A Remarkable WW2 ‘Fall of Hong’ M.i.D. and Long Service Group of 5 awarded to Wardmaster Lieutenant-Commander Patrick McGreen, Royal Navy, who was captured and taken prisoner at Hong Kong during the ‘Black Christmas’ of 25 December 1941. Serving at that time as Leading Sick Berth Attendant, he was initially held at the North Point and Sham-Shui Po camps in Hong Kong before being sent to Japan aboard the Lisbon Maru, only to be torpedoed en route. Surviving the ordeal, he and 500 other survivors were sent to Kobe Prisoner of War Camp, which hitherto had no Medical Officer or camp hospital. Arriving with just a handful of other colleagues with basic medical training, McGreen and the small team set up a rudimentary ‘Hospital’ and took responsibility for the care of all the sick in the camp under the most appalling working conditions and without medicine or facilities. For his ‘exceptional services rendered’ in the Kobe P.O.W. Camp, McGreen was recommended for immediate advancement and for decoration, later receiving an M.i.D. with promotion, comprising: 1939-45 Star; Pacific Star; Defence and War Medals, 1939-45, the latter with bronze M.i.D. oak leaf upon ribbon; Royal Navy Long Service and Good Conduct, G.VI.R. (MX.53795. P. McGreen. S.B.C.P.O. H.M.S. Nuthatch.); Group swing-mounted as worn, toned, extremely fine (5) M.I.D.: London Gazette: 16 July 1946Wardmaster Lieutenant-Commander Patrick McGreen was born on 8 October 1918 at Kilrush, County Clare, Ireland, and volunteered for service with the Royal Navy on 26 November 1936. Beginning his career as Sick Berth Attendant (probation) at the shore establishment Drake 2, he saw service at Plymouth Hospital until 12 February 1939, after which he was sent to the Hospital aboard H.M.S. Tamar based in Hong Kong. Promoted to Leading Sick Berth Attendant on 23 May 1940, he was taken prisoner of war during the infamous ‘Black Christmas’ of 25 December 1941, and the Fall of Hong Kong to Japanese occupying forces. As a P.O.W. he was held at North Point (18.02.42 – 18.04.42) and Sham-Shui Po (18.04.42 – 26.09.42) camps in Hong Kong before being sent aboard the Lisbon Maru for transport by sea to Japan.Tragically, the Lisbon Maru was subsequently torpedoed in the Pacific Ocean on 1 October 1942 by the American submarine SS-214, during which some 840 prisoners of war were drowned, or later killed in the water by deliberate Japanese machinegun-fire. After many hours in the water, the remaining survivors were picked up by Japanese ships and Chinese vessels fishing and taken to a port near Shanghai, only to be put on a new boat bound for Japan.A large group of 500 survivors were taken to a prisoner of war camp in Kobe, and although many of the survivors were already malnourished or suffering from dysentery, diphtheria, pneumonia, influenza or general exposure, no camp hospital existed and no Medical Officer was available. One Petty Officer P. J. Flynn, R.N., with McGreen as his primary assistant, set about creating a ‘hospital’ to treat the troops in the camp, along with a handful of junior orderlies from the R.A.M.C. No medical equipment, medicine, hot water, or even soap was available to begin with, and conditions were dire. Despite this, and in the absence of more senior officers, Flynn, McGreen and their team took full charge of the hospital and worked tirelessly to treat the sick and dying between 11 November 1942 and 8th June 1943 until a more senior medical officer (Captain C. R. Boyce, Australian R.A.M.C.) arrived to relieve them.After their release towards the end of WW2, recommendations were subsequently written and submitted by British and American officers & patients from the camp, confirming their exceptional, indeed life-saving work. In due course, McGreen was awarded a Mention in Despatches, with one report stating that ‘their devotion to duty under abnormal circumstances is worthy of the highest recognition’. McGreen continued to serve in the Royal Navy after WW2, and reached the rank of Wardmaster Lieutenant-Commander before being placed on the Retired List on 29 February 1968. This lot offered with detailed research and numerous copied first-hand accounts of his work (and that of P.O. Flynn) during their time in Kobe, and the trying conditions which they faced, and a copy of ‘Battle for Hong Kong December 1941’ by P. Cracknell.

Estimate: GBP 300-500