Arriving in the foothills, the Battalion was distributed by companies around the Peak. Brigade Headquarters was set up at Wong Nei Chong near the main highway under Brigadier J. K. Lawson. I was Senior NCO under Lieut. Birkett, in charge of a platoon of thirty men. We were supposed to be a mobile force with carriers and machine guns available to re-enforce any point under close attack. Our platoon set up machine gun posts and roadblocks around Battalion Headquarters almost at the summit of the Peak. Guards were posted that night and we were all excited. War seemed certain. We got very little sleep.
Early the next morning we heard the sound of gunfire on the Mainland and the explosion of bombs on our old camp at Sham Shui Po and the flying field of the Island. Then a Jap reconnaissance plane, clearly marked with red ball, passed directly over our heads. It had come. This was war. We of the Grenadiers hoped to be in the thick of it. We did not think highly of the Jap. We had confidence in ourselves and in our Officers. Let them come. One more glorious episode of Empire was to be written with the help of Canada. Strange how many enemy planes kept coming over. Where were our planes? Although we did not know it then, well-aimed bombs had already destroyed them before they were able to leave the ground. The Japs first objective had been the airport and the destruction of the half dozen obsolete biplanes that stood there. Even had they left the ground they would have been duck soup for the Zero Pilots. Their crews latter fought valiantly with the ground troops.
As the day wore on the Japs dropped bombs on the crowded dock areas and other chosen spots both on the mainland and the Island. We could see several big fires. Now it was our turn. A Jap Zero marked with the blood red orange of Nippon dived at our roadblock. We also dived, for the ditch. The Japs machine guns rattled and the dirt flew. There were some Indian troops in a truck nearby at the time and they also jumped for the ditch. One threw himself on top of me. When the plane had passed and the commotion subsided somewhat we found that we had no casualties. I collected myself and asked the Indian soldier, who spoke fair English, “Why did you jump on me?”
He replied, “Sergeant Sahib. You white man, valuable to King Emperor. One Indian soldier no great matter if killed.”
I could not quite figure this out. Was he really concerned with the survival of one white man of such exalted rank as a Sergeant or was he making sure that my dive for the ditch would receive notice thereby excusing himself and his companions for doing likewise. I gave him the benefit of the doubt and thanked him. I had the suspicion that white officers in Indian Regiments are expected to stand up and be shot in order to maintain the white mans prestige under such circumstances. Not for me. A dead Officer is no example, or at best a poor one.
Now panic was spreading from the mainland to the civilian population of the Island. All manner of people started to rush from place to place lugging the bundles containing their few possessions. Some were seeking friends and relatives in preparation for further flight. Others were seeking refuge after their flight from the mainland. Orders were given to halt this exodus at the roadblocks and along our barbed wire. This we did. Looking out over the harbor we could see that great mass of Junks, Sampans and Houseboats slowly moving out to sea. The great majority anchored around a small rock island fort a mile or so beyond the main Island of Hong Kong. They were awaiting the outcome of the battle so that when it was over, whichever side won, they could move back to their old berths along the waterfront. Most seagoing ships had left the harbor. Those, which could not get away, were already being scuttled and the straits were dotted with wrecks. Our Naval force had consisted of two destroyers and some small gunboats. One of these destroyers ran aground. The other, I believe loaded with women and children, was the last ship to leave. The docks and wharfs were aflame and their installations were being destroyed by naval ratings. The ferries, under heavy bombing and gunfire, were salvaging what stores and supplies they could from the mainland.
Originally it had been the intention of the Garrison Commander to make a final stand on the mainland and stores had been put there for this purpose. However the Japs by their swift, sudden and ferocious attack had forced back the defenders of Kowloon and the survivors were being withdrawn to the Island. That day D Company of the Grenadiers had gone over to the mainland in support of the Royal Scots and was pulled back helter-skelter that same night. Riding in trucks they dashed through the deserted streets, over roadblocks and other obstacles, shot at by Jap snipers from the darkened houses. They reached the ferry and were carried back to the Island where they took up position at Wong Nei Chong Gap. They held this position with such tenacity and skill that the Japanese Commander was astounded and would not believe that so few had held up so many for so long. He slapped the face of an Officer of D Company, thus forcibly intimating that he did not believe him and that he was hiding the true numbers of defenders
