​Three Years Eight Months:
​The Forgotten Struggle of Hong Kong's WWII

Eight hours after the attack on Pearl Harbor, the Japanese Imperial Army launched an invasion plan for Southeast Asia, including Hong Kong. Since Hong Kong was a British Colony at the time, soldiers from British colonies including India and Canada fought alongside Chinese guerrilla fighters. However, soldiers defending the city at the time were largely unprepared and Japan claimed its victory within 18 days.

During the Christmas of 1941, the governor of Hong Kong, Mark Aitchison Young surrendered Hong Kong and started the 3 years 8 months of the Japanese Imperial Army's occupation of Hong Kong. Civilians were raped and tortured during the occupation. Instead of caring for the citizens' experiences at the end of WWII, people cared about the ownership of Hong Kong as England and China raced to reach the city.
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The book tells the stories of the Battle for Hong Kong, daily civilian lives, Hong Kong mafia's collaboration with the Japanese Imperial Army, and the POWs camp in Hong Kong during the occupation.
The Empire of Japan declares war on Great Britain and the United States.
*Dec. 8 in Hong Kong time

Hong Kong, circa 1941

  • Growing population of around 1.6 million people
  • Large number of mainland immigrants to Hong Kong due to war against Japan at home; around 270,000 refugees on the streets
  • Hong Kong government suspected war was coming, and had begun to evacuate foreigners out of the city and form volunteer defense corps
  • Under British rule since 1941's Treaty of Nanking
Source: Hong Kong University of Science & Technology Library, "Three Years and Eight Months: Hong Kong During the Japanese Occupation"

A Survivor Shares Memories of Three Years and Eight Months

*Warning: Graphic descriptions of violence

Hong Kong has long been recognized as an international center with a distinct personality, where where democratic values and opportunity may flourish.   
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Three Years Eight Months tells a different story: Hong Kong's fate pulled by another authority, Japan, and the traumatic legacy left behind. Readers may draw distinct parallels between the city's experience of wartime occupation and the resilience displayed by Hong Kongers today.

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