Bill for the Use of a Body (3 page)

From that moment there were no more picnics or
parties for Julian. Life became grim and somewhat more than earnest. By five past eight a squadron of Japanese dive bombers had utterly obliterated Kai Tak Airport and soon afterwards the skill in evasive manoeuvres of gallant, one-armed Lieutenant-Commander John Boldero was being exerted to the utmost to keep his old destroyer, H.M.S.
Cicala
, from being sunk.

For close on forty-eight hours the line on the mainland held. The Punjabis and the Rajputs, with absolute faith in their British officers, behaved magnificently, carrying out every order without a moment's hesitation and inflicting terrific casualties on the enemy. But the Royal Scots, made flabby from too many months of indolence, too much cheap liquor and too many willing Chinese women, failed to show the fighting qualities that are the proud tradition of that famous regiment. On the night of the 9th/10th they allowed themselves to be surprised and driven from the strong Shingmun Redoubt, the holding of which was vital to the retention of the line. They fell back on Golden Hill, but were so demoralised that they also failed to hold that position. By midday on the 11th General Maltby realised that he was left with no alternative than to withdraw all Imperial Forces from the mainland.

The night was moonless and, in the Stygian darkness, conditions at the Kowloon ferry were chaotic. For four days without sleep the three battalions had been pitted against two divisions of fanatical Japanese, yet they had inflicted infinitely more casualties than they had sustained. Lost, punch-drunk and bewildered, the greater part of them somehow found their way to the waterfront. Somehow the handful of naval officers organised a miniature Dunkirk and got them away to the island.

By the 13th the Japanese had brought up their heavy guns and had begun the bombardment of Hong Kong Island. Even up to a few days before the outbreak of this new war there had been scores of Japanese agents in the
city, working as barbers, waiters and electricians. Extraordinary to record, for the past year a Colonel Suzki of the Japanese Intelligence had been permitted to reside there on the excuse that he was learning English, and it was not until the end of November that he had blandly taken leave of the many trusting residents who had entertained him. In consequence the Japanese had registered the exact position of every fort and strong point, which led to the shelling, and the bombing by their aircraft, proving terrifyingly effective.

At 9.15 on the evening of the 15th the enemy sought to probe the strength of the island's defences by sending across two companies of infantry. The operation was suicidal. Caught in the glare of the searchlights the small invading force was completely annihilated while still in the water. As the attempt was made on a sector of the shore held by the Canadians, it was a heartening experience for these raw troops to defeat it utterly. But the success proved a most misleading curtain raiser.

On the 17th the Japanese Commander, General Ito Takeo, sent across, under a flag of truce, a peace mission. As Governor and Commander-in-Chief, Sir Mark Young replied that he declined absolutely to enter into any negotiations for surrender and that he was not prepared to receive any further communications on the subject. That afternoon the bombardment was renewed with greater intensity; but on the morning of the 18th the Japanese guns fell ominously silent. With tensed nerves everyone knew then that they would shortly be called on to face an all-out attack by the enemy.

General Takeo had used only two of his divisions in the fighting on the mainland. He had kept the third in reserve for an assault on Hong Kong. At 10 p.m. on the 18th its three regiments—the 228th, commanded by Colonel Doi, the 229th by Colonel Tanaka and the 230th by Colonel Shoji—made their landings between North Point and Lyemun. To add to the difficulties of the
defence the night was very dark, it was raining and a strong wind was blowing; so that dense clouds of smoke from the oil tanks at North Point, which Japanese shells had set alight, rendered visibility near zero along the greater part of the north coast. The result was that several units received no warning that the enemy had landed, and were taken by surprise.

That was the case with the 5th Anti-Aircraft Battery of the Hong Kong Volunteers. The twenty-nine men occupying Lyemun Fort found themselves surrounded by a horde of Japanese before they were even aware that the enemy had got ashore. What followed remains as an indelible record of shame on the Japanese Army. Hopelessly outnumbered, the Hong Kong Volunteers saw no option but to accept from the Japanese Commander the promise of their lives if they surrendered. Told to lay down their arms and come outside with their hands up, they did as they were ordered—to receive in turn a bayonet in the stomach from the hilariously laughing Japanese soldiers, while their officer stood there showing his teeth in a delighted grin. But that was only a foretaste of what was in store for the garrison of Hong Kong.

At 7 a.m. on the 19th the medical orderlies at the Salesian Mission, which had been turned into an advance dressing station, were about to have their breakfast when a company of Japanese suddenly appeared on the scene. The post was flying the Red Cross and, as it was a non-combatant unit, the senior doctor naturally offered no opposition. On his surrender the orderlies, cooks and ambulance drivers were ordered out of the building, made to strip to their undergarments, then lined up some way off with their backs to their captors. A Japanese officer gave an order; screaming
Banzis
, his men surged forward at the charge and bayoneted every one of the prisoners in the base of the spine.

D Company of the 5/7th Rajputs, although outnumbered
ten to one, put up a splendid stand until their gallant Commander, Captain Bob Newton, was killed and the survivors, thirty mostly wounded men, realised that their position was hopeless. With ferocious glee the Japanese butchered the lot.

In scores of desperate engagements no wounded were taken prisoner but were bayoneted where they lay; and such prisoners as were taken were trussed like turkeys, with their wrists and ankles tight together in the small of their backs. With their spines arched to near breaking point they were left to lie in agony for hours on end. Then, when they were at last untied and marched to a cage, every one of them was beaten about the body or head with rifle butts. Several lost the sight of an eye and many of them had their teeth smashed in.

So it went on for five ghastly days. Post after post was surrounded and overwhelmed by swarms of Japanese. Yet never have Imperial troops fought with greater tenacity and been more deserving of imperishable glory. The Royal Scots, determined to atone for their precipitate retreat on the mainland, displayed stubborn courage equalling that of their predecessors, the ‘Old Contemptibles' at Mons. The ever-cheerful Cockneys of the Middlesex made the enemy pay a terrible price for every foot of ground he gained. The Indian troops, born fighting men and trained to the last degree of perfection, showed incredible bravery, in many cases holding their positions for many hours after their officers had been killed. The Canadians, raw troops though they were, showed the same mettle as had their fathers at Vimy Ridge, while the Hong Kong Volunteers performed feats of valour that are still a legend on the island. Both the Portuguese and Eurasian companies held their positions to the end, and a platoon of British veterans repelled continuous assaults on the Power House for over two days. Most of them were in their sixties and some over seventy, yet when they were at last driven from the Power House the survivors continued
their battle from an overturned bus without hope of relief. But it was all of no avail.

By the third night after the landing fighting was taking place in every bay along the coast, the Japanese had driven the defenders from several of the island's crests and communications between Headquarters and a number of major units had been cut. The battle thereby having become chaotic and unmanageable, there was little of any value that a junior Intelligence Officer could do; so Julian asked his General's permission to go out and fight, and it was readily granted.

Not knowing when he would have a chance even to lie down again, he had the good sense to get a last night's good sleep in the fortress; then early on the morning of the 22nd he went down into the city. The bombing and shelling had led to its becoming a scene of indescribable confusion, but down at the docks he found a young Captain who had already been wounded collecting together a miscellaneous body of men. There were half a dozen sailors from the
Cicala
which, with four out of six of the motor torpedo boats, had been sunk, and some Canadian stragglers; the rest were not soldiers in the true sense but details from the Base Ordnance Corps and the R.A.S.C., clerks, cooks and storekeepers. Many of them had never before handled a rifle, but they were all game to fight. Julian joined them and they set off past Happy Valley up into the hills.

That afternoon they had their first engagement with the Japanese. For thirty-eight hours, though gradually dwindling in numbers, they managed to hold their position against a series of attacks; but at dawn on the twenty-fourth they were forced to withdraw from it in disorder. Julian got away with six men down a steep gully; but for the twenty-four hours that followed he felt himself to be living through a nightmare. In whichever direction the little party made its way they found themselves heading towards parties of Japs.

During the day they engaged in a dozen skirmishes and each time had to beat another retreat. Two of the party were killed, another was shot through the wrist and Julian had a wound in his left forearm. By nightfall they had run out of ammunition, were hungry, thirsty, looking like scarecrows and almost asleep on their feet.

Their first position had been on Mount Cameron; but the series of zigzags they had made during the day had brought them round on to the lower slopes of Mount Butler, not far from the eastern suburbs of the city, and Julian decided that their best hope now lay in getting down to it. But shortly afterwards they came upon a cave and they were all so weary that he thought it best that they should first rest there for a few hours.

At midnight, limping and stumbling in the dark, they set off along a narrow track that led downwards. Ten minutes later, at a junction of the track, they ran head-on into a Japanese patrol. The nearest man jabbed at Julian with his bayonet. He side-stepped and clubbed the man in the face with his pistol. As he jumped back he heard the Canadian who had been following him shout:

‘We've no ammunition left! We surrender!' But the Japanese ignored his cry and several of them dashed past Julian. Next moment he heard the screams of his companions as sharp cold steel was plunged into their bodies.

Realising that if he remained where he was his life was not worth a moment's purchase, he took a pace forward and threw himself over the cliff. Although steep, it was not sheer and was covered with coarse grass. He bounced twice, rolled over and over for a hundred feet and came to rest caught up by a good-sized bush.

For a while he lay there half stunned; then he pulled himself together, wriggled free of the bush and, sitting on the steep slope with his head in his hands, tried to think what was now the best thing to do. If he continued
his progress while it was still dark he might go over a real precipice or, perhaps, run into another patrol of Japs. Deciding that he would stand a better chance of getting down to the city in safety if he postponed his attempt until it was light, he fell into an uneasy doze.

When dawn came he roused himself and, lying on his stomach, scrambled his way down the lower part of the slope to the cover of a group of small houses. His wound was not serious but, fearing that if he did not get it dressed it might become gangrenous, he was anxious to have it attended to. There were no Japanese to be seen, so it did not look as though they had yet penetrated the city. His strength renewed by his hours of rest in the cave and on the slope, he set off through the streets, already filled with scared and bewildered Chinese, towards St. Stephen's Hospital. By half past six he was within five hundred yards of it. Suddenly he noticed that the streets were no longer teeming with frightened crowds but almost deserted. As he halted in his tracks a Corporal of the Middlesex with a bloody handkerchief round his head stepped out from a nearby doorway and asked in a husky voice:

‘Where yer goin', sir?'

When Julian told him, the Corporal said, ‘Fer Gawd's sake don't, sir. The Japs is there. Them little yellow bastards'll jab a bayonet in yer guts fer certain. ‘Alf an 'our back I got art of a scullery winder. But I seen enough ter know the form. Ole Doc' Black, what's the big shot there, tried to prevent 'em comin' in; but they just laughed an' gave 'im the works on the doorstep. Then them swine set abart the wounded. Bayoneted the poor sods in their beds. That's what they did. Then them swine set abart raping the nurses, may they rot in 'ell.'

Julian closed his eyes and a shudder of horror ran through him. Opening them again, he said thickly, ‘Thanks for stopping me, Corporal. It's too ghastly to think about. I'm afraid we've had it. What a Christmas
morning! It's every man for himself now and I doubt if many of us will see in the New Year.'

‘That's it, sir,' the Corporal agreed. ‘Sell our lives dearly. That's the drill. Like my Brigadier. I were on 'is 'Eadquarters Staff these lars' few days while 'e were commanding the western sector. It were my luck to be sent art to try to mend a telephone wire so when I gets back I saw what 'appened while lying in the bushes. The 'Eadquarters was surrounded. 'Ole area just swarmin' with them little yellow 'orrors. Then art comes Brigadier Lawson wiv a pistol in each 'and. 'E gives it to 'em right an' left an' took six of the misbegotten bastards wiv 'im. When the rest of the Staff come art wiv their 'ands up they was tied up in bundles of three, then stuck again and again, just as though they was 'ay sacks in a bayonet practice. Gawd, it were awful! Me stomach turned over at their yellin'. I was sick as a dog, an' pissin' meself that the Japs 'd spot me. But they didn't, an' when it fell dark I crawled away. The Brigadier 'ad the right idea though.'