Evening star., 1942-08-15
Nv BENJAMIN PROULX.

CAS- told to Carl wslll
The Japanese assault troops who
came to Hong Kong were like apes.
They were short, squat, chunky
and averaged about S feet s inches
and weighed about $50 or $50
pounds. They had extraordinarily
long arms and even when they stood
upright their hands seemed to hang
about z inches below their knees.
There was nothing about their
faces that seemed to distinguish
one from the other. In the shadow
of the steel helmets their faces
were sort OF 4 yellowish brown and
whenever I saw them they were
dirty with sweat and dust. They
were very low slung but they were
fast.
These assault troops carried
.28 caliber rife which was much
shorter and lighter than the rife
OF the American or Canadian in
fantry. But the bullets killed and
the bayonets could 90 into the BODY
far enough to come out the other
side. So it Is foolish to think OF
the japanese rife or bayonet as toys
Just because they are smaller.
Fermosan Bayonet Men.
had been in this part OF the
world for more than 20 years. l
had been IN Japan a good deal and
7 had seen much Of the Japanese
Army but had never seen troops
like those assault troops who came
to Hong Kong.
But I had heard OF them. These
were the specially trained bayonet
men from Formosa and the noun
tains OF Japan. I had heard OF how
they had been trained so that they
could hack any human body into
small bits with their bayonets and
not feel the slightest culver IN their
stomachs. They had been prac-
ticing for years with living, human
bodies.
These were the men We faced at
Hong Kong.
It Is hard to tell very clearly the
way the fighting was at Hong Kong.
It was not 4 battle OF clean-cut
lines. 1t was like grass fire in
high, constantly shifting wind. The
men with the long arms and sharp
bayonets were in front of ycu IL.
back Of you, to the left and right
You could not take your women and
children and put them somewhere
and say, Stay here and we will
face the enemy" And because 1t
was like that all the time that you
were fighting your heart was sick
and worried and your stomach mus
eles were tight.
But will try to tell it as clearly
as I can-the way it was with
me,
I was Al. had been living in
Hong Kong for 20 years and was
IN the brokerage business. I had
4 wife and two boys, IA and 8. We
lived in a pleasant home on Hong
Kong Island overlooking the sea-
Ever since the Nazis marched
into Poland all non- Chinese Brit
ish subjects in Hong Kong had been
subject to military service. For two
years I had been A sub-lieutenant
IN the Volunteer Naval Reserve. 1t
was my job to help operate mag
netic mines which were laid IN
Hong Kong Harbor.
War Seemed Far Away.
Even after the fall of France,
life was pleasant for most people
In Hong Kong 1t was like 1t Is IN
America today. We knew that we
were at war with some very tough
people and we had our air-raid
spoilers and we were drilling and
doing what We thought was enough,
but the war seemed very FAR away
Some of the young men had
enlisted and gone to England and
once in 4 while we would hear
that one of them had been killed
But for most OF us the war was a
far-away thing.
And then at 7:30 in the morning
Of December e-on the other side
Of the international date line
the japanese came to Hong Kong
It Is strange the things you some
times find yourself doing when the
world is falling apart. That morning
was frosty and clear. had beer
given 4 short leave from my nava
post and I was exercising my hors'
on the Hong Kong Racetrack. TIT
first I saw OF the japanese was I
squadron OF twin-engned Junke
bombers. The cold. bright sunligh
caught the red circles on the wing
As they roared low over Hong Koni
and headed toward the Kowloot
mainland.
A few minutes later ] could se