1941: Hongkong

The war clouds thickened over the British Crown Colony of Hongkong during 1941, and before the year was out, the storm had broken and carried the colony away on the Japanese flood. Even as the year opened, the threat of war had changed life in Hongkong. January marked the hundredth anniversary of the founding of the colony, but instead of a major celebration, there was only a series of talks by leading British and Chinese residents. The note sounded was that of achievement in building up a flourishing commercial center on a rocky island and developing a natural harbor into one of the world's leading ports. Such encomiums were not particularly apt in 1941, however, for trade was declining and with it the prosperity of the colony. As the Japanese army crept southward on the colony's land side and as the blockade of Chinese ports became more effective, Hongkong's position as an entrepöt for goods moving in and out of South China progressively deteriorated. The Japanese occupation of Indo-China affected trade with that colony and also with Thailand. As tension rose in the Far East, fewer ships from Europe ventured as far as Hongkong, preferring to drop their cargoes at Singapore. On the other hand, the expansion of local industries within Hongkong tended to compensate for the loss in entrepöt trade.

Desiring to do its part in the Empire's war effort, the colonial government proposed to expend $62,389,000 (Hongkong) in 1941-42, of which over $12,000,000 was earmarked for the construction of tunnels and air raid shelters in the rocky hills and for the building of vessels to be given to the mother country. Moreover the colony pledged to contribute £200,000 annually to the British treasury. Local defense preparations were advanced, with 5,000 civilians and 4,000 police training for war service. For the first time in the colony's history, control was instituted over Chinese immigration; more than 750,000 Chinese refugees from the war zones had fled to the colony, thereby increasing its vulnerability to siege, and it was found necessary to limit their entry. During the year, additional contingents of Indian troops were brought in, and a Canadian unit was landed late in November, although its equipment was left behind in the Philippines. The defenses of the island were strengthened, food and munitions laid in, and the garrison perfected plans to withstand siege for at least a month.

Japan's treacherous attack in the Far East on Dec. 7 did not surprise residents of Hongkong as much as it did those peoples who lived farther from the scene of Tokyo's past exploits. Since 1938 Japan's armies had pushed south along the Chinese coast and virtually surrounded the colony. The ominous movement of Japanese ships carrying troops to Indo-Chinese ports in the autumn of 1941 heralded a new adventure, one that would implicate Hongkong, lying close to Japanese shipping lanes. As long as the colony remained in British hands, it was a well-situated base from which the Royal Navy could attack Nipponese vessels entering the China Sea from the north. The Japanese needed to dominate Hongkong if they were to secure uninterrupted communications with Malaya, and also to prevent the junction of British forces in Hongkong with the armies of Chiang Kai-shek.

On the same day as the raids on Pearl Harbor, Japanese naval units appeared off Hongkong and hostile planes flew overhead. Several Japanese infantry divisions, greatly outnumbering the defenders, began pressing the colony's outer lines and pierced them within 24 hours. Five days later, the British were forced to withdraw from the mainland and the Kowloon peninsula and retired across a half-mile strip of water to Hongkong Island. Hopes rose when it was reported that a fierce Chinese offensive had pushed to within 15 miles of the colony's border, only to be pressed back by the Japanese. Meanwhile the Japanese army rained heavy artillery fire on the island and planes dropped tons of bombs. The besieged troops and civilians experienced 45 air raids during the first eight days. Then, under the cover of intense fire, the Japanese established a bridgehead on the eastern end of the island on Dec. 18. The British, Indian and Canadian troops, backed by the home guards, fought on, retiring to positions in the highest part of the island. But water was scarce after the attackers seized the three main water reservoirs. On Dec. 23, the garrison had only one day's supply left, and the military authorities advised the governor, Sir Mark Young, that no further effective resistance could be offered. On Christmas Day the governor crossed to the mainland and surrendered; three days later the Nipponese made a ceremonial entry into Hongkong. The colony was the first of Britain's possessions in the Far East to fall into enemy hands.