Blue Pool Road Massacre – Hong Kong – Dec. 22, 1941 documented by Eagle3x8
Preface
This article was written in response to a chapter in "King Hui....." written by Jonathan Chamberlain.
Preface
This article was written in response to a chapter in "King Hui....." written by Jonathan Chamberlain.
The massacre
occurred at a Blue Pool Road Villa on December 22, 1941; it was the Sir Tang Shiu-kin's
residence. I was not aware of a Mr. Fung's existence or his villa as
mentioned in the chapter, “How Mr. Tai and Mr. Tang were both saved by a piece
of jade”, in “King Hu”, authored by Jonathan Chamberlain, published by
Blacksmith Books in 2010. I also strongly doubted there was any cause for a
party while the island was under attack by the Japanese.
After the
Japanese air raid on Hong Kong on December 8, 1941, Sir Tang invited his close
friends to seek refuge at his villa. They included most of Lam Ming-fan's
family and mine, Mr. Tai Tung-pui, Mr. Watt Pak-yu and others. Tang concurred
with the British army's assumption that the Japanese would attempt landing on
the waterfront at the Central Business District of the Island. He felt that his
villa being above Happy Valley and backed by hills was a safe refuge location.
He had also fortified his residence with a sandbag perimeter.
Instead of
directing the attack at the Central District by crossing the harbor, the
Japanese had crossed Lei Yue Mun pass at night, rounded the little
defended eastern flank of the island and launched the offensive from Stanley on the south side of the island. Their
strategy was to overrun the hills, and then surged through Wong Nai Chung gap,
via Happy Valley and onwards to the Central District. Blue Pool Road was along
one of their routes. The British and Canadians reinforcement defenders were no
match in number and firepower to repel the Japanese. The Japanese soldiers
noticed Tang's fortified villa and suspected it was a defence outpost and made
a run for it.
Sir Tang
heard the dogs barking; saw through the kitchen window that the soldiers were
rushing down the hill. In a moment of panic, an instinct of
self-preservation, and or lack of time, he did not notify his guests to flee.
He ran out of the kitchen door and hid in a drainage ditch behind the rear
courtyard. He did not fire his pistol in the air to scare off looters as he
claimed in a post-war interview on Ming Pao to attract the attention of the Japanese. There
was no machine gunning at the house. The soldiers broke in and discovered
helmets and trench coats issued to Tang, my father, and an uncle who were
drafted to serve on the Hong Kong reserve police force. These discoveries
further reinforced their suspicion they had entered a command post. There was
no party of any sort at the time.
The soldiers
herded the men to assemble in the center of the rear courtyard and ordered the
women and children to squat on the side to watch. My 4th cousin, Kwok-leung,
stood up and wanted to join the men. Luckily, he was pulled back by family
friends. He is now in his 80's and living in Australia. The men were bayonetted
and left bleeding to death and their bodies were dumped into the drainage
ditch. Mr. Tai narrowly escaped death protected by a Chinese silk cotton coat
an a jade pendant which shielded him from a fatal stab wound.
The Japanese
soldier stayed overnight at the villa. Tang's wife was gang raped. She came
crying and traumatized to tell the survivors the soldiers had left the villa in
the next morning. Another family friend, Mr. Louey Sui-tak, who lived on Bonham Road, then sent his car to pick up the survivors.
(Correction: Louey
Sui-tak was a co-founder of KMB with my uncle, Lam Ming-fan , who sent
help. It was pointed out by a Bostonian historian, Mr. York Lo that Mr. Yue Tung-shuen
aka Eu Tong San was mistakenly mentioned in the last edition, Eu Tong San had
passed away in 1940 from a heart attack - sorry for the wrong year, the correct date should be 05/11/1941).
My 8th
uncle and my first cousin did not die on that fateful night but later in the
hospital on the following day. My cousin's last gasp to his uncle was he was
feeling extremely thirsty from massive bleeding.
Tang divorced his
wife after the war. At Sir Tang's interview to Ming Pao, he did express
his remorse about his misdeed of not warning his guests to flee and thus motivated
him to redeem himself by building many hospitals, clinics, other charitable
institutions, and firmly supporting the police force. Many people lacking in
basic resources did benefit from his benevolent acts, in this regard, my family
members and friends had not died in vain.
Ming Pao
Report – 06/20/86 :
Translation of
the Ming Pao (a Hong Kong Chinese Language Newspaper) Report:
“Sir Tang’s
lifelong devotion to charity work was related to a much sorrowful event of the
past. Before the Japanese invasion of Hong Kong, Mr. Tang was already appointed
as a Justice of Peace. The government of Hong Kong in an attempt to prevent
looting during the chaotic period and for his safety had issued him a
handgun for self defence. At the time he was residing above Happy Valley near
Wong Nai Chung Gap on Blue Pool Road. It was expected the Japanese army
would attack the Central Business District from the harbor side of
Victoria Island. Sir Tang's residence was considered a safer haven as it was at
the mid-level of Victoria Peak. It was not expected the Japanese would attack
from the south side of the island. When Sir Tang heard the commotion caused by
the advancing soldiers, he thought it was from looters in the street. He fired
two warning shots from his residence. His action attracted the attention of the
Japanese. The soldiers started to spray shots at his residence. Sir Tang then
realized he had committed a fatal error. In a rush of panic he ran out of the
rear kitchen door by himself without alerting the friends he had invited to
seek refuge at his home. His friends were unable to escape the ultimate
tragedy. The aftermath had stricken him with unfathomable remorse. After the
war, his unrelenting devotion to charity work was trying to redeem his grave
error.”
The
inaccuracies of this report:
According to the
recollections of my surviving family members:
1.
Sir Tang did not fire his gun.
2.
The soldiers entered the residence unopposed.
3.
There was no spraying of gun shots at the residence.
4.
All occupants were herded into the courtyard by the hillside behind
the residence.
5.
Only the men were killed. They were bayonetted and left to bleed to death.
Family interaction with Sir Tang and other surviving friends post war:
However, maybe due to his arrogance or desire for fame, Tang spurned my 4th auntie, 四伯娘, and cousin, 国德's plea for help. Widows and orphans in the 1940s and 50s were not well received in the elite social circle. My aunt felt being despised and ignored and hence broke off further social contact with Tang. On the other hand Mr. Tai was extremely helpful; the family friendship was sustained for many years; even with Tai's son Edmund in Australia. Mrs. Watt also continued to be a family friend.
Wrong political and military decisions:
My family and many other civilian and military casualties could have been spared, if Prime Minister Churchill and Commander Maltby had not made the strategic error that the colony was defensible and refused to surrender earlier. The colony of Hong Kong ultimately surrendered to the Japanese on December 25, 3 days after the Blue Pool Road massacre.
Site of the massacre: Sir Tang Shiu Kin’s residence
in 1941
The building still exists today on Blue Pool Road. It’s
the only building along the road that has this unique architecture. The details
of which have been traumatically etched in my cousin, Lam Kwok-tak’s (林国德)
memory. The residence consists of two adjoining buildings which share a common
staircase. It has a steep drive way leading up to the terrace. There is a
courtyard between the two buildings and a hillside at the back of these
buildings. Drainage trenches were nearby.
The fateful residence:
The massacre ground:
Members of my family killed by the Japanese:
1st
cousin(Lam Kwok-yan), father(Lam Wai-man), 8th uncle(name lost in
time), and 4th uncle(Lam Ming-fan). They were killed on Dec. 22,
1941, three years after my parents’ wedding.
My uncle - Lam Ming-fan and 1st Cousin - Lam Kwok-yan
My father - Lam Wai-man
A time to forgive but never forgotten
******************************************************************************
Written by: Lam
Kwok-fu (林国富) aka Donald
Lam, son of victim Lam Wai-man.
Date: Nov., 28,
2013
Updated:
01/31/2015 - Mr. Yue Tung-shuen corrected to Mr. Louie Siu-tak, 雷瑞德
Added Buddha photo
Added comments and corrected typo and grammatical mistakes
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References:
1. King Hui by Jonathan
Chamberlain, Blacksmith Books, 2010.
2. Personal memoirs from
Lam Kwok-tak, 林国德, (3rd cousin), a survivor.
3. Ming Pao report –
06/20/86.
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