The Island
—23 December
East Brigade
At 1am orders came through for A Company of the Royal Rifles to retire to the main East Brigade area at Stanley. Suggestions were also advanced for the evacuation of the civilians, but these were not implemented, in some cases due to the reluctance of the civilians to take the risk. Two platoons of A Company split into small groups and set out to infiltrate through the enemy lines while Major Young took the remainder of the company, about 100 all ranks, and moved along the coast road as far as Eucliffe Castle, intending to break through to the north. At about 5am Young's party ran into heavy enemy opposition and split into a number of groups which were to try to get through to Stanley independently. Of the men of A Company, a large number succeeded in reaching Stanley, some were captured and killed by the Japanese, and Major Young and 34 other ranks located a boat and made their way to the grounded and abandoned HMS Thracian on Round Island. They were forced to remain there for two days before making their way ashore. By that time the Island was in Japanese hands, and as plans to escape to the mainland did not work out, the group eventually surrendered. The civilians and wounded left at the Hotel fell into Japanese hands, but on this occasion the Japanese were guilty of no atrocities.
Although some accounts (mainly from the civilian residents of the Hotel who were not inclined to minimize their personal hardships and who held the standard civilian attitude of 'why doesn't the Army do something') do not portray the work of A Company of the Royal Rifles in a flattering light, a dispassionate look at the facts indicates that the 3-day siege of Repulse Bay had a significant effect on the Japanese operations. Tanaka's 2nd and 3rd Battalions had been forced to remain in the area for days instead of driving west according to plan. Furthermore, the commanding officer of the 3rd Battalion later reported that he had suffered heavy casualties in the vicinity of Repulse Bay and that his battalion had taken no prisoners. Indeed, the 3rd Battalion had been so badly hurt in the fighting that it stayed at Repulse Bay until the capitulation, taking no further part in the battle for the Island. Most of these casualties had been inflicted by A Company of the Rifles, which did the bulk of the fighting at Repulse Bay.
In the main East Brigade area a high priority was given to recapturing Stanley Mound. The task was given to B Company of the Royal Rifles, the Mound's former occupants. An artillery barrage was laid on and, for once, actually took place. As the attackers went in, covering machine-gun fire was directed on the hill. Unfortunately, this set the grass on the slope on fire, hindering B Company. Almost immediately the company came under a fusillade of bullets from Japanese who had penetrated through sectors not held by the Royal Rifles. This broke up the attack, and Stanley Mound remained in enemy hands.
With the failure of the counter-attack on the Mound and the presence of Japanese to the rear of the Stone Hill/Sugarloaf/Palm Villa area, the Royal Rifles' position had become extremely precarious, especially as the battalion itself was not in good shape. Although men from A Company had started to trickle into the battalion area at 6am, the strength of the Royal Rifles by this time was only 350 men. Casualties among the officers had reached 18 killed, wounded, or missing. All ranks were in a state of exhaustion. By mid-morning it was obvious that the deteriorating situation made it impossible to hold the position with the troops available. Lieutenant Colonel Home had a brief conference with Brigadier Wallis, and it was decided to establish a new line just north of the neck of Stanley Peninsula between Stanley View and Stanley Village. Two secondary lines were to be established further down the peninsula to provide defence in depth. Although this move meant yielding the high ground, Home considered that the narrower front and level terrain offered a better chance for resisting the Japanese than a series of semi-isolated hill positions, against any of which the enemy could concentrate. The Rifles started thinning out their lines at 5pm, and the move was complete by 8pm. C Company covered the withdrawal, keeping up a fierce exchange of fire with the Japanese most of the day. While the bulk of the battalion was to man the main line, B Company was detailed to occupy the small Chung Hum Kok peninsula immediately to the west of Stanley peninsula. Two of the platoons missed the way in the darkness and ended up at Stanley with the remainder of the battalion.
West Brigade
Following the loss of Mount Cameron by the Grenadiers and Royal Engineers the previous night, the Royal Scots took up positions on the mountain's north and west slopes while the Grenadiers re-organized and moved south into new positions north of Aberdeen Reservoir. In the meantime the Grenadiers' C Company had reached Pok Fu Lam. Once there, Major Bailie tried to contact Brigade Headquarters, and failing this spoke directly to General Maltby at Fortress Headquarters. Maltby was annoyed at Bailie's action and ordered him to take C Company back to its original positions, but when Bailie subsequently was able to contact Brigade Headquarters he was told that his move was justified. The company remained at Pok Fu Lam until 3:30, when it moved into line with the rest of the battalion. West Brigade had assumed what was to be its final formation. From south to north the formation was: Royal Navy personnel in line from Aberdeen to the south slopes of Bennet's Hill, the Grenadiers holding Bennet's Hill and on to the southwest slopes of Mount Cameron, the west slopes of Mount Cameron occupied by the Royal Scots, B Company of the Rajputs and a few Punjabs were between Mount Cameron and Leighton Hill, and Z Company of the Middlesex was still holding Leighton Hill. In front of the southern sector of this line an isolated company of the Middlesex was emplaced at Little Hong Kong, protecting the Ordnance Depot there. Two Volunteer and two Punjab companies and some Engineers were also in West Brigade area, but were not put in the front line.
There was bombing and shelling all along the line that day. Several attacks took place between Mount Cameron and Leighton Hill, forcing the Rajputs to withdraw. Z Company of the Middlesex pulled back slightly, but the Leighton Hill position still held and an attack later in the day was repelled.
That night a truck convoy raced through the lines to the Ordnance Depot at Little Hong Kong, loaded up with desperately needed ammunition, and returned safely. It was obvious that there was little more that could be done before the last stand.