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Blue Pool Road Massacre

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The following appears to be primary research. It was moved here from the article page: Underwaterbuffalo (talk) 12:09, 30 September 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Lam's Family Personal Account:

The massacre did occur at a Blue Pool Road Villa on December 22, 1941; it was at 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 Hui” authored by Jonathan Chamberlain, published by Blacksmith Books in 2010.. After the Japanese air attack 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, 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 of 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 two uncles 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 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. Yue Tung-shuen, who lived on Bonham Road, then sent his car to pick up the survivors. My 8th uncle did not die on that fateful night but later in the hospital on the following day. 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 benefitted from his benevolent acts, in this regard, my family members and friends had not died in vain. However, maybe due to his arrogance or desire for fame Tang did spurn my 4th auntie and cousin's plea for help. Widows 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.

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 conceded surrender earlier. The colony of Hong Kong surrendered to the Japanese on December 25, 3 days after the Blue Pool Road massacre.

— Lam Kwok-fu (林国富), victim Lam Wai-man's son
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