In Time of War

Writings as a P.O.W. in Hong Kong under Japanese Occupation, drawings, documents, photographs by or formerly belonging to the late Lt. Cmdr Henry Charles Sylvester Collingwood-Selby, R.N. (1898-1992). Transcribed and Edited by his son, Mr Richard Collingwood-Selby, O.B.E. The following description is by his son, Richard: "This book consists of accounts of that critical period in my father's life (and in the history of the Far East) when the Japanese initiated their assault on China, up to the time of the fall of Hong Kong and his imprisonment there. My father wrote regularly throughout his time in China before the war and also during his years as a prisoner. Much of this writing is included in this book and reveals a man who was highly observant and was capable of finding solace and joy even in the most stressful of times. There are notes he wrote for two talks given in prison camp, one on his experiences in Kiukiang when the Japanese forces invested the area, the other on his roundabout journey to Ichang on the Upper Yangtse when the presence of the Japanese on the Lower Yangtse made it inadvisable to take a more direct route. A talk on travelling back to Britain via the Trans-Siberian Railway is unfortunately incomplete but gives some interesting details concerning this route. There is also a personal account of the fall of Hong Kong, which he delivered as a lecture in Britain after the war. "All these documents were stored away in a trunk which sat in the attic of a cousin's house for several years after my father's death in 1992 at the age of 93. Eventually the trunk was shipped out to me in Chile and I discovered, to my great surprise, this wonderful window onto my father's life. "The encouragement to convert these writings into a book came from Hong Kong historian, Dr Gillian Bickley, publisher of Proverse publishing company, whom I met by chance at an English Speaking Union conference in Edinburgh in 2008. I don't think she had any idea of what she was letting herself in for: the editing of this book has required an enormous amount of time and effort over nearly five years."