Camp Grounds
The Stanley site was chosen by the Japanese through consultation with two Hong Kong government officials — Dr. P. S. Selwyn-Clarke, Director of Medical Services, and F. C. Gimson, the Colonial Secretary. Located on Stanley Peninsula, which was about nine kilometres from the city at the time, the camp consisted of St. Stephen's College and the grounds of Stanley Prison, excluding the prison itself; the prison was used by the Japanese authorities to hold what they considered "criminals" from Hong Kong. Several hundred internees lived at St. Stephen's, while the majority of them lived on the prison grounds. Prior to Japanese occupation, St. Stephen's was a secondary school whose facilities, in addition to classrooms, included an assembly hall, bungalows for teachers, and science laboratories. Over twenty internees occupied each bungalow, which was built for one family, and more than that occupied each science laboratory, living between partitions of sacking and old blankets. Almost all the buildings in the camp were used for housing.
Certain buildings and areas on the prison grounds had specific functions:
- The Prison Officers' Club was used for multiple functions; it was used as a canteen, a kindergarten, Catholic church, and recreation centre.
- Two main divisions of quarters existed — the Warders' Quarters and the Indian Quarters. Before the war, the Warders' Quarters housed European warders, with large flats designed for one family each, and the Indian Quarters housed Indian prison guards, built with smaller flats. An average of thirty internees lived in each Warders' Quarters flat, and an average of six internees lived in each Indian Quarters flat.
- A building which had housed single Indian warders before the war was turned into a hospital called Tweed Bay Hospital.
- Two houses, originally used as homes for the prison superintendent and the prison doctor, were turned into the Japanese headquarters for the camp.
- The cemetery on the grounds became a popular spot for quiet relaxation as well as a place for intimate meetings between male and female internees.
Read more about this topic: Stanley Internment Camp
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