It's a cool and blustery day. Daphne Sewell Erasmus wanders around the grounds of St Stephen's College with her teenage granddaughter, Hannah. The walk brings back many memories for Erasmus, 76 , not of carefree school days but of her family's struggle to survive as wartime detainees - the college buildings served as part of the civilian internment camp under Japanese occupation.
Erasmus was among 26 people from around the world who visited the college and cemetery in Stanley earlier this month to mark the 70th anniversary of the Japanese invasion of Hong Kong. Local historian Geoffrey Emerson organised the week-long programme as a commemorative event but it may be the last chance to visit for some ageing members of the group.
While some visitors came to honour their parents, about a third, like Erasmus, were former internees. Their trip can't be entirely be classed as a reunion. Some were just babies and toddlers when they were in Stanley.They were so young, they don't remember one another.
But some memories remain vivid to Erasmus: the sight of young Canadian soldiers sweltering in heavy uniforms, and the screams of a man being beaten to death on The Peak, for instance.
Her father, William Sewell, was a Quaker missionary teaching in Chengdu when war broke out. She and her family had been living in California at the time but flew to Hong Kong to reunite with him. The day after they landed, 30,000 Japanese soldiers swarmed across the border.
'I think we were about the last plane to arrive in Kowloon on December 7, 1941,' Erasmus says. 'The next morning, while we were having breakfast, we heard gunfire. That was the Japanese arriving.'
Later they were forced to flee the house under cover of darkness. 'In the middle of the night, my youngest brother lost his shoe and we had to wait. My sister kept lagging behind. It was a dreadful experience,' Erasmus recalls.
