[Hong Kong Government] Percy Selwyn Selwyn-Clarke
Description:
Born:
17 December 1893, Stroud Green, Finsbury Park
Death:
Unknown
Pre-war:
Born Percy Selwyn Clarke, he was educated at Bedales, joining St Bartholomew’s Hospital Medical School in May 1912. He qualified in April 1916 and served as a medical officer with the 285th Brigade, Royal Field Artillery in France - at which time he changed his surname to Selwyn-Clarke. He was wounded by a shell near Fleurbaix while visiting casualties, then worked in a hospital near Cambridge until asking to be posted back to France. There he took over medical care of the Queen Victoria’s Rifles (9th London Regiment) on the Somme in 1918. Post-war he was in charge of the Royal Victoria Hospital, Dover, for a few months before he entered the Colonial Medical Service, being posted to the Gold Coast in October 1919. In 1935 Selwyn-Clarke married Hilda Browning, a woman of strong social conscience and progressive ideas. Their daughter, Mary, was born in 1936, the year Selwyn took over the Nigerian Health Department. Starting in 1938, on the request of Sir Geoffry Northcote, Selwyn-Clarke served as Hong Kong Director of Medical Services. Before the invasion, he had established Hong Kong’s network of refugee camps, food stores, and emergency hospitals.
Wartime:
During the fighting, Selwyn-Clarke was continuously on the move, managing the medical infrastructure as far as he could. For the first 15 months post-surrender (based at the French Hospital, St Paul’s in Causeway Bay) the Japanese allowed Selwyn-Clarke and a small staff to continue their work uninterned. One of his first actions was to persuade the Japanese to open a civilian internment camp in Stanley, where conditions were better than in the city. Early in 1943, two of Selwyn-Clarke’s sponsors on the Japanese foreign office staff were posted away. Fearing imminent arrest, he shared the details of his secret stores of medical supplies to two women helpers (Dr Po-chuen Lai and Miss Helen Ho) who courageously continued his work to the end of the war. The Japanese arrested Selwyn-Clarke on 2 May 1943, and subjected him to many months of solitary confinement and repeated tortures in a cell under the Supreme Court in an attempt to get him to confess to a list of 40 charges, including that he was the head of British espionage in Hong Kong. Though Selwyn-Clarke never confessed, other tortured prisoners implicated him. He was sentenced to death in a formal trial, but the sentence was not carried out and the torture resumed. Early in 1944, Selwyn-Clarke was moved to Stanley prison and given a second military trial which reduced his sentence to three years, dropping the capital charges against him. In December 1944 he was reprieved and joined his wife and daughter at Rosary Hill.
Post-war:
After some nine months recovering in the UK, Selwyn-Clarke returned to Hong Kong in 1946. He then served as governor and commander-in-chief of the Seychelles from 1947 for four years. In 1951 he returned to London and, for the five years until his retirement, resumed his career at the Ministry of Health. He remained active as an advocate for improved human conditions and medical and social advancement until his death.
Awards:
KBE, CMG, MC, MD, FRCP, DPH, DTM&H, CStJ
Further Reading:
Footprints, Selwyn Selwyn-Clarke, China to Me, Emily Hahn
Born:
17 December 1893, Stroud Green, Finsbury Park
Death:
Unknown
Pre-war:
Born Percy Selwyn Clarke, he was educated at Bedales, joining St Bartholomew’s Hospital Medical School in May 1912. He qualified in April 1916 and served as a medical officer with the 285th Brigade, Royal Field Artillery in France - at which time he changed his surname to Selwyn-Clarke. He was wounded by a shell near Fleurbaix while visiting casualties, then worked in a hospital near Cambridge until asking to be posted back to France. There he took over medical care of the Queen Victoria’s Rifles (9th London Regiment) on the Somme in 1918. Post-war he was in charge of the Royal Victoria Hospital, Dover, for a few months before he entered the Colonial Medical Service, being posted to the Gold Coast in October 1919. In 1935 Selwyn-Clarke married Hilda Browning, a woman of strong social conscience and progressive ideas. Their daughter, Mary, was born in 1936, the year Selwyn took over the Nigerian Health Department. Starting in 1938, on the request of Sir Geoffry Northcote, Selwyn-Clarke served as Hong Kong Director of Medical Services. Before the invasion, he had established Hong Kong’s network of refugee camps, food stores, and emergency hospitals.
Wartime:
During the fighting, Selwyn-Clarke was continuously on the move, managing the medical infrastructure as far as he could. For the first 15 months post-surrender (based at the French Hospital, St Paul’s in Causeway Bay) the Japanese allowed Selwyn-Clarke and a small staff to continue their work uninterned. One of his first actions was to persuade the Japanese to open a civilian internment camp in Stanley, where conditions were better than in the city. Early in 1943, two of Selwyn-Clarke’s sponsors on the Japanese foreign office staff were posted away. Fearing imminent arrest, he shared the details of his secret stores of medical supplies to two women helpers (Dr Po-chuen Lai and Miss Helen Ho) who courageously continued his work to the end of the war. The Japanese arrested Selwyn-Clarke on 2 May 1943, and subjected him to many months of solitary confinement and repeated tortures in a cell under the Supreme Court in an attempt to get him to confess to a list of 40 charges, including that he was the head of British espionage in Hong Kong. Though Selwyn-Clarke never confessed, other tortured prisoners implicated him. He was sentenced to death in a formal trial, but the sentence was not carried out and the torture resumed. Early in 1944, Selwyn-Clarke was moved to Stanley prison and given a second military trial which reduced his sentence to three years, dropping the capital charges against him. In December 1944 he was reprieved and joined his wife and daughter at Rosary Hill.
Post-war:
After some nine months recovering in the UK, Selwyn-Clarke returned to Hong Kong in 1946. He then served as governor and commander-in-chief of the Seychelles from 1947 for four years. In 1951 he returned to London and, for the five years until his retirement, resumed his career at the Ministry of Health. He remained active as an advocate for improved human conditions and medical and social advancement until his death.
Awards:
KBE, CMG, MC, MD, FRCP, DPH, DTM&H, CStJ
Further Reading:
Footprints, Selwyn Selwyn-Clarke, China to Me, Emily Hahn
Sources: Photo: Tony Banham
