Built by the Hong Kong government as a refugee camp before the war, it was severely damaged during the Japanese invasion of Hong Kong Island on the night of December 18, 1941. It began life as a POW camp almost immediately after, as non-Chinese civilians from the area were interned there, as were the first men of West Brigade who were captured in the battles at the beachheads, Jardine's Lookout, and Wong Nai Chung Gap. After a few months, the Royal Naval prisoners were moved to Sham Shui Po POW Camp and North Point became purely Canadian. The Canadians themselves moved out to Sham Shui Po on September 26, 1942, at which point the camp was closed. Conditions at camp were overcrowded and unsanitary. The two main threats that the prisoners faced were disease and the lack of food, which proved fatal for many interned at the camp.