Stanley Civilian Internment Camp During Japanese Occupation

Abstract

Hong Kong experienced three years and eight months of Japanese occupation, from December 1941 to August 1945, a long ordeal that inflicted suffering on Chinese and foreign residents alike. Before the Japanese invaded the colony, there had been fear that the ongoing Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945) would spread across the border to Hong Kong. That Hong Kong was under British rule was not proof against impending hostilities. Following the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, the United States entered the Second World War (1939–1945). War finally broke out in the Pacific, and the Allied Powers truly faced a war on two fronts, one in Europe and one in Asia. From then on, the Japanese moved to realize their so-called Greater East Asia Co-prosperity Sphere, aiming at the control of other countries in Southeast Asia. Seeing how events were unfolding elsewhere, the British knew they could not forestall Japanese expansion, and very quickly Hong Kong fell victim to Japanese aggression.