Beyond the Call

Chapter 2:
Destination Hong Kong

Corporal Don Penny was one disappointed soldier. As the “C” Force train moved west, he had been anticipating at least a day or two of embarkation leave when they arrived in Vancouver. But instead, the troops had been moved straightaway onto the ship waiting for them at the dock. It had been over a year and a half since his previous leave, so like it or not, the long awaited reunion with his family would be postponed again. His Dad and sisters were at the pier to see him off, but he didn’t have an opportunity to talk to them. Don wasn’t the only one from Vancouver on the train, so his was a shared disappointment. Like many others, dispatch rider Don Beaton had wired ahead to his mother to meet him when the train arrived, so some members of his family were also there to wave goodbye.^[167]

Moored at the dock was the New Zealand liner, Awatea. In September, the ship had been requisitioned by the British government from the Union Steamship Company for troop transport. Designed for speed and the comfort of 540 passengers, the Awatea had undergone some hasty protective additions and alterations (including plywood covering most of the portholes) to accommodate the 1800-plus soldiers who were now coming aboard. To say the conditions were cramped is an understatement. Rolly D’Amours wrote in his diary,

Hammocks were so close together that if you turned your face to the fellow next to you, you were rubbing noses with him.^[168]

Lt. Col. Home (Royal Rifles) noted in a report:

The men’s quarters generally were much too crowded both for comfort and safety and it is questionable that if the ship had been torpedoed, whether those below would have had a chance to reach their places where they were supposed to muster.^[169]

“Those below” included the eighty-three O.R.s comprising Brigade Headquarters. They were all assigned to the same room located down at the waterline. Signalman Gerry Gerrard:

…for boat drill we had to climb three decks, cross the ship through a narrow passage; our boat turned out to be a raft which you were not to climb on, just hang onto the ropes, but first wait until the ship stopped then jump in the water which looked a mile down.^[170]

Fellow Signalman Will Allister wrote:

We found ourselves crammed into the bowels of the boat, several flights below deck with single ladders as sole access to the hold above.… Sleeping in hammocks over our mess tables – two pairs of sweaty feet on either side of my face.^[171]

It was here in the hot, overcrowded confines of their room in the hold of the Awatea that members of Brigade Headquarters were first brought together as a complete unit. Unlike the situation with the two infantry battalions where most of the men had been together for some time, many members of the HQ group didn’t know each other. Even within the Signals section, noted Gerry Gerrard, “We were mainly a bunch of strangers.”^[172] Some of the Signals had become acquainted while training in Barriefield, Debert, and the Fortress Companies in Vancouver and Victoria. And there were a few happy reunions as soldiers who had transferred from the 10th and 11th Fortress Companies to 4th Divisional Signals discovered that men with whom they had previously served were now part of “C” Force. But it was here on the Awatea that the men of the Signals section were all together for the first time. Dispatch rider Jim Mitchell recalled, “We didn’t know everybody – we weren’t even what you call organized. We started to get organized on the boat.”^[173] Besides renewing acquaintances, it was also a time when new friendships would begin to be forged. Signalman Blacky Verreault:

Something new: I thought I would be the only lineman aboard but I just met three new buddies, Ted [Kurluk], Walter [Jenkins], and Ray [Squires]! Walt and Ray are English Canadians, the former of medium height dark hair and dark eyes, rather handsome. The latter, tall and blond with light blue eyes healthy complexion also good looking. Ted is a handsome Ukrainian. I feel the four of us will get along well.^[174]

Most of “C” force boarded the Awatea, with only one company of the Royal Rifles assigned to the armed escort vessel, the HMCS Prince Robert. At 2300 hours on October 27, 1941, the two vessels steamed out of Vancouver Harbour. The cool, slightly foggy night enveloped the ships as they slipped under Lion’s Gate Bridge and out towards the Pacific Ocean and their unknown destination. The whole event was kept low profile – no speeches or marching bands for this send-off. There were no press reports about the embarkation until three weeks later when “C” Force had safely arrived at its destination. Even then, the newspapers reported few details:

…The exact size of the contingent and details of its trip here were military secrets….For security reasons, following practice in effect regarding Canadian troops in the United Kingdom, names of the units sent to Hong Kong were not disclosed.^[175]

A day later, a front page photo appeared in the Vancouver Sun with the caption, “When the B.C. Boys Left for Hong Kong….They were photographed during the transition from train to ship recently at a West Coast port.”^[176]

On October 28, Captain George Billings called his Signals section together on deck for the first time. He introduced himself as a graduate of Kingston Military College and told them he had just returned from service in Britain.^[177] The group of thirty-two soldiers facing him represented various parts of the country: nineteen were from B.C., six from the prairies, three from Ontario, and four from Quebec. Four of them were still in their teens, most in their early twenties, and only three were over twenty-five. All but five were single, although a few had left special girlfriends behind. About half had served in the armed forces, either with militia units or the Active Service Force, for at least two years; only a few had less than a year of service. So although the young men had not trained or worked together as a complete unit, for the most part they were well trained and had gained considerable experience in their specialties as operators, dispatch riders and linemen.

Training on the ship began a day out of Vancouver. For the men of the Signal Corps, visual signaling practice was carried out on board, “but no wireless practice was possible because of the necessity of radio silence.”^[178] Billings also assigned his men duties on the bridge, in particular maintaining communication with the escort ship, Prince Robert.^[179] Will Allister later wrote about his memory of the experience:

Part of our Sigs duty was our shift on the bridge, two men at a time. At night, on a blacked-out ship, it was a stirring and powerful experience. After the stifling heat of the hold, it was a blessed relief to pick our way over the mass of sleeping bodies strewn about the decks like victims of a swift plague. Climbing up to the bridge – ah the bridge – “Twas very heaven.” Still half asleep we would catch the warm tropical breeze on our sweating brows and listen to the gentle susurrus of the ship’s prow dipping and skimming through the quiet luminous waters.^[180]

But generally on board the Awatea, life was not so idyllic. The overcrowding not only made living conditions less than ideal, it also made for problems in feeding the men. The late evening departure from Vancouver and the lack of a proper system of serving food led to “a hopeless muddle” for their first supper on board.^[181] When it finally arrived, it was tripe and onions – many like Grenadier Léo Bérard poked at it for a few moments and then headed to the mess for a beer.^[182] For the next few days the situation didn’t improve. It was mutton for breakfast, lunch and supper and the smell of rendering meat throughout the ship prompted more than a few queasy stomachs. When asked by the duty officer and orderly Sergeant if there were any complaints, every man in the Brigade Headquarters mess stood up and grumbled about the mutton. The officer (whose food, of course, was much better) replied simply, “I don’t blame you.”^[183] With similar complaints heard throughout the ship, Brigadier Lawson, the “C” Force commander, made a promise that better meat would be brought on board at their first port of call.^[184]

Even if they could put up with the food, many of the soldiers had trouble adapting to the movement of the ship. Blacky Verreault wrote, “For two days we are on the high seas with the ship rolling enough to cause numerous pale faces and trips to the john as well as revolting disasters even in the dining area.”^[185] Some, like Signalman Bud Fairley, never got used to it; he was seasick for the whole trip.^[186] With no laundry facilities, cleaning up required a bit of innovative thinking. Gerry Gerrard recalled,

Of course, having a port hole just above the water helped the laundry. We took a rope off a hammock, threaded the rope through the laundry and pushed it out a porthole for a little while. Unfortunately, one man used a porthole aft of the sewer outlet.^[187]

Daily physical exercises and training sessions became part of the normal drill. Even the Signals were given instruction on using their rifles, although there was some disagreement with the procedures being taught by Capt. Billings. His version of the drills was apparently somewhat out of date, causing confusion for the men who had received more recent rifle training at Barriefield.^[188] In general, personnel from the various Headquarters units were very competent. Brigadier Lawson wrote during the voyage,

HQ Details – These appear to have been well selected. They are keen, anxious to work, well behaved and so far as can be judged on board ship, are well trained.^[189]

In addition to the various training exercises, men were also assigned other tasks. There was guard duty – particularly at night, sentries were on the lookout for lighted cigarettes on deck or lights showing through cabin portholes^[190] – boat drill, and the more mundane mess duties. Blacky Verreault recorded in his diary:

Supper is over. I have been “table orderly” all day meaning I had to serve meals and wash dishes for sixteen men for each meal. Someone else will take over tomorrow.^[191]

To combat the monotony there were the usual card games, and movies were shown. Crown and anchor and bingo games were common, even though gambling was prohibited. And, of course, there were rumours, particularly about where they were headed. An end to the speculation would come soon enough.

On November 2nd the Awatea made its first stop to take on fuel and supplies.

Hawaiian Islands sighted after breakfast (0800 hrs). We entered Honolulu harbour and moored alongside Japanese ship. Troops strictly warned not to disclose identity. No cameras allowed on deck or snapshots taken enroute.^[192]

Corporal Don Penny’s personal record of his itinerary shows them arriving Honolulu at 10 a.m. on the 2ndand leaving at 6 p.m. The same day, he wrote a letter home:

We are having a fairly good trip but the weather is far too hot for me.

I sure wish I could have seen you all back there but it seems I always have bad luck with my leaves or furloughs.

My leave now is way overdue, it was due last March and every time I put in for it I got it cancelled. Oh well, I guess I will just have to wait until the war is over.

I can’t say much as we are still on our way and all the mail is censored. If you don’t hear from me for some time it is O.K. because the mail delivery may not be very good….^[193]

Rolly D’Amours wrote in his diary:

We were entertained by the Royal Hawaiian Hula troupe, and the fellows went quite wild about it. The troupe performed on the wharf, and it was quite a job to get a ringside seat. We were not allowed to get off the ship, but some of the fellows put on trunks and dove off for a swim. The water was filthy but I imagine it was also very refreshing. The military authorities finally posted guards to keep them from diving off, but some of them still managed to crawl through the port holes.^[194]

That night, after departing Honolulu, “C” Force officers were informed that their destination was to be Hong Kong. By the next morning everyone knew.

With vivid images of hula dancers on the wharf still in their minds, the soldiers now had to focus attention on details of their posting. Preparations became more specific. Information about Hong Kong was passed on through films, diagrams and lectures. Topics included: Health in the Tropics; Hong Kong – People and Customs; and The Japanese Army.^[195]

Captain Billings speaks to us of Hong Kong where he lived for a few years. “The only thing to fear there is yellow fever, venereal diseases complemented by various diseases brought in by the rat population.” What a future awaits us, I’m touched. Not to mention the nasty disposition of the Japs with whom we probably will have to have words.^[196]

Unfortunately, information about the Japanese soldiers that was passed on during these sessions was misleading at best. They were portrayed as short-sighted dwarfs who all wore glasses and couldn’t fight at night. Their equipment, including artillery and planes, was characterized as obsolete, and in a complete failure of military intelligence, their numbers in China were grossly underestimated. However, in spite of the enemy’s shortcomings, the men were told they should be ready for anything when they arrived – “even fighting.”^[197] That possibility was brought to mind when one afternoon the ship’s sirens blared, a new course was struck, and off in the distance the Prince Robert started a search pattern – a possible submarine sighting. But after a few hours it was back to their normal course and regular routines, if with a heightened sense of what might await them.^[198]

On November 10, the following was included in “Routine Orders, C Force:”

21. SECURITY

1. The following will be read twice on parade, to all ranks, before noon Wednesday, 12 Nov. 41. Care will be taken that no N.C.O. or man whether on guard, fatigue or other duty, is [o]mmited.

2. We shall shortly put into our last port of call before reaching our final destination. From there onwards our route passes between islands occupied by a country which is already giving assistance to our declared enemies and which may at any moment declare itself as an open enemy. Even without such declaration it may commit acts of hostility against us.

IT IS THEREFORE OF THE UTMOST IMPORTANCE THAT NO INDICATION WHATSOEVER BE GIVEN WHILST IN THIS PORT REGARDING:-

Who we are
Our numbers
Where we have come from
The Direction in which we are going
Our final destination
3. There must be NO conversation with persons ashore or in ships or boats which may come alongside.
4. There must be NO shouting to persons ashore or in boats or ships, even to those in our escort.
5. No persons will be allowed on shore.
6. No mail or other communication will be sent ashore other than through regular channels. Communications will NOT be handed to persons on shore or in boats, etc. for mailing.
7. Personnel on guard where they may be seen from other ships or from shore will not wear “CANADA PATCHES”. Dress for others will be shorts and shirts without patches.
8. We are traveling in a New Zealand ship; provided the above instructions are carried out there should be no indication to persons in ships or on shore that Canadians are on board this ship. To keep them in ignorance of this fact is exactly what we want and all ranks will govern themselves accordingly.
9. Any person questioned regarding any of the above matters will refuse to answer and will report details of questioning at once to the nearest officer or N.C.O.
10. Disregard of any of the foregoing will be treated as a serious offence.
11. No coins, badges, cigarettes or other similar identificable [sic] matter will be thrown overboard.^[199]

The approach to their next port of call required careful navigating through the islands to Manila. A British ship led the way through the mine fields, followed by the Prince Robert, and then the Awatea. Communication between the ships was by signal lamp so the two R.C.C.S. men on the bridge were busy. At one point their captain lost sight of the Prince Robert, but a quick flash of Gerry Gerrard’s small blue beam elicited an immediate response from the ship ahead and the captain breathed easier.^[200] They arrived on November 14 in the Philippines and docked at Manila at 1030 hours to take on fuel. The ship left later that day with the British cruiser HMS Danaeas an additional escort on the final leg of the journey, across the South China Sea to Hong Kong.^[201]

Besides providing time for training, the three-week voyage also gave the men an opportunity to get to know each other better. Will Allister later wrote:

Brigade Headquarters, made up of assorted units – Signals, Postal, Ordinance [sic], MPs, etc. – was a mixed bag from all parts of the country. I soon adopted Wally Normand and Bob Demant [sic], two madcap dispatch riders from Montreal, whose clowning antics dovetailed nicely with my own. We entertained one another. Wally, twenty-one, short, stocky, abrasive, an amateur drummer, had rhythm to his fingertips. He would regale us with rapturous musical talk of swing bands and musicians – Krupa, Berrigan, Shaw, Goodman, James – bursting into song at the least provocation. Demant was a broad-shouldered, full-chested youngster of the same age, whose dainty Ronald Coleman mustache and rosy upturned nose gave him a more mature look. His gentle, easygoing manner made a good counterpoint to Wally’s cocker spaniel personality. When he wasn’t seasick, he was a born raconteur, taken to delightful flights of comic fantasy. Theirs was the most dangerous of jobs, riding dispatches on motorbikes between units, and it suited their temperament.^[202]

On the sunny morning of November 16, 1941, the Awatea steamed into Hong Kong harbour. Rolly D’Amours recorded his first impressions:

While waiting to disembark we gawked at the surroundings which were quite impressive and interesting. H.K. island on our left with many houses seemingly perched on the sides of steep hills. Mansions on the Peak silhouetted against the pale glow of the rising sun. The dockyards at the base of the mountain filled with ships of all description. Freighters scattered all over the channel between the mainland and H.K.

Chinese junks weaving in and out thru all open spaces, seemingly going nowhere and everywhere. On our right was Kowloon, a low flat city with the hills of the New Territories for background. On the dock patrolled three Indian policemen, quite picturesque with their blue uniforms, flowing beards, and colored turbans.^[203]

The ship had docked at Holt’s Wharf, Kowloon, and after a long wait the troops finally disembarked, forming up on a nearby stretch of waste ground alongside the Peninsula Hotel. The bands of the Royal Scots and Middlesex battalions began playing and the Canadians marched through the city and its welcoming crowds to their new barracks home at Sham Shui Po, seven kilometres away.^[204] The local English language daily, The China Mail, ran the headline, “Big Canadian Contingent Descends Upon Colony.”^[205] The “colony” consisted of Hong Kong Island and a larger mountainous region on the mainland – the “New Territories” – extending to the Chinese border. Most of the population was contained in two cities, Kowloon on the mainland, and Victoria on the Island.

Blacky Verreault described their new situation in his diary:

Here it is winter and the heat is unbearable. Our camp is at the far end of Kowloon. A chain link fence separates us from the local. The huts are low slung and made of concrete because of the typhoons that hit two or three times a year apparently. The “Winnipeg Grenadiers” and the “Royal Rifles” are housed in these huts. As for Brigade Headquarters, we occupy a magnificent five storey building that looks something like a castle of the middle ages. Three of us share our room: Ted, Walter and I.^[206]

Dispatch rider Don Beaton’s impressions were recorded in a letter home:

We’ve been here for a couple of weeks now but where we are – well that’s a military secret. The censorship is pretty strict so I can’t tell you a heck of a lot.

How is everything at home? All A1 I hope and everyone in the best of health as I am at the moment in which condition I hope to remain. The odds are more or less against me here. Such a conglomeration of diseases I never did see in my life….

We sure were lucky in regards to barracks. We are quartered in the marriage quarters of the British Army. There are three fellows to a room and to make things easier we have the natives here for servants. In Canadian money it doesn’t cost us the price of a good show for a weeks service. I’ll be nice and lazy by the time I get back to Canada, whenever that will be.

As far as the country goes – well It’s not bad. But in other respects it’s pretty horrible. I’ve read of things about this place but way down deep I never believed it true. Now it’s a different story. You see some of the most appalling sights every single day and from what I’ve heard there are places worse than this and of which I haven’t the slightest doubt….^[207]

Some of the “appalling sights” probably related to the poor condition of Chinese refugees who had fled from the Japanese soldiers advancing through their homeland. Begging, sleeping (and often dying) in the streets, they had arrived in Hong Kong by the thousands.^[208]

Corporal Don Penny also wrote home with his thoughts and observations:

This isn’t a very long letter I am writing as there is not much I can say, but this will let you know I am O.K. and am having a fairly good time so far….

I can’t describe much about the country we are in now but it is the most filthiest and rottenest place I have ever seen and ever hope to see, of course, the barracks and general conditions around the camp are clean but the city itself is awful. It all is very interesting of course, right now but as time goes on I guess we will get very sick of it.

The barracks where we are staying are very good. They used to be the married quarters of the Imperials before they evacuated all the white women. There are three of us to a room and each room has a big fireplace but it never gets cold enough to put a fire on. The floors of the building are hardwood and the building itself is four stories high. The mosquitoes here are very bad and therefore we have mosquitoe [sic] netting to put over our beds at night to keep them away, the mosquitoes aren’t very bad at this time but during the hot months, they tell me, the flies are very bad and cause a lot of malaria. Another thing about this country is that it is full of diseases of every description mainly Venereal Diseases of all kinds and I am sure staying away from all of them….

Well the year is sure drawing in now. This will be the third Xmas in a row that I have been away from home. It won’t seem the same over here as back in Canada….^[209]

Little did he know how different it was going to be! The envelope bears the usual censor stamp and the notation, “Censored. GM Billings Capt”. It is postmarked Kowloon, 3 Dec, 1941, but the letter didn’t make it out of Hong Kong before the Japanese attacked a few days later. It did, however, survive the war and eventually reached its destination in Vancouver.

Some preparations had been made for the arrival of the Canadian contingent in Hong Kong. However, there were many operational and administrative details to be sorted out before two thousand troops, unfamiliar with new surroundings and customs, could be set free to take on their duties and explore the colony. So, from the time they arrived until 1800 hours on November 19, all soldiers were confined to barracks.^[210]

Drill uniforms had been worn on the trip over and most of these were by now in a lamentable condition, facilities for washing on the boat being inadequate owing to the necessity for conserving water.

Three days after arrival all Canadian officers assembled in the Lecture Hall in Sham Shui Po, there to be addressed by Gen. Maltby on the defensive plans of the Hong Kong area.^[211]

A weekly menu was prepared by the Messing Officer, but because of the vast differences between Canadian meats and vegetables and those available in Hong Kong, “considerable difficulty was encountered in compiling suitable menus.”^[212] Each Brigade Headquarters unit was attached to one of the battalions for “rations and quarters,” so effective November 16, all R.C.C.S. personnel were on the Winnipeg Grenadiers’ books.^[213] But army rations were often avoided. Don Beaton later recalled,

…our money was real good there. It was worth ten times what it was worth here. So, we ate well. The British rations weren’t very good, so we used to eat out all the time. There was a place called Jingles. It was a retired U.S. Navy guy who started up a restaurant there. You’d get a big sixteen-ounce steak and chips and a quart of Australian beer and it only cost us about thirty-five cents….And if you could eat two of them you got them both free….

And we rode around in rickshaws. You’d go about five miles for about a dime and that’s including a tip…we were like tourists. I mean everybody was out buying stuff. All the guys were sleeping in silk pajamas. Some of them were being shaved while they were lying in bed, you know.^[214]

Rolly D’Amours wrote in his diary:

20thPay-day in HK currency – By this time the soldiers were becoming pretty well acquainted with Kowloon and H.K. The favorite spots seemed to be the Sun-Sun Café in Kowloon and Jingles in H.K. both places furnished wine, women, music and food. Our mess at that time wasn’t very well organized and many soldiers had their evening dinner at their own particular spots and many were the talks concerning the merit of each place.^[215]

Blacky Verreault also recorded some of his early impressions of Hong Kong:

…since the Chinese work for very low labour rates, we can afford our personal butler to look after our room, our clothes and laundry. Strange country China! At least this part of it. It’s different than what we learned of it in Canada. The earth is arid with few edible plants. Their ways are so strange. Women at work is a case in point. Everywhere we see them carrying loads of nearly 100 lbs. and they walk miles like this. They are of all ages incredible: the Chinese are frail but not lazy. The majority live on the water in junks. The two cities [Kowloon and Victoria] are like ant colonies. I have never seen so many people at one time and girls by the thousands….

The Hong Kong girl is very delicate and pretty and certainly not bashful in bed. The prostitutes have developed a liking for Canadians and I believe that the blokes [British soldiers] are envious. There have been many fights with other regiments with gory results.^[216]

Many of the men couldn’t resist the cheap tattoos available at numerous locations. Both Howie Naylor and Don Penny now had decorated forearms.^[217]Hong Kong did, however, also offer more genteel pursuits. Men took advantage of the libraries and some, like Lee Speller, attended nightly prayer meetings at the local Gospel Hall.^[218]

Of course, the Canadians were there for a more serious purpose. The R.C.C.S. was intended to supplement services being supplied by the Royal Signals Hong Kong Establishment, so the Canadian Signals generally found themselves working with men from other units.^[219] The official “C” Force Signals Report, prepared by Capt. Billings, outlined the details of training and preparations prior to the outbreak of war.

This period was spent in intensive training. Equipment was drawn from the Ordnance, and although some delay was caused by the RCOC checking and testing wireless sets, these were eventually forthcoming. No vehicle or M/C’s were available for either training or operational functions although they were requested. Eventually a station wagon (RASC) and driver were supplied when free from other duties.

A training table was prepared and daily training commenced. In general this consisted of establishing stations in various localities and handling traffic, the station wagon being used as transport. As soon as the W/T sets were established, the DR’s were sent on various tasks in the station wagon. (They had no M/C’s). They thus did map reading, sketch mapping, route maps, estimates of time and distance….[and] various exercises designed to increase their knowledge of the territory and their efficiency. Unfortunately this was confined to the mainland. The lack of motorcycles was a serious handicap in this training.

In addition to the above, training in No. 18 sets was given to selected personnel from the “Royal Scots”, “7/14 Punjabis” and the “Rajputs”. This training was hampered by the slow release of the No. 18 sets from the ROC Depot and by the lack of replacement batteries. The Signal sections concerned were very keen and had made good progress in the handling of these sets. Only practice was necessary to bring them to a high state of efficiency.

The Linemen were detailed to various Royal Signals Line Sections and all their work was carried out under the supervision of Lieut Spong and Lieut Patterson of the Royal Signals who said that they were good linemen but did not have much experience in handling fortress material, e.g. “wiped joints”.

The CSO, China Command, Col Levitt, RS inspected the unit soon after arrival. Major Hayes, RS kept in touch continually. They both expressed satisfaction with the training.^[220]

In Don Penny’s collection of mementoes brought home after the war there is a small sheet of note paper with the Rajput Regiment insignia in the corner. On it was written:

Receipt acknowledged herewith for three (3) No. 18 Wireless Sets
(Signed) N.S. Cole, Captain Adjutant, 5/7 Rajputs
Customs Pass
7/12/41

The “slow release of the No. 18 sets” from the Ordnance Depot is reflected in the date of the receipt, one day before the Japanese attacked Hong Kong.

As usual, there are contrasts between the official military reports and the diaries and reminiscences of the soldiers themselves. Capt. Billings gives a picture of a well organized system of training and preparation, men busy carrying out their duties, building their strategic knowledge and capabilities. This is probably a good “on paper” representation of the working activities of the R.C.C.S. during its first weeks in Hong Kong. But there were problems as well. More than a few Signals found themselves caught up in spirited bouts of heavy drinking and carousing in the downtown areas. Problems with infantry drill which had surfaced while on the Awatea came up again at Sham Shui Po. When a newly appointed Sergeant who had only minimal infantry training in Victoria was given responsibility for putting the men through their paces on the parade square, things didn’t go well. Neither did the suggestion that one of the men who had received more up-to-date training at Barriefield be assigned to run the drill. “The next morning, Billings gave us a lecture. He let us know he didn’t want to hear anymore from the Barriefield boys.”^[221]While improving their performance on the parade square was on some soldiers’ minds, for others like Will Allister, their initial experience with Hong Kong was later recalled as,

…three glorious weeks. Of wild luxury, shopping, buying embroidered kimonos, carved tusks, silk pyjamas, a violin Hank [Greenberg] bought in Thieves Row… singing, dancing, cavorting, drilling with murderous hangovers. Exploring the terrain on manoeuvres (casually). Twenty-five square miles of confusing mountains, hills and valleys… three short weeks, with war so far away, and life a continual party.^[222]

Well, the party was about to be over.

Photo Gallery

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Chapter 2: Destination Hong Kong- Notes

[167] Beaton, C. Magill interview