The Battle for Hong Kong lasted eighteen days. It was always going to be
a losing battle. Winston Churchill knew that Hong Kong could not be
defended or relieved if attacked. It had become an isolated outpost to
be held as long as possible. After reaching the limits of endurance the
British administration surrendered the Crown Colony on Christmas Day,
December 1941. The military defeat ushered in a brutal occupation by the
Imperial Japanese Army, who ruled the captured territory under martial
law. The occupation lasted for three years and eight months until the
Japanese capitulation in August 1945. During the occupation, there were
shortages of food, firewood, and electricity. Almost everything was in
short supply. The Japanese rationed necessities, such as rice, oil,
flour, salt and sugar. Ration cards were only issued to those employed
in roles that were supporting the Japanese concept of Greater Asia and
the co-prosperity sphere. Many died in the streets from starvation and
there were outbreaks of cannibalism. The Japanese set about reducing the
population, by forced deportation, from 1.65 million to an estimated
500,000 by August 1945. Some were deported to work in coal mines on
Hainan Island, some were put on boats which were then sunk or set
alight, others were marooned on uninhabited islands. Philip Cracknell
brings his unrivalled knowledge of the ground to bear, as he did in
Battle for Hong Kong December 1941 to tell the harrowing story of
suffering and courage during the Imperial Japanese occupation of Hong
Kong. The story follows the civilian through the battle, the aftermath,
the internment, and finally liberation. It is the story of the civilian
during and after the Battle for Hong Kong.
