If you have any questions about life in Hong Kong from the 1920s til the 1950s, here's your chance to ask them.
Barbara first arrived in Hong Kong in 1927, aged 8. Her father came here to work, and brought the family. They stayed here for two years.
Barbara aged 9 in 1928
Barbara returned to Hong Kong in 1938, when her father was posted to Hong Kong for a second time. In 1940 she was part of the wartime evacuation of women and children from Hong Kong to Australia. She reached Manila, along with her mother and sisters. However the sudden and unexpected death of her father meant they had to turn round and head straight back to Hong Kong.
Here they stayed, and were in Hong Kong when the Japanese invaded in December 1941.
Barbara on Christmas day, 1941
Barbara lived through the fighting, and went on to spend the long years of occupation interned in Stanley Camp. After liberation she left Hong Kong, never expecting to return. Then next year she was back again!
She married a fellow-internee just a few years later, and they raised their young family here in Hong Kong. Barbara finally left for good in 1959, returning to Britain to live.
She celebrated her 95th birthday in December.
Barbara and her daughter in 2012
I'll visit Barbara in two weeks time, and she has kindly agreed to answer any questions readers have. What would you like to ask Barbara about life in Hong Kong during the 1920s - 1950s?
You can leave questions in the comments below, or send them to my email address:
I'll collect them up and take them with me to ask Barbara. If I can get a clear recording of our conversation on my mobile phone, I'll post that up here when I'm back to Hong Kong again. Otherwise I'll write up Barbara's answers for you to read.
Regards, David
Background
Luckily for us, Barbara has been a keen diary-writer, and has generously shared several sections of those diaries with us. Here are links to some highlights:
- 1927 - 1929: Childhood memories of life in Hong Kong.
- July 1940: Evacuation to Australia.
- December 1941: War comes to Hong Kong.
- August 1945: "Camp full of rumours and news of a truce, armistice and peace."
- 1945-48: Life after internment.