The Island
—25 December
West Brigade*
Although the primary threat was expected to come from the main Japanese infantry force, it was the 2nd Battalion of Colonel Tanaka's 229th Regiment that was involved in the first serious fighting of Christmas Day. This unit, moving west, had fanned out and occupied Brick Hill en route. Then, bypassing Little Hong Kong, it moved northwest to link up with the main force south of Mount Cameron. Elements of all three Japanese regiments were now in line for the final assault.
*West Brigade is covered first in this chapter, as the fighting ceased earlier in that area.
The advance had brought Tanaka's men up to the Bennet's Hill position, and at about midnight on 24/25 December, an assault was made by approximately two companies. The major position held firm, driving the Japanese back with heavy losses, but the lone Grenadier platoon on the feature known as Little Bennet's Hill was pushed back by superior numbers. Major Bailie immediately began to organize a counter-attack.
The approach of the Japanese infantry filled Maltby with apprehension, as the only troops not in the line were two companies of Punjabs in positions covering Government House, Fortress Headquarters, the Royal Navy Yard, and the Military Hospital -what Maltby referred to as "our last stand". 193-1 All other troops -Artillery men, Service Corps, Ordnance, Signals, and Engineers, all those not involved in absolutely essential duties were fighting as infantrymen. What seemed to make the most impression on Fortress Headquarters and on the defenders in the northern sector and Victoria, were the enemy's artillery and mortars. Hitherto they had experienced little more than shelling from the heavy Army artillery firing from the mainland. Now, however, the full weight of fire of the augmented 38th Division Artillery and of the efficient and deadly Japanese mortars, which had previously been used in support of the operations to the south of the Island, was brought to bear. The bombardment had a significant effect on both the defences and the morale of the defenders.
The Japanese had intended to make a general advance on 25 December. They had six battalions in line -one of Tanaka's, two of Shoji's, and three of Doi's, whose third battalion had been brought over from the mainland the previous day. According to Doi, the general advance had been postponed and rescheduled for 26 December. There is nothing in Japanese accounts to indicate that they intended to make a final, decisive attack on 25 December, but they did maintain a steady pressure on the exhausted defenders. By the early hours of the day, the two sides were in contact all along the northern half of the line. The intensity of the fighting was increasing when, at 9am, two civilians who had been residents in the Repulse Bay Hotel came through the Japanese lines under a white flag. They brought a Japanese demand for surrender and the promise of a three-hour truce while the matter was being considered.
The truce took effect almost immediately. One of its results was to halt in its tracks the assault that had been organized by Major Bailie to recapture Little Bennet's Hill, and this assault, which Maltby described as a "promising counter-attack" 194-2 was never re-initiated. Although some Japanese aerial and military bombardment continued during the truce, a great deal of relief was nevertheless provided for the defenders. Several used the opportunity to destroy secret papers and cyphers. Among these was Captain Bush, the ‘C’ Force Staff Captain, who ran into some difficulty. The key to the safe holding the Canadian cyphers, which had been kept by Colonel Hennessy, could not now be found. Eventually the safe had to be dumped, unopened, into the harbour.
The two civilians bearing the Japanese message told Maltby and the Governor of the overwhelming Japanese strength they had observed during their trek across the Island. Nevertheless, the Japanese demand was rejected and "at mid-day Japanese artillery opened up on a large scale". 196-3
The rejection of the Japanese surrender demand was little more than a final gesture of defiance. Resistance in the west was on its last legs. Not only were the defenders stretched thin and in an exhausted state, but there were only six guns left to the mobile artillery with no more than 160 rounds per gun and no prospect of getting more. Far worse, for both the garrison and the civil inhabitants, was the fact that most of the Island's water reservoirs were in enemy hands and the pipelines to the others had been damaged, so an acute water famine was imminent.
In the three hours after mid-day as the Japanese continued their pressure, the defences began to crumble. Parish Hill was taken and Fortress Headquarters was placed in jeopardy, the Japanese took Wan Chai Gap, the hillsides at Magazine Gap were set on fire by incendiaries, and the Gap brought under attack, the defenders near the north shore were pushed back to a second defence line which obviously could not hold long, communications between the various defence sectors became almost impossible, and at 3pm Maltby received a report that Bennet's Hill had surrendered. This last was completely untrue, but could not have improved Maltby's morale. He was led to what he later described as the "inevitable conclusion, namely, that further fighting meant the useless slaughter of the remainder of the garrison, risked severe retaliation on the large civilian population and could not affect the final outcome." 196-4
As a result, Maltby informed the Governor at 3:15pm that no further useful military resistance was possible. He then ordered all commanding officers to break off the fighting and to capitulate to the nearest Japanese officer.
The Winnipeg Grenadiers saw the white flag go up, but spasmodic artillery fire continued until 5pm. The Grenadiers destroyed their ammunition dumps with hand grenades and then moved to Mount Austin Barracks, arriving at 7:30pm.
East Brigade
In the early morning, soon after the Royal Rifles had moved out of the line to rest at Stanley Fort, a Japanese attack developed. The Middlesex and Volunteer defenders were pushed out of the positions in Stanley Village that the Rifles had held the previous evening. At 2:30am, Brigadier Wallis contacted Lieutenant Colonel Home and ordered him to send one of his companies to establish a line on the high ground north of the fort. C Company was chosen -its men had just enjoyed their first four hours of rest for many days, and was established in its new position by 4am. The rest of the battalion re-organized that morning, and a new A Company and a new Headquarters Company (to operate as a rifle company) were formed.
The situation at Stanley was continuing to deteriorate, and at 10am, Wallis ordered Home to mount a company attack to retake the bungalows on the Ridge in Stanley Village. The Brigadier promised Home that artillery support would be provided for the assault, "but as similar promises had been made on previous occasions by him but had not been kept, Lieutenant Colonel Home protested against such [an] attack in daylight as most likely being unproductive of any results but additional Canadian casualties. " 197-5 Wallis insisted that the attack must be made, and D Company under Major Parker was assigned the task.
The company had to move out of its positions and charge down a narrow open peninsula toward the high ground, where the Japanese were strongly established with abundant light artillery, mortars, and machine-guns. D Company began the assault at 1pm, "unsupported by any artillery or additional fire support". 197-6 They pressed the attack home through withering small-arms fire and a deluge of shells and mortar bombs. D Company's 18 Platoon, commanded by Company Sergeant Major Macdonell, penetrated as far as Stanley Village and inflicted heavy losses on the Japanese in the course of stubborn hand-to-hand fighting. The company was eventually forced to fall back to Stanley Fort. During the course of this action, reminiscent of nothing so much as one of the more mindless attacks on the Western Front during the First World War, D Company suffered 104 casualties out of a total strength of 148 -almost exactly 70%.
Two reasons were given for the failure of the artillery to support this attack. In the case of the big coastal guns at Stanley, the 6-inch guns could not fire to the right of Stanley Mound and the 9.2-inch guns could not fire further left than Red Hill, and therefore none could hit the Japanese on or near the Rifles' objective. Yet if Wallis had been counting on these weapons to support the assault, surely it would have been simple for him to ascertain in advance if their support was feasible. The mobile artillery -two 3.7-inch howitzers and an 18-pounder, were still being hauled into a safer position to fire when the attack went in. A lack of transport had slowed the movement, and apparently the artillery had been hit during the move. Nevertheless, Wallis had given the artillery their orders at 8:30, and they therefore had 6.5 hours to move their guns a few hundred yards. Wallis seems to have made no attempt to ensure that his promise to the Rifles of artillery support could or would be carried out. It is probable that the small weight of fire available would not have been of a great deal of assistance, but even this pitiful support was denied them.
Immediately after the failure of the D Company attack, Wallis ordered another company up the main road on the other side of the peninsula to occupy a line just south of Stanley Village. Once again, the Canadian officers pointed out the inevitable results, Wallis insisted on the advance, and A Company started out. As soon as they moved the Japanese artillery and mortars opened up, and within a matter of minutes, 18 men had been killed or wounded. Casualties would have been much heavier but at that moment a car came down the road bearing a white flag and the news that the colony had surrendered.
The officer sent from Fortress Headquarters with the news, Lieutenant Colonel Lamb, had not brought written orders for the surrender, and Wallis considered that "surrender was not warranted by the local situation" 198-7 (he still had some men and a few acres left). A cease-fire was arranged while Lamb went back for written instructions. Both Japanese and defenders held their ground, waiting for the end. Eventually written confirmation was obtained, and at 45 minutes past midnight on Boxing Day, 1941, the last formal organized resistance to the invasion of Hong Kong had ceased.
In the last few hours of the battle, the Royal Rifles had suffered 122 casualties while accomplishing almost nothing. The surviving Rifles were ordered to move back to Stanley. On the way back, C Company fell to the side for a brief rest. This company had been steadily bombarded by the Japanese for five days before going into action during the evening of 18 December, and then fought almost non-stop for the next seven. No other unit in East Brigade could say as much. But as Major Bishop, who had led them during those twelve merciless days came by, every man of the exhausted C Company pulled himself to his feet and cheered.