Description
Object description
Russian volunteer with Hong Kong Volunteer Defence Corps in Hong Kong, 1941; prisoner of war in Hong Kong, 1941-1945
Content description
REEL 1 Background in Harbin, Tientsin and Peking, China, 1923-1940: family; education; life in Tientsin during 1920s-1930s; conditions in Peking, 1939-1940; reasons for family taking Russian passports; formation of political opinions. Aspects of period as volunteer with Hong Kong Volunteer Defence Corps in Hong Kong, 1941: start of university studies; enlistment in unit; sex scandals and corruption in colony. Aspects of operations as volunteer with Hong Kong Volunteer Defence Corps during Battle of Hong Kong, 8/12/1941-25/12/1941: start of Japanese attack on colony, 8/12/1941; billeting at Shek O.
REEL 2 Continues: collapse of quartermaster system; fighting at Repulse Bay and Stanley; reaction to surrender of Hong Kong, 25/12/1941. Recollections of period as prisoner of war at Sham Shui Po Camp in Hong Kong, 12/1941-8/1945: arrival at camp; trading cigarettes for hot water; Japanese authorities issue of cod liver oil caramels; prisoners medical condition; recites sonnet; work regime; methods of slowing down work; attitude towards Japanese captors; importance of understanding psychology; occasions when he was beaten; mitigating factors for prisoners in Hong Kong; news of war's progress.
REEL 3 Continues: reaction to United States Army Air Force bombing of Hong Kong; prisoner morale; advantage of having Taiwanese guards serving with Imperial Japanese Army; hearing of end of war; casualty caused by air-supply drop; narrow escape from angry Imperial Japanese Army soldier; visit into Hong Kong prior to arrival of Allied forces; chit system; impact of Frank Sinatra's music; status as Russian citizen in Japanese hands. Aspects of period as civilian in China, GB and Hong Kong, 1945-1961: visit to parents in Tientsin, 11/1945; realisation of Communist influence in China; status of Russian civilians in China; treatment by British authorities in GB, 1945-1961.
REEL 4 Continues: treatment by MI5 after application for British nationality including interrogation of his daughter; obtaining British nationality.