Our footwear was rapidly wearing out. Although we used wooden clogs to move around in the camp, we needed something more substantial to go on work parties. We devised a number of ways to repair the boots, but no help was forthcoming from our captors, nor did they replace any boots that wore out. Some old car tires found their way into camp, and these provided excellent material to replace the soles. The problem was to find a way to attach the rubber, and although I can't recall how this was done, the precious boots, or at least, some of them, were nursed through many trips to Kai Tak and, later, to other work sites.
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Diphtheria!!
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In the early autumn of 1942 a diphtheria epidemic swept through the camp. Diphtheria is defined in the New Oxford Dictionary as "an acute febrile contageous disease marked by the formation of a false membrane, esp. in the throat and caused by a bacterium which produces a toxin causing inflammation of the heart and nervous system".The effects are dramatic. If an anti-toxin is not administered in the early stages of the disease, the throat will close, and the victim can be choked to death.
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The Jubilee Building, a large, multi-storied build on the western edge of the camp, once used as an administration headquarters, was designated tthe "Dip" hospital, and before long it was crowded with victims of the disease.
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In due time, our captors relented and brought in the medicine that would ultimately save the lives of those who would later come down with diphtheria. I was one of those.
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The Jubilee Building had once been a well-appointed office building, but now, due to the ruthlessness of the invading forces, and probably due to salvage activity on the part of the local Chinese population, the building was stripped of all furniture and all other materials once used in the administration of ShamShuiPo Barracks.
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I shared a room with George Everett, a corporal in the Royal Rifles, and Charlie Cardinal, a private in the Winnipeg Grenadiers.
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Charlie had a banjo which I think he had made. At any rate, the body was triangular-shaped, and was probably made out of scraps that he had scrounged in the camp. He used to keep us amused by his singing and strumming. His favourites were, "Mama don't allow no banjo playin' in here and, "Mama don't want no rice, no peas, no coconut oil."
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Charlie had a bad case of electric feet along with the discomfort of diphtheria.Poor chap, he used to sit all night long on the edge of his mattrass with his feet on the cold floor, rocking back and forth and whimpering with pain.
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Home		 George was a quiet man, calm and unexciteable. He was tough. Although his feet were killing him, and I still have a mental picture of him walking painfully on his heels, I never heard him complain.
To me, George was a tower of strength. His positive attitude helped me to endure my own afflictions and his courage inspired me to fight on. This was another example of how leaning in each other was so important in combating dispair,and how comradeship sustained us in the darkest hours.

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Life Goes On
I was taken off the draft to Japan by the merest of chances. Who knows how I would  have fared working in the coal mines or on the dockyard. As it was , life in ShamShuiPo was no picnic.
From ShamShuiPo we walked to the work site each morning and back at night. For weeks at a time we would not see the camp in daylight hours, barely time to eat a bowl of rice and fall exhausted on our sleeping mats, to be awakened sometimes in the middle of the night for a nose count. Then up before dawn to trudge the long miles to the tunnels we dug, and back again after work. And so the cycle continued.
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