, C R
author’s possession
Files
1. The principal documents at the National Archives, Ruskin Row, Kew are:
Admiralty (ADM)
199 series
Colonial Office (CO)
129,519,980 series
Foreign Office (FO)
916 series
War Office (WO)
203,208,3260 series
2. Numerous relevant files are in National Defence Headquarters, Ottawa. Some are also in Hong Kong, Washington and Tokyo.
Websites
1. National Archives, Kew (formerly Public Record Office)
www.nationalarchives.gov.uk (Telephone 020 8392 5202)
2. Imperial War Museum
www.iwm.org.uk (Telephone 020 16 5320)
3. National Army Museum, Chelsea
www.national-army-museum.ac.uk (Telephone 020 7881 2455)
The Confusion of Events
Colonel C P Stacey, Canada’s most distinguished military historian, stated in his memoirs that Hong Kong gave him “the most difficult problem I had ever encountered.” One of his military researchers wrote “From whatever sources they come, reports all emphasise the confusion of events.” Battles throughout the Second World War, and in Hong Kong in particular in 1941, often descend into “Chaotic affairs… ” As Brereton Greenhous puts it “Throughout these various historical minefields, the hopeful chronicler can only step with caution.” In short, the most thoroughly researched accounts often contradict each other despite authors’ best efforts. Almost 65 years later, precisely what happened in some events in Hong Kong may never be established or agreed upon.
1. The Officers of the 2nd Battalion Royal Scots at a Beating Retreat, Hong Kong, September 1941. This remarkable photograph shows most of those who were to be the key players in the Mainland battle. From left to right: Second Lieutenant Thomson (patrol commander at the Redoubt), Lieutenant Millar, Mrs Millar, Captain Ford (Signals Officer), Captain Pinkerton (Officer Commanding D Company), an officer of 5/7 Rajputs, Major Burn (Second in Command), Captain Duke, Lieutenant Colonel White (Commanding Officer), Lieutenant Colonel McDougall (previous Commanding Officer), Mrs White, Major Walker, Lieutenant Hunter, Miss Peggy Scotcher (Lieutenant Hunter’s fiancée who was a volunteer nurse. They were married on Christmas Day, one hour after the surrender, in the hospital where Lieutenant Hunter was lying wounded), Second Lieutenant Slater Brown and Captain Jones (Officer Commanding A Company and the Shingmun Redoubt).
2. Major General C M Maltby (left), the General Officer Commanding the Allies in Hong Kong, meets Brigadier John Lawson who commanded the ill-fated Canadian Brigade.
3. Canadian troops arrive in Hong Kong, 16th November 1941.
4. Canadian signallers in an observation post before the Japanese invasion.
5. A Royal Scots machine-gun section before the war.
6. Wong Nei Chong Gap from Jardine’s Lookout. The Royal Scots approached from the north along the road centre right of the picture. The police station they attacked is on the top of the small hill to the left. The key crossroads far left were on the vital ground where the heaviest fighting took place.
7. The Ridge, between Wong Nei Chong Gap and Repulse Bay.
8. A Japanese machine gun in action.
9. Colonel Tanaka above Repulse Bay. The famous hotel which held out for almost 72 hours lies in the centre foreground.
10. Stanley Peninsula (far left), the scene of the Allies’ last stand.
11. At 7.00 p.m. on Christmas Day 1941 Major General C M Maltby, seated at the table second left, signed the instrument of surrender. (He may well be looking at Sir Mark Young to the left out of the picture.)
12. Japanese troops enter Hong Kong headed by Lieutenant General Sakai and Vice Admiral Niimi on 28th December.
Four of the five posthumous winners of the George Cross who gathered important intelligence for British Army Aid Group in China. They refused to betray their comrades under torture.
13. Colonel L A Newnham, The Middlesex Regiment.
14. Captain Douglas Ford, The Royal Scots.
15. Captain M Ansari, 5/7 Rajputs.
16. Flight Lieutenant H B Gray, Royal Air Force.
17. Sir Mark Young, Governor of Hong Kong.
18. Brigadier C Wallis, who refused to surrender.
19. A Japanese fighter (left centre) turns in to attack American bombers above the north shore of Hong Kong Island (looking towards Kowloon and China) 16th October 1944. Smoke billows from Kowloon docks and (to the left) two Japanese ships spout flames.
20. Allied POWs working as slave labour in a Japanese coal yard. Each car contains one and a half tons of coal.
21. Plays maintained morale. These two (male!) POWs put on a sketch.
22. The daily roll call parade at Argyle Street POW camp.
23. Argyle Street POW camp.
24. Beyond the barbed wire at Shamshuipo the POWs could see the patrolling Japanese sentries and the junks. A POW on the right is wearing a pandochi to save his shorts for muster parades.
25. Talks were given in the POW camps to fight depression and keep minds occupied.
26. Sinking of the Lisbon Maru in the China Sea on 20th October 1942. A pencil sketch drawn by Lieutenant W C Johnston, US Navy, while a prisoner of war at Kobe, Japan.
27. Royal Navy landing parties go ashore to guard key points in Hong Kong, 30th August 1945.
28. Some of the first British internees to be released from Stanley Camp, Hong Kong.
29. Two Japanese war criminals in Stanley prison. On the left is Colonel Tokunaga Isao who was responsible for the POW camps. On the right is Lieutenant Colonel Kanazawa, the infamous commander of the Military Police, who was executed.
30. Major Charles Boxer, Major General Maltby’s senior Intelligence Officer, in November 1945.
31. Identifying remains of Canadian war dead at Hong Kong, April 1947.
32. One of Admiral Harcourt’s officers making a note of POWs’ names following the liberation on 30th August 1945.
33. Former POWs at Shamshuipo, waiting for repatriation, listen to a loudspeaker broadcasting the latest news. John Harris is centre-right in the foreground below the pole with a patch on his trousers!
34. British servicemen guard Japanese soldiers after their surrender, 30th August 1945.
35. Liberated POWs cheering their US Navy rescuers at Aomori in Japan.
36. Limbless but cheerful, repatriated POWs on board HM hospital ship Oxfordshire as she left Hong Kong for the UK.
37. Major General Umetichi Odada signs the surrender document watched by British, American, Canadian and Chinese officers in Government House, 16th September 1945.
38. The Victory Parade at the Cenotaph in September 1945. The New Territories can be seen in the distance.
39. Sir Mark Young inspects a Guard of Honour on his return to Hong Kong.
40. John Harris (centre-left) presenting a gold key to Sheikh Ali at the opening of the State Hospital in Doha in 1957.
41. Tuen Mun Hospital, Castle Peak, Hong Kong (1,600 beds). Architect John R Harris, 1981.
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