No Reason Why (Second Edition)

The Island

—22 December

This was the first day of the battle for the Island that the defenders were unable to exercise any initiative, but were confined to holding their lines or attempting to counter breakthroughs on the part of the enemy. Their task was made the harder by the fact that late the previous day the Japanese had been able to bring their divisional artillery from the mainland and it was now firing in direct support of their operations.

The morale of the defenders may or may not have been uplifted by the following message from Winston Churchill which was being circulated at the time:

Soul-stirring it may have been, but it did not offer even false hope for Hong Kong.

Not to be outdone, Mackenzie King, too, had sent a message to the Canadian soldiers,

All Canada has been following hour by hour the progress of events at Hong Kong. Our thoughts are of each and every one of you in your brave resistance of the forces that are seeking to destroy the world's freedom. Your bravery is an inspiration to us all. Our Country's name and its honour have never been more splendidly upheld.

More to the point, Ralston, in one of his inspirational messages, had asked Lawson to give him as much information as could be passed on. By the time this was received, Lawson and Hennessy were dead and Home, the senior battalion commander, had been cut off. Lieutenant Colonel Sutcliffe answered on 22 December, telling Ralston of the casualties among the senior officers and informing him that the situation was critical, the Canadians were engaged, and casualties were heavy, but “Troops have done magnificent work, spirit excellent.” 179-2

East Brigade

Whether Brigadier Wallis had any offensive moves in mind for 22 December is not known, however it is certain that the Japanese gave him no opportunity to use them. Tanaka's original two battalions of the 229th were still in the Repulse Bay area, but they were occupied with the siege of the Hotel, had to hold the end of the north-south road, and had been badly mauled in the previous three days' fighting with the Royal Rifles. Two of the three Japanese reserve battalions had been brought across from the mainland the previous day, Tanaka's 1st and Shoji's 1st. These were now deployed in front of East Brigade's main force. There were thus four battalions in the area to face the exhausted remnants of the Royal Rifles and the rest of Wallis' force.

The Japanese attack on East Brigade commenced at noon, when intense and accurate mortar fire started to come down on the Stanley Mound and Sugarloaf positions. B Company of the Rifles now held Stanley Mound, having been directed there after the previous day's abortive advance. When the artillery and mortar bombardment was augmented by machine-gun and rifle fire one platoon from Headquarters Company and two from D Company were brought up to help repel the threatened attack. The enemy fire ceased at 6pm and the two D Company platoons withdrew to Stone Hill. At 9pm the machine guns and mortars suddenly opened up again and Japanese infantry attacked with grenades and bayonets. They were repulsed several times but when ammunition ran low and all but one of the Brens was out of action, B Company withdrew to the south slope of Stanley Mound.

The noon bombardment was also the preface to an almost immediate assault on Sugarloaf Mountain and Notting Hill. They were no longer held by Canadians, and the Japanese quickly routed the defenders, capturing, in the process, two of the Middlesex machine guns. The crew of another machine-gun at Palm Villa was wiped out.

C Company of the Royal Rifles was now to show that the courage and efficiency it had shown on 18/19 December was no accident. Captain W.A.B. Royal ran forward under fire, took over the Palm Villa gun, and began to hammer away at the enemy. The two guns on Sugarloaf were recaptured by Sergeants Goodenough and Roberts and Corporal Sannes. Sannes was killed at his new position, but Goodenough, twice wounded, kept one gun in action and drove the enemy to cover, while Roberts went through a mortar barrage to rescue the wounded Major Bishop. Bishop then called for volunteers to take back the Sugarloaf. Three parties were formed, and, with Goodenough's gun forcing the enemy under cover, Sugarloaf was in Canadian hands by nightfall. The already understrength company suffered eleven more casualties that day.

At Repulse Bay, conditions in the Hotel were deteriorating. At 4am Major Young brought forward the remaining platoons of his company to the Ridge, which they occupied at dawn under intermittent fire. At 3pm this party withstood a forceful attack by Japanese infantry, supported by mortars and machine-guns. After three hours of savage fighting the attack was repulsed.

At 2:30 pm the platoon in Overbays House had been ordered by Fortress Headquarters to return to the Hotel. As the position was under fire, Lieutenant Johnston decided to wait until dark. The platoon moved out at 8pm, but still had to fight their way through the Japanese and lost eight of their number killed.

On the Ridge that evening, the British personnel in the Ordnance depot had attempted to surrender but, the Japanese not proving co-operative, had evacuated the area. Major Young, though realizing that his position was untenable and that trying to hold it would serve no useful purpose, determined to stand his ground until nightfall when a withdrawal would be more practical. A Company was moving back to Eucliffe and the Hotel by 11pm.

West Brigade

The early morning of 22 December finally saw the end of resistance in Wong Nei Chong Gap. The remnants of D Company had held out for three days, inflicting massive losses on the enemy and denying them the vital area. But D Company had also suffered severe losses. The defenders had been commanded in succession by Captain A.S. Bowman (killed on 19 December during a counter-attack), Captain R.W. Philip (who must have been an incredibly tough individual - he had an eye shot out early in the battle, put it in his pocket, and carried on leading the defence until wounded again), and Lieutenant T.A. Blackwood. Blackwood had been wounded twice, the force was almost out of ammunition, there were 37 wounded men in the shelter, and no more than 12 unwounded. When the Japanese were able to blow in the door of the shelter with a light gun at 5am it became obvious the end was near. Most or all of the unwounded men were sent away in two parties to try to creep through the lines. Most of them actually succeeded in escaping; a few were killed.

At 7am all ammunition was finally exhausted and the 37 wounded men were surrendered by Captain U. Laite, one of C Force's chaplains who had stayed with the men. Colonel Shoji, who had earlier apologized to his Divisional Commander for the 800 casualties he had suffered in the fighting around the Gap, termed their resistance "heroic" - no mean compliment from a Japanese officer. 182-3 Shoji claimed his soldiers looked after the wounded prisoners, but in fact, those who could not walk were killed.

Mount Cameron, which dominated the Wan Chai Gap area, had become the lynchpin of the West Brigade front. The only reinforcement that could be spared for Major Trist and his 100 Grenadiers was a platoon of approximately 30 Royal Engineers. When these men arrived, Trist was instructed to re-organize his force on a two-company basis. Except for the continual artillery and mortar fire the day was uneventful until 8:30pm, when Colonel Doi attacked, using a complete battalion plus one company of another. The enemy attack was concentrated on the Royal Engineer position on the right flank, and after a hard fight the Japanese broke through. They then attacked the main position from the right and rear. Faced with this rapidly deteriorating situation Trist contacted Lieutenant Colonel Sutcliffe, who in turn contacted Acting Brigadier Rose. Trist was ordered to withdraw his men to Wan Chai Gap. The withdrawal was carried out successfully, though under heavy pressure from the enemy and with several casualties. There was some controversy afterward, as Rose was to claim that he had not authorized the withdrawal. Be that as it may, there can be no doubt that the Grenadiers and Engineers did not yield the ground easily. Colonel Doi, who was in a position to know, reported fierce fighting, one of his companies lost all its officers and warrant officers. While Doi's men were on Mounts Nicholson and Cameron they had been continually shelled by one of the big 9.2-inch coastal guns at Stanley. With the proper ammunition this might have exacted a heavy toll, but, according to Doi, the fragments from the armour-piercing shells were so large that only a few men were wounded.

One company of the Grenadiers, C Company under Major Bailie, though now at less than half strength because of detachments, was still in its pre-invasion position covering the emergency naval base at Aberdeen on Bennet's Hill and near the Aberdeen Reservoir. Bailie had a clear view of Mount Cameron, and seeing the signs of battle he contacted Brigade Headquarters. He pointed out that if Mount Cameron were lost his position would be dangerously exposed. Brigade considered that there was no time to reach the Mount Gough position that was to be the main point on the new defensive line, and ordered Bailie back to Aberdeen Village, refusing him written orders when he demanded them. Bailie then took his men plus the remainder of the Aberdeen garrison around to the west in an attempt to reach the Mount Gough position by a circuitous route. They arrived at Pok Fu Lam in the west at first light on 23 December.

Although there was still hard fighting ahead, 22 December had marked the beginning of the end for the defenders. In the east the Japanese had brought up two fresh battalions and had obviously started their drive to push the bulk of East Brigade into the sea. The Repulse Bay position would soon be overrun, freeing Tanaka's two battalions to advance west. The clearing of Wong Nei Chong Gap and the capture of Mount Cameron meant that Colonels Shoji and Doi could now advance northwest against Victoria.