[Hong Kong Observatory] Graham Heywood
Description:
Born:
1903
Death:
1985
Pre-war:
Graham Heywood graduated from Oxford and joined the Observatory in 1932. He was married to Valerie in Hong Kong in 1937 and served as the Assistant Director of the Observatory when the war started.
Wartime:
When the war started, Heywood and his colleague Leon Starbuck collected equipment from Au Tau Magnetic Station; they were captured by the soldiers of 1/230 at around 1500 and became possibly the first British to be captured by the Japanese during the battle. They were sent to Sham Shui Po Prisoner of war camp after the battle, despite being civilians. The soldiers of the 230th Regiment were relatively less cruel to civilians and prisoners of war, compared to the neighboring 229th Regiment; this possibly explained their survival despite being captured in almost complete isolation. He described his experience of being captured:
“That morning I had enjoyed a tasty breakfast under my own roof, in the afternoon I was a captive in the hands of the Japanese; it was certainly a rude and sudden change, and we thought it likely that we had the unenviable distinction of being the very first prisoners to be taken in the war of East Asia. But at first, we could hardly take in all the unpleasant implications of the situation and our feelings were rather of excitement and amusement than of dismay. It all seemed so incredible and theatrical; it couldn’t really be we who were captured in a blitz …. Such things just didn’t happen to law-abiding civil servants in a respectable British colony.”
Throughout the Japanese occupation, Heywood stayed at the Sham Shui Po POW Camp with the Volunteers and endured life as a prisoner of war with good spirits.
Post-war:
After the war, Heywood returned to Hong Kong Observatory with his family after recuperation and served as its director until his retirement in 1955. His wartime memoir was published in 2015.
Further Reading:
Graham Heywood, It won't be long now: the diary of a Hong Kong prisoner of war (Hong Kong: Blacksmith, 2015).
Born:
1903
Death:
1985
Pre-war:
Graham Heywood graduated from Oxford and joined the Observatory in 1932. He was married to Valerie in Hong Kong in 1937 and served as the Assistant Director of the Observatory when the war started.
Wartime:
When the war started, Heywood and his colleague Leon Starbuck collected equipment from Au Tau Magnetic Station; they were captured by the soldiers of 1/230 at around 1500 and became possibly the first British to be captured by the Japanese during the battle. They were sent to Sham Shui Po Prisoner of war camp after the battle, despite being civilians. The soldiers of the 230th Regiment were relatively less cruel to civilians and prisoners of war, compared to the neighboring 229th Regiment; this possibly explained their survival despite being captured in almost complete isolation. He described his experience of being captured:
“That morning I had enjoyed a tasty breakfast under my own roof, in the afternoon I was a captive in the hands of the Japanese; it was certainly a rude and sudden change, and we thought it likely that we had the unenviable distinction of being the very first prisoners to be taken in the war of East Asia. But at first, we could hardly take in all the unpleasant implications of the situation and our feelings were rather of excitement and amusement than of dismay. It all seemed so incredible and theatrical; it couldn’t really be we who were captured in a blitz …. Such things just didn’t happen to law-abiding civil servants in a respectable British colony.”
Throughout the Japanese occupation, Heywood stayed at the Sham Shui Po POW Camp with the Volunteers and endured life as a prisoner of war with good spirits.
Post-war:
After the war, Heywood returned to Hong Kong Observatory with his family after recuperation and served as its director until his retirement in 1955. His wartime memoir was published in 2015.
Further Reading:
Graham Heywood, It won't be long now: the diary of a Hong Kong prisoner of war (Hong Kong: Blacksmith, 2015).
Sources: Photo: Heywood Family
