From the South China Morning Post this week in: 1953
The repatriation of Korean war prisoners after the armistice was signed on July 27 was at its height, with the Communists returning 957 Americans, 420 British and at least eight Australians since the exchanges began on August 5. This week, the Communists said, they would return a further 75 Americans, 75 British and 262 Koreans. Each day the names of all the British soldiers released at the Freedom Village at Panmunjom that day were published. Reporters at the exchange centre said that many of the South Korean prisoners heading back home 'stripped off their blue Communist prison clothes on their way to Panmunjom and crossed into freedom in their underclothes'. In Hong Kong, many British prisoners arrived on board the troop ship Empire Halladale on their way home. A broadcast by Peking Radio monitored in Tokyo reported that Peking had denounced US secretary of state John Foster Dulles, accusing him of 'blackmail in declaring that the US would take retaliatory steps if the Reds refuse to hand over all UN POWs'. Peking Radio asserted that the Geneva Convention provided that 'prisoners against whom criminal proceedings for an indictable offence are pending may be detained until the end of such proceedings'.
The Heinrich Jessen, a Danish-registered ship providing a regular service between Hong Kong and Tientsin, was taken to Keelung after being captured by 'sea guerillas' in the Taiwan Strait. The ship was operated by the Hong Kong trading firm Jebsen & Company. The Nationalist press said the vessel was carrying supplies for the Communists. However, a spokesman for the Nationalist navy told news agencies that 'we have nothing to do with the ship because it was intercepted and seized by guerillas'. Later reports said the Nationalists had taken four Chinese crew members into custody, claiming they were Communist agents.
A Spitfire of the Hong Kong Auxiliary Air Force piloted by Flying Officer H.L. Mose crashed while attempting to land at Kai Tak airfield. The aircraft developed engine trouble during its approach and 'was forced to pan-cake in Kowloon Bay', near Chakwoling. 'On hitting the water, the plane turned turtle but Flying Officer Mose managed to clamber out and was picked up by a rescue launch ... The Spitfire sank in deep water. Immediate steps were taken to salvage it.'
Anyone spotting a leopard with two cubs on Cemetery Hill above the Kowloon Dairy was asked to contact the Government Pest Control Officer. The public was assured that, although these animals could for some time remain in the same locality, 'it is possible that they may have travelled a considerable distance since first being reported' on August 13.
Two junk mistresses, Cheng Hei-choi, 25, and Kwok Chuen, 20, were each fined HK$10 at the Marine Court 'for illegally approaching within 30 feet of an American submarine mooring alongside the USS Florikan'. The same charge was dismissed against another junk mistress, Ng Sam, 30, after she pleaded that she was merely proceeding from Tsim Sha Tsui to Wan Chai 'when arrested and had never approached near the submarine'.