Hong Kong Under Japanese Occupation: Changes in Social Structure

The Japanese attack on the Crown Colony of Hong Kong was launched on 8 December 1941. After four days of fighting, the British garrison, composed of British, Canadian, and Indian troops, was forced to evacuate the New Territories and Kowloon peninsula and withdraw to Hong Kong Island for a last-ditch stand. The Japanese landed on the northern tip of the Island on 18 December and the Colony fell finally on Christmas Day, 1941, when Sir Mark Young, Governor and Commander-in-Chief, formally surrendered the Colony. ¹ The Japanese remained in control of what they called the ‘conquered territory of Hong Kong’ until the issue of the Imperial rescript, accepting the Potsdam declaration, on 14 August 1945. On 16 August, the Colonial Secretary, Mr F. C. Gimson, interned in 1941, emerged from Stanley camp to re-establish authority and set up an emergency administration. When the task force despatched by the British Pacific Fleet entered Hong Kong harbour on 30 August 1945, he was there to greet Admiral Harcourt and to demonstrate that the colonial régime was back in business. ²