Stanley Internment Camp - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Stanley Internment Camp was a civilian internment camp in Hong Kong

Hong Kong

Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...

during World War II. Located in Stanley

Stanley, Hong Kong

Stanley is a town and a tourist attraction in Hong Kong. It located on a peninsula on the southeastern part of Hong Kong Island. It is east of Repulse Bay and west of Shek O, adjacent to Chung Hom Kok...

, on the southern end of Hong Kong Island

Hong Kong Island

Hong Kong Island is an island in the southern part of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. It has a population of 1,289,500 and its population density is 16,390/km², as of 2008...

, it was used by the Japanese imperial forces

Imperial Japanese Army

-Foundation:During the Meiji Restoration, the military forces loyal to the Emperor were samurai drawn primarily from the loyalist feudal domains of Satsuma and Chōshū...

to hold non-Chinese

Han Chinese

Han Chinese are an ethnic group native to China and are the largest single ethnic group in the world.Han Chinese constitute about 92% of the population of the People's Republic of China , 98% of the population of the Republic of China , 78% of the population of Singapore, and about 20% of the...

enemy nationals after their victory in the Battle of Hong Kong

Battle of Hong Kong

The Battle of Hong Kong took place during the Pacific campaign of World War II. It began on 8 December 1941 and ended on 25 December 1941 with Hong Kong, then a Crown colony, surrendering to the Empire of Japan.-Background:...

, a battle in the Pacific campaign

Pacific War

The Pacific War, also sometimes called the Asia-Pacific War refers broadly to the parts of World War II that took place in the Pacific Ocean, its islands, and in East Asia, then called the Far East...

of World War II. About 2,800 men, women, and children were held at the non-segregated

Sex segregation

Sex segregation is the separation of people according to their sex.The term gender apartheid also has been applied to segregation of people by gender, implying that it is sexual discrimination...

camp for 44 months from early January 1942 to August 1945 when Japanese forces surrendered. The camp area consisted of St. Stephen's College

St. Stephen's College, Hong Kong

St. Stephen's College is a Christian DSS coeducational secondary school located in Stanley, Hong Kong. With an area of about 150,000 sq. ft., the College is the largest secondary school in Hong Kong, and is also one of the very few boarding schools in the territory, many buildings in the campus...

and the grounds of Stanley Prison

Stanley Prison

Stanley Prison is one of the five maximum security prisons in Hong Kong and is currently the oldest institution still in service...

, excluding the prison itself.

Evacuation and arrival at camp

In 1939, the British government had drawn up evacuation plans for the British

British people

The British are citizens of the United Kingdom, of the Isle of Man, any of the Channel Islands, or of any of the British overseas territories, and their descendants...

and other European

European ethnic groups

The ethnic groups in Europe are the various ethnic groups that reside in the nations of Europe. European ethnology is the field of anthropology focusing on Europe....

residents of Hong Kong, which was a Crown colony

British overseas territories

The British Overseas Territories are fourteen territories of the United Kingdom which, although they do not form part of the United Kingdom itself, fall under its jurisdiction. They are remnants of the British Empire that have not acquired independence or have voted to remain British territories...

of the United Kingdom (UK) at the time. The War Office by the Chief of the Imperial General Staff thought the city would inevitably fall to Japanese forces in the event of an attack, so it should not be reinforced with more defensive forces. The presence of a large number of British women and children would have been an "embarrassment" for the government when the Japanese forces take Hong Kong, and additionally it was thought the internment of thousands of British civilians would cause unnecessary suffering and serve the Japanese as propaganda

Propaganda

Propaganda is a form of communication that is aimed at influencing the attitude of a community toward some cause or position so as to benefit oneself or one's group....

material. In July 1940, the colonial government of Hong Kong received orders from the UK to proceed with the evacuations. By 3 August, all service families and registered non-service British women and children were moved to the Philippines

Philippines

The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...

. However, the hurried compulsory evacuations prompted criticism from many evacuees, their husbands, and their employees, who felt the evacuations were premature and unnecessary. According to Bernice Archer and Kent Fedorowich, respectively of the University of Essex

University of Essex

The University of Essex is a British campus university whose original and largest campus is near the town of Colchester, England. Established in 1963 and receiving its Royal Charter in 1965...

and the University of the West of England

University of the West of England

The University of the West of England is a university based in the English city of Bristol. Its main campus is at Frenchay, about five miles north of the city centre...

, the local Chinese population were angered by their exclusion from the evacuations and condemned the plans as racist

Racism

Racism is the belief that inherent different traits in human racial groups justify discrimination. In the modern English language, the term "racism" is used predominantly as a pejorative epithet. It is applied especially to the practice or advocacy of racial discrimination of a pernicious nature...

. Additionally, the plans excluded British passport

British passport

British passports may be issued to people holding any of the various forms of British nationality, and are used as evidence of the bearer's nationality and immigration status within the United Kingdom or the issuing state/territory.-Issuing:...

holders who were not of European ancestry. Amidst the criticism, the government subsequently made the evacuations non-compulsory. Existing evacuations already ordered were cancelled provided evacuees volunteered for auxiliary roles, such as nursing or administrative work.

On 8 December 1941, Japanese forces attacked Hong Kong, marking the start of the Battle of Hong Kong. Seventeen days later, on Christmas Day of 1941, which came to be known as "Black Christmas", the Hong Kong government surrendered, and Hong Kong came under Japanese occupation

Japanese occupation of Hong Kong

The Japanese occupation of Hong Kong began after the Governor of Hong Kong, Sir Mark Young, surrendered the territory of Hong Kong to Japan on 25 December 1941 after 18 days of fierce fighting by British and Canadian defenders against overwhelming Japanese Imperial forces. The occupation lasted...

. On 4 January 1942, a notice appeared in an English-language newspaper that all "enemy nationals" were to assemble on Murray Parade Grounds

Murray Barracks

Murray Barracks was a barracks for British Army in Admiralty of Central in Hong Kong. It was named after Sir George Murray, the Master-General of the Ordnance at the time of construction.-Location:...

. Many people did not see the notice, but about 1,000 people were eventually gathered on the grounds. In addition to those who gathered voluntarily, there were people forcibly removed from their homes.

The people assembled were marched to and initially interned in hotel-brothel

Brothel

Brothels are business establishments where patrons can engage in sexual activities with prostitutes. Brothels are known under a variety of names, including bordello, cathouse, knocking shop, whorehouse, strumpet house, sporting house, house of ill repute, house of prostitution, and bawdy house...

s on the waterfront near the present-day Macau Ferry Pier

Hong Kong-Macau Ferry Pier, Hong Kong

The Hong Kong-Macau Ferry Terminal is a ferry terminal and heliport, centrally located in Hong Kong. It is also known as the Macau Ferry Terminal, the Hong Kong-Macau Ferry Pier or the Shun Tak Heliport, and has an ICAO code of VHST....

. The conditions there were dirty and overcrowded, and the food was poor. After 17 days, the internees were taken by boat to Stanley. The "enemy nationals" who failed to assemble on Murray Parade Grounds avoided internment at the hotel-brothels. However by the end of January, most of the civilians to be interned were moved to Stanley. Upon arrival at camp, the internees discovered little was prepared for them there. There were no cooking facilities, no furniture, little crockery or cutlery. The toilet facilities were dirty, inadequate, and without water. The rooms were soon overcrowded with random assortments of people unrelated to each other, and with little attention paid to hygiene or public health.

Camp grounds

The Stanley site was chosen by the Japanese through consultation with two Hong Kong government officials — Dr. P. S. Selwyn-Clarke

Selwyn Selwyn-Clarke

Sir Percy Selwyn Selwyn-Clarke , KBE, CMG, MC, MD, FRCP, DPH, DTM&H, CStJ Barrister at Law, was the Director of Medical Services, Hong Kong, from 1937–1943 and Governor of the Seychelles from 1947–1951.-Biography:...

, Director of Medical Services, and F. C. Gimson

Franklin Charles Gimson

Sir Franklin Charles Gimson, KCMG, KStJ, was a British colonial administrator, who served in Ceylon from 1914 to 1941, and later, the Colonial Secretary of Hong Kong and the Governor of Singapore....

, the Colonial Secretary. Located on Stanley Peninsula

Stanley Peninsula

Stanley Peninsula , formerly known as Tai Tam Peninsula , is a peninsula on the southern Hong Kong Island in Hong Kong. Located between Tai Tam Harbour and Stanley Bay, it joins north to Hong Kong Island at the town of Stanley and ends south at Wong Ma Kok.-See also:* Wong Ma Kok Road - The main...

, 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

Secondary school

Secondary school is a term used to describe an educational institution where the final stage of schooling, known as secondary education and usually compulsory up to a specified age, takes place...

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
Catholicism
Catholicism is a broad term for the body of the Catholic faith, its theologies and doctrines, its liturgical, ethical, spiritual, and behavioral characteristics, as well as a religious people as a whole....

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
Apartment
An apartment or flat is a self-contained housing unit that occupies only part of a building...

designed for one family each, and the Indian Quarters housed Indian
Demographics of India
The demographics of India are inclusive of the second most populous country in the world, with over 1.21 billion people , more than a sixth of the world's population. Already containing 17.5% of the world's population, India is projected to be the world's most populous country by 2025, surpassing...

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.

Life at camp

The internees numbered at 2,800, where an estimated 2,325 to 2,514 were British. The adult population numbered at 1,370 men and 858 women, and children 16 years of age or younger numbered at 286, with 99 of whom were below the age of 4. The camp was under the control of the Japanese Foreign Affairs Department

Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Japan)

The is a cabinet level ministry of Japan responsible for the country's foreign relations.The ministry is due to the second term of the third article of the National Government Organization Act , and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Establishment Act establishes the ministry...

, but according to historian Geoffrey Charles Emerson, the Japanese forces had not made plans for dealing with enemy civilians in Hong Kong. As such, the camp was provided with few necessities, and the internees were left to govern the camp themselves. Committees were formed for such matters as housing, food, and medical care. The national groups remained mostly independent of each other except for matters of welfare and medical care. Very few government servants were selected to serve on these committees, due to anti-government sentiments; most internees blamed the government for the quick surrender of Hong Kong.

The biggest concern was food; ensuring there was enough food occupied most of the internees' time. Little food was provided by the Japanese authorities, and it was of poor quality — frequently containing dust, mud, rat and cockroach excreta, cigarette ends, and sometimes dead rats. Everyday, the internees were served rice congee

Rice congee

Congee is a type of rice porridge popular in many Asian countries. It can be eaten alone or served with a side dish. Names for congee are as varied as the style of its preparation...

at 8 a.m., and meals consisting of rice with stew at both 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. Additionally, they relied on food mailed from friends or relatives in the city, Red Cross aid, garden-grown vegetables, and bought food from the canteen or the black market.

Another concern was the health and medical care of the internees. Although medical facilities were inadequate, the internees counted amongst them about 40 doctors, 2 dentists, 6 pharmacists, 100 trained nurses, and a large number of volunteer auxiliary nurses. Because of this, according to historian G. B. Endacott, no major epidemic occurred. The most common sickness amongst the internees were malaria

Malaria

Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease of humans and other animals caused by eukaryotic protists of the genus Plasmodium. The disease results from the multiplication of Plasmodium parasites within red blood cells, causing symptoms that typically include fever and headache, in severe cases...

, malnutrition

Malnutrition

Malnutrition is the condition that results from taking an unbalanced diet in which certain nutrients are lacking, in excess , or in the wrong proportions....

and its associated diseases, beriberi

Beriberi

Beriberi is a nervous system ailment caused by a thiamine deficiency in the diet. Thiamine is involved in the breakdown of energy molecules such as glucose and is also found on the membranes of neurons...

, and pellagra

Pellagra

Pellagra is a vitamin deficiency disease most commonly caused by a chronic lack of niacin in the diet. It can be caused by decreased intake of niacin or tryptophan, and possibly by excessive intake of leucine. It may also result from alterations in protein metabolism in disorders such as carcinoid...

. The shortage of medical supplies and equipment posed a challenge for those in charge of medical care, with the lack of soap and disinfectant being a particularly troublesome concern.

The women and children contributed to a sense of normality as their presence provided conventional social, family, and gender relations. The internees believed the children's presence made them less selfish, as it forced them to think of the latter's welfare. The women organised Christmas and birthday celebrations. Other diversions such as musicals, plays, recitals, and variety shows were also staged. Although the camp lacked books and educational equipment, the teachers and educational administrators amongst the internees were able to provide lessons for the children at the primary

Primary education

A primary school is an institution in which children receive the first stage of compulsory education known as primary or elementary education. Primary school is the preferred term in the United Kingdom and many Commonwealth Nations, and in most publications of the United Nations Educational,...

and secondary

Secondary education

Secondary education is the stage of education following primary education. Secondary education includes the final stage of compulsory education and in many countries it is entirely compulsory. The next stage of education is usually college or university...

levels. Additionally, extensive adult education was available for the adults: language courses for Chinese, Malay

Malay language

Malay is a major language of the Austronesian family. It is the official language of Malaysia , Indonesia , Brunei and Singapore...

, and French, and also lectures on photography, yachting, journalism, and poultry-keeping. In addition to the personal diaries kept by internees, many of them now held by the Imperial War Museum

Imperial War Museum

Imperial War Museum is a British national museum organisation with branches at five locations in England, three of which are in London. The museum was founded during the First World War in 1917 and intended as a record of the war effort and sacrifice of Britain and her Empire...

, a record of life in the camp was created using a double bed sheet. The Day Joyce Sheet

Day Joyce Sheet

The Day Joyce Sheet is one of the most remarkable artefacts to have emerged from the prison camps of the Second World War. Created secretly in Stanley Internment Camp, Hong Kong, the double bed sheet was embroidered and appliquéd with 1100 names, signs and figures and includes two years of camp...

was embroidered and appliquéd with 1100 names, signs and figures including a diary in code.

Deaths

Records show that 121 internees died in the camp, mostly due to illness, with half the deaths being of internees over the age of 50. There were also a few accidental deaths. Two internees died from falls and one child had drowned. The worst camp accident occurred on 16 January 1945, when an American plane accidentally bombed Bungalow 5 at St. Stephen's College, killing 14 internees. These internees were buried at Stanley Military Cemetery

Stanley Military Cemetery

Stanley Military Cemetery is located near St. Stephen Bay in Stanley, Hong Kong. It is the only military cemetery of the early colonial era, used for the burials of the members of the garrison and their families between 1841 and 1866...

.

Another seven internees were executed by the Japanese authorities. These internees had possessed a radio set which they used to pass messages in and out of camp. The radio was discovered by the Japanese and the internees were arrested. The other internees were forced to watch their public torture. Military trials were subsequently held and on 29 October 1943, the internees were shot and executed. Aside from this, the Japanese authorities had executed by decapitation

Decapitation

Decapitation is the separation of the head from the body. Beheading typically refers to the act of intentional decapitation, e.g., as a means of murder or execution; it may be accomplished, for example, with an axe, sword, knife, wire, or by other more sophisticated means such as a guillotine...

, three Chinese policemen for bringing cigarettes and tobacco to the camp's internees.

Escape attempts

A number of factors made escape attempts daunting for the internees; they would have to navigate through Japanese-occupied territory, find food, and, as few internees actually spoke Cantonese

Standard Cantonese

Cantonese, or Standard Cantonese, is a language that originated in the vicinity of Canton in southern China, and is often regarded as the prestige dialect of Yue Chinese....

, they would also have to deal with language difficulties in Hong Kong if they succeeded in escaping. Despite the difficulties, there were three major escape attempts, with two being successful in March 1942. One group of eight internees escaped on a small boat to neighbouring Macau

Macau

Macau , also spelled Macao , is, along with Hong Kong, one of the two special administrative regions of the People's Republic of China...

. Another group, consisting of two internees, escaped through the New Territories

New Territories

New Territories is one of the three main regions of Hong Kong, alongside Hong Kong Island and the Kowloon Peninsula. It makes up 86.2% of Hong Kong's territory. Historically, it is the region described in The Convention for the Extension of Hong Kong Territory...

and into mainland China

Mainland China

Mainland China, the Chinese mainland or simply the mainland, is a geopolitical term that refers to the area under the jurisdiction of the People's Republic of China . According to the Taipei-based Mainland Affairs Council, the term excludes the PRC Special Administrative Regions of Hong Kong and...

. The third group, four policemen, in April 1942 managed to escape the camp grounds but were caught within a few miles of camp. They were subsequently imprisoned and released back to camp after a few weeks.

Repatriation

Repatriation was one of the two most talked-about subject at camp (the other being the subject of food). On 6 May 1942, the Japanese authorities informed the internees repatriation for the Americans would take place on 15 June. Japanese treatment of the American internees improved during this period before the actual repatriation took place; more and better food was given to them, and they were allowed contacts with Chinese friends outside of camp. American journalists were interviewed by a Japanese news agency and asked questions about the war and the camp. The internees came to find out later the interview became war propaganda for the Japanese, in the form of an article claiming that American journalists had complimented the Japanese military and the camp itself, stating the camp was "probably the most comfortable in the world." It was not until 29 June that repatriation for the Americans finally took place, after Japanese and Thai citizens held in the US and South America boarded ships in late June in preparation for exchange of internees. Those being repatriated were given smallpox vaccination

Smallpox vaccine

The smallpox vaccine was the first successful vaccine to be developed. The process of vaccination was discovered by Edward Jenner in 1796, who acted upon his observation that milkmaids who caught the cowpox virus did not catch smallpox...

, cholera

Cholera

Cholera is an infection of the small intestine that is caused by the bacterium Vibrio cholerae. The main symptoms are profuse watery diarrhea and vomiting. Transmission occurs primarily by drinking or eating water or food that has been contaminated by the diarrhea of an infected person or the feces...

inoculation

Inoculation

Inoculation is the placement of something that will grow or reproduce, and is most commonly used in respect of the introduction of a serum, vaccine, or antigenic substance into the body of a human or animal, especially to produce or boost immunity to a specific disease...

, and thorough medical examinations. No books, bibles, diaries, or addresses were allowed to leave with the Americans, but the remaining internees were each allowed to write a 150-word letter for the Americans to take with them. The American internees boarded the ship, the Asama Maru
Asama Maru
The was a Japanese ocean liner owned by Nippon Yusen Kaisha. The ship was built in 1927-1929 by Mitsubishi Shipbuilding & Engineering Co. at Nagasaki, Japan....

, along with other Americans who had been allowed to stay in Hong Kong outside of the camp. After picking up Americans for repatriation from other locations in Asia, the Asama Maru arrived at Maputo

Maputo

Maputo, also known as Lourenço Marques, is the capital and largest city of Mozambique. It is known as the City of Acacias in reference to acacia trees commonly found along its avenues and the Pearl of the Indian Ocean. It was famous for the inscription "This is Portugal" on the walkway of its...

, Mozambique

Mozambique

Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique , is a country in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west and Swaziland and South Africa to the southwest...

(then called Lourenço Marques) on 22 July, where the Americans and Japanese exchanged internees. The Americans were to finally reach New York City on 25 August. Reportedly a total of 377 Americans were repatriated from Hong Kong.

Repatriation of Canadian internees and remaining American internees were announced in August 1943 (not all American internees had been repatriated in June 1942). Preparations similar to the prior repatriation were made, including messages and reports to be delivered. The ship, the Teia Maru, reached Hong Kong on 23 September, taking on board 73 Canadian internees, 24 American internees, and 13 Latin American internees. The ship sailed to Goa

Goa

Goa , a former Portuguese colony, is India's smallest state by area and the fourth smallest by population. Located in South West India in the region known as the Konkan, it is bounded by the state of Maharashtra to the north, and by Karnataka to the east and south, while the Arabian Sea forms its...

, where an exchange of prisoners and internees with Japan took place.

There were indications and notices to the British internees that their repatriation was possible; Gimson told them a Swiss Red Cross representative had spoken "encouragingly" about repatriation, the Japanese authorities twice informed them (on 24 May 1943 and 2 November 1943) that they would be repatriated, and 25 May 1943 issue of the Hongkong News reported negotiations for repatriation were "going on rather smoothly". Despite this, the British internees were not repatriated until the end of the war. They were freed on 16 August 1945, the day after Emperor Hirohito

Hirohito

, posthumously in Japan officially called Emperor Shōwa or , was the 124th Emperor of Japan according to the traditional order, reigning from December 25, 1926, until his death in 1989. Although better known outside of Japan by his personal name Hirohito, in Japan he is now referred to...

broadcasted his acceptance of the Potsdam Proclamation

Potsdam Declaration

The Potsdam Declaration or the Proclamation Defining Terms for Japanese Surrender is a statement calling for the Surrender of Japan in World War II. On July 26, 1945, United States President Harry S...

in surrender. About two weeks later, the British fleet came for the internees, and several weeks after that, the camp was closed. Many internees went back to the city and began to adjust back to their former lives, and many others, particularly those of poor health, remained on the camp grounds to await for ships to take them away. Historian Geoffrey Charles Emerson wrote the "probable" reason the British internees were not repatriated before the end of the war was related to the Allied forces

Allies of World War II

The Allies of World War II were the countries that opposed the Axis powers during the Second World War . Former Axis states contributing to the Allied victory are not considered Allied states...

refusing to release Japanese nationals held in Australia. These nationals were the only sizable group of Japanese nationals held by the Allies after the repatriation of the American and Canadian internees. They had been pearl fishermen

Pearl hunting

Pearl hunting or pearl diving refers to a largely obsolete method of retrieving pearls from pearl oysters, freshwater pearl mussels and, on rare occasions, other nacre-producing molluscs, such as abalone.-History:...

in Australia before the war, and knew the Australian coastline well. Their knowledge would have been "militarily important" to the Japanese if an invasion of Australia was attempted, hence the Allied refusal to release them.

Compensation

In 1948, the U.S. government, through the War Claims Act

War Claims Act of 1948

The War Claims Act of 1948, or Public Law 80-896 is a United States federal law passed by the 80th United States Congress on July 3, 1948. It created the War Claims Commission to adjudicate claims and pay out compensation to American prisoners of war and civilian internees of World War II...

, authorised the payment of US$60 for every month an adult spent in an internment camp, and US$25 per month for child internees. Some also received US$1 per day for "missed meals". In the UK, from 1952 to 1956, about 8,800 British internees, specifically those who normally resided in the UK when the war began, received a sum of ₤

Pound sterling

The pound sterling , commonly called the pound, is the official currency of the United Kingdom, its Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, British Antarctic Territory and Tristan da Cunha. It is subdivided into 100 pence...

48.50 as reparation. Payments for American and British internees were made from the proceeds of Japanese assets seized per the Treaty of San Francisco

Treaty of San Francisco

The Treaty of Peace with Japan , between Japan and part of the Allied Powers, was officially signed by 48 nations on September 8, 1951, at the War Memorial Opera House in San Francisco, California...

. Dutch internees each received a sum of US$100, with the payments funded by a separate agreement signed between the Dutch and the Japanese in 1957.

The rise of Japan as an economic power and the opening of World War II files at the UK's Public Record Office

Public Record Office

The Public Record Office of the United Kingdom is one of the three organisations that make up the National Archives...

created a sentiment in the 1990s that not enough had been done to redress the suffering of internees and prisoners-of-war. In November 2000, the British government announced a compensation scheme for British civilians who had been interned in World War II. The scheme called for a package of ₤167 million, and by February 2001, the first raft of payments of ₤10,000 were being made. Initially, the plan excluded British persons who had no "bloodlink" to Britain, a point of distinction that was made between those who were "British citizens" and those who were "British subject

British subject

In British nationality law, the term British subject has at different times had different meanings. The current definition of the term British subject is contained in the British Nationality Act 1981.- Prior to 1949 :...

s".

In reaction to this, former Stanley internee Diana Elias launched a civil action case against the British government, alleging the distinction of "bloodlink" made by the compensation scheme was discriminatory, and that the Japanese authorities had made no such distinction in their treatment of the internees. Elias' family, including her parents and her grandparents, were all holders of British passports. The "bloodlink" distinction, however, made her ineligible for compensation because she is of Iraqi Jewish ancestry. In July 2005, the High Court

High Court of Justice

The High Court of Justice is, together with the Court of Appeal and the Crown Court, one of the Senior Courts of England and Wales...

in London ruled in her favour, and was subsequently backed by the Court of Appeals

Court of Appeal of England and Wales

The Court of Appeal of England and Wales is the second most senior court in the English legal system, with only the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom above it...

when the Ministry of Defence

Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom)

The Ministry of Defence is the United Kingdom government department responsible for implementation of government defence policy and is the headquarters of the British Armed Forces....

appealed the High Court's decision. This allowed for hundreds of surviving civilian internees to collect the compensation earlier denied to them by the "bloodlink" distinction.

Post-war

St. Stephen's College was re-opened in 1945 after the war. St. Stephen's Chapel was built on the grounds of the school in 1950; the memorial window over its west door was a donation, serving to remember the suffering at Stanley Internment Camp.