'A very enjoyable swimming gala and dance was held by the European YMCA swimming section last night when they entertained a team from the Australian Naval Reservists and won by only six points,' a report on May 24 said. 'The Australians were handicapped in that several men had to swim in several of the events, while the YMCA could call upon fresh swimmers.' One of the most exciting events of the evening was the 100 yards in which Geoffrey Arnold beat George Hume (Australians) by a touch.
In the Correspondence columns on May 24, a letter writer named C.M.R. advises the Colony on how to deal with tree thieves. 'Whilst walking in the Kowloon Reservoir Forestry Reserve, we heard no less than three large trees felled. We saw several men, but they faced into the jungle before we could get near ... We have not been in this reserve for several months and the thinning of the trees is most noticeable. Police dogs should be the best way of dealing with these robbers. Dogs trained to catch and hold their quarry until master comes up. [It was] not nearly so pleasant for the thief as a week or two in Stanley hotel, with excellent food and lodging, and no charge. Do the persons whose job it is, ever take a walk around the reserve I wonder? I doubt it,' he wrote.
On May 22, a fierce dogfight took place above Chungking between a Japanese squadron of 30 planes and an undisclosed number of Chinese pursuits. The enemy were driven away with heavy damage. Several missiles dumped by the raiders on the outskirts of the city caused little damage. 'With a round moon in a very clear sky, five batches of Japanese bombers of nine each raided Chungking's suburban points in the course of an air raid alarm lasting four and a half hours ending at 2am. The seventh air raid alarm since Saturday (May 18) sounded at 6.45am and lasted three hours and 40 minutes,' the report said on May 23. There were 27 planes that bombed the distant suburbs.
'The bells in the old towers of Notre Dame pealed through the bright sunshine this afternoon in the regions encircled around Quasimodo's Gothic haunts as dense thousands of the populace of Paris stood in the Pavis to await the solemn service in the Cathedral at which prayers would be offered for France. The special service ... formed the pivotal interest inasmuch as ... France's most competent fighter, General Weygand, and others assembled in the front pews of the Cathedral to hear the prayers offered for the safety of the Republic and the triumph of Allied arms,' a report on May 22 said.
On the World of Women page on May 18, Miss Abigail noted that 'so far in this war we have not heard much about what the women are doing apart from their ordinary military activities such as the AFS [Auxiliary Fire Service] and the Wrens [Women's Royal Naval Service]... Last war, of course, saw the emancipation of women who took up many professions which had not been opened to them before'.
The Home Office was busy considering the various factory questions, while women trade unionists had a conference and demanded that where women replace men they should received the same wage.