they are going to be more of a hindrance than a help. Elsa sits in the yard below our quarters holding Mari, staring into space. When I ask her what’s wrong, she says, ‘I should have left her with Lin. She would have been better off with Lin.’
Campbell and I agree at least that there has to be some sort of order here. Organisation from the top down, a plan of action. He says we need to set up a committee, and asks me if I’d like to be on it. His superior attitude gets under my skin. I say yes. Mimi says if anyone should be in charge around here, it’s me.
24 th January
Mari needs clean water to drink. I turn to at 5.00 am to start boiling it up so it will cool by the time she wakes. I watch as she sits on Elsa’s lap, sipping it off a spoon, crying for milk. There isn’t any. Elsa gives her more water. I walk around the camp with a few of my good clothes that Lin packed for me. I find a Dutch woman who managed to bring five tins of powdered milk with her for her toddler. She lets me have two of them in exchange for a pair of golfing trousers and a Norfolk jacket.
First meeting of the Temporary Committee at 10.00 am. Officers elected by a show of hands, and blackboard and chalk used to note names and votes. A full and proper election to be put on once we are settled. Top of the list will be a housing committee, canteen committee and medical committee, plus entertainment (Campbell is of the opinion that distractions are necessary). We attach names to groups, start to establish boundaries.
The Japs do likewise. They distribute a copy of regulations. We are informed that their treatment of us will be dependent on the treatment of Nipponese prisoners - of - war at the hands of the American, British and Dutch governments. We are to form self - cooperative unions in our quarters, each with its own department head. We are ordered not to leave the camp, look down over the prison grounds below, use the football ground, or pick flowers. If any internist should break these regulations, they will be punished according to military law.
I ask Elsa if she wants to head up the entertainment committee, maybe get a theatre troupe going, raise people’s spirits, but she shakes her head.
‘Oscar Campbell said I could help set up a sanatorium,’ she says.
‘Are you sure that’s a good idea? What about the risk of infection for Mari?’
‘Nobody’s infected with anything, are they?’
‘Not yet.’
‘It’s what I want to do.’
‘Fine, then. Go ahead and do it.’
I’ll bet these niggles are going on all over the camp – couples arguing over inconsequential matters so we don’t have to face up to everything else. The future is a blank, and no number of committees is going to change that.
17 th February
I walk around the inside perimeter of the fence every day, getting my bearings. Mimi likes to come with me most days. Safety in numbers, she says. The camp takes up the heel of the peninsula, separated from the rest of Hong Kong Island by the village. The pump house and fort lie on the other side, looking over the South China Sea. Our quarters are grouped around the prison proper, but separated from it by the wire. The only buildings that overlook the prison directly are the Japanese headquarters, which have been set up in the former superintendent’s house. I manage to get a surreptitious glimpse of the yard below one day, when no one’s looking, and see a few Chinese cons walking aimlessly around the exercise yard.
I’m starting to understand the lie of the land. Inside the wire are five bungalows with roofs shaped like coolie hats, designated A to E, occupied by high - up civil servants, doctors and the like who seem to have brought their hierarchy with them. Oscar Campbell is among their number; I can tell he feels slightly ashamed of this self - imposed privilege. Grouped around the Jap headquarters are several large stucco - and - tile accommodation blocks, which have been split into American,
Campbell and I agree at least that there has to be some sort of order here. Organisation from the top down, a plan of action. He says we need to set up a committee, and asks me if I’d like to be on it. His superior attitude gets under my skin. I say yes. Mimi says if anyone should be in charge around here, it’s me.
24 th January
Mari needs clean water to drink. I turn to at 5.00 am to start boiling it up so it will cool by the time she wakes. I watch as she sits on Elsa’s lap, sipping it off a spoon, crying for milk. There isn’t any. Elsa gives her more water. I walk around the camp with a few of my good clothes that Lin packed for me. I find a Dutch woman who managed to bring five tins of powdered milk with her for her toddler. She lets me have two of them in exchange for a pair of golfing trousers and a Norfolk jacket.
First meeting of the Temporary Committee at 10.00 am. Officers elected by a show of hands, and blackboard and chalk used to note names and votes. A full and proper election to be put on once we are settled. Top of the list will be a housing committee, canteen committee and medical committee, plus entertainment (Campbell is of the opinion that distractions are necessary). We attach names to groups, start to establish boundaries.
The Japs do likewise. They distribute a copy of regulations. We are informed that their treatment of us will be dependent on the treatment of Nipponese prisoners - of - war at the hands of the American, British and Dutch governments. We are to form self - cooperative unions in our quarters, each with its own department head. We are ordered not to leave the camp, look down over the prison grounds below, use the football ground, or pick flowers. If any internist should break these regulations, they will be punished according to military law.
I ask Elsa if she wants to head up the entertainment committee, maybe get a theatre troupe going, raise people’s spirits, but she shakes her head.
‘Oscar Campbell said I could help set up a sanatorium,’ she says.
‘Are you sure that’s a good idea? What about the risk of infection for Mari?’
‘Nobody’s infected with anything, are they?’
‘Not yet.’
‘It’s what I want to do.’
‘Fine, then. Go ahead and do it.’
I’ll bet these niggles are going on all over the camp – couples arguing over inconsequential matters so we don’t have to face up to everything else. The future is a blank, and no number of committees is going to change that.
17 th February
I walk around the inside perimeter of the fence every day, getting my bearings. Mimi likes to come with me most days. Safety in numbers, she says. The camp takes up the heel of the peninsula, separated from the rest of Hong Kong Island by the village. The pump house and fort lie on the other side, looking over the South China Sea. Our quarters are grouped around the prison proper, but separated from it by the wire. The only buildings that overlook the prison directly are the Japanese headquarters, which have been set up in the former superintendent’s house. I manage to get a surreptitious glimpse of the yard below one day, when no one’s looking, and see a few Chinese cons walking aimlessly around the exercise yard.
I’m starting to understand the lie of the land. Inside the wire are five bungalows with roofs shaped like coolie hats, designated A to E, occupied by high - up civil servants, doctors and the like who seem to have brought their hierarchy with them. Oscar Campbell is among their number; I can tell he feels slightly ashamed of this self - imposed privilege. Grouped around the Jap headquarters are several large stucco - and - tile accommodation blocks, which have been split into American,
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