I assured him that it was not as bad as he thought and that we were well aware there was a war going on. One of the party, an Englishman I believe, sidled up to me and said, “Sergeant, if you Canadians get us out of this ere mess I’ll never say another word against a Colonial as long as I live. God ‘elp me.”
From this speech I gathered that he and his pals had said plenty in the past and in a way I did not blame him. Many of our boys were of the opinion that all available combat troops should have been on the mainland and met the first onrush of the Jap. I assured the Englishman that we would set things right and surprisingly we both believed it.
There was one thing I noticed. The appearance and attitude of our men under alarm or threatened attack seemed to inspire confidence. There is something about the Westerner that make him appear nonchalant and confident when he may be using his wits very actively to get out of a particular mess he is in.
One night there was a terrific explosion and the whole Island shook. A barge, loaded to the gunwales with ammunition, had blown up in the harbour. This is what I was told happened. The Garrison had established a powder magazine and ammunition dump on a rock island between Hong Kong Island and Kowloon. It had been decided, as the enemy closely threatened this place, to remove the ammunition. That night the British Navy obtained volunteers from the Hong Kong Volunteers to go out in a barge, load up all the munitions they could carry, and return to the Island before morning. All went well until the barge, heavily loaded, began its return to the Island. Without lights it was mistaken by guards on the shore as an enemy vessel and fired upon. It exploded, killing many gallant members of the British Navy and volunteers.
On the 18th of December, Lieut. Birkett assembled us all in the large drawing room. We slept on the floor of this room. Standing before an open fireplace he briefed us as to our mission that night. We were going to be used as assault troops to try to recover a radio station on another of the small rock islands that dotted the channel. This station was believed captured by the enemy, as no messages had been received that morning. Lieut. Birkett seemed nervous and high strung. He told us that the element of surprise was essential and that we would use boats. He was annoyed at the inattention of some of the men. It was evident that they did not realize the seriousness of the mission. The Officers had better information about the progress of the fighting to date then did the men and it was not encouraging to them. Lieut. Birkett finally left the room, his face white with controlled annoyance. One of the boys remarked, “What’s the matter with him?” Another replied, “He’s yellow, that’s what’s the matter.”
How little then did they know their Commander. Lieut. Birkett was far from yellow. This he proved gallantly the next day when he led these men against the Jap, and died, personally manning the last machine gun. No, he was not afraid of the enemy, he was afraid of the inexperience of his men on such a dangerous mission. A stumble, a curse, a shot, and we would be betrayed. He well knew we were not commandos and had not had that specialized training.
