At bayonet point, the tall sister and the short officer headed for the mortuary where the prepared body lay.

“If you lived in England, you should know how civilized people behave,” said Sister Mary Curry.

The officer looked into the eyes of Sister Curry: “Do English women never cry?”

“Not when we have work to do,” she replied.

This is a short, sharp, punchy treatment of what happened that dreadful Christmas Day. It touches on expat eccentricities, over-sexed Scottish soldiers, altruistic nurses answering the call of their country, and Japanese infantry caught up in the red mist of battle.

The Battle for Hong Kong seems lost in the shadow of other battles in Southeast Asia, such as Malaya, Singapore, Burma, and the Philippines. But while the Japanese invasion of Hong Kong Island lasted just one week from 18-25 December 1941, it was highlighted by horrific atrocities involving wounded Allied soldiers, and medical doctors, nurses, orderlies and patients.

None worse than the massacre at St Stephen's College, which had transformed into a makeshift hospital.

The Grubby Little Men Who Raped Hong Kong re-opens these wounds and explores who was really responsible for these outrages, and what became of them and their victims.

A surprising twist in the tale links the St Stephen's College Massacre to the Alexandra British Military Hospital in Singapore in a very direct unexpected way.

The captivating style of this short ww2 book is full of humanity and human spirit.

Key events, characters and places in this story (in order of appearance):

The Gin Drinkers Line

Territorial Army Nursing Service

St John’s Cathedral, Hong Kong

Japanese 23 Army

War Memorial Hospital

Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club

2 Bn Royal Scots

Winnipeg Grenadiers

Royal Rifles of Canada

229 Tanaka Regiment IJA

Vyner Brooke

SS Kuala

Mata Hari

Massacre at Radji Beach, Muntok

Capt Orita Masaru

Tokyo War Crimes Tribunal 1948

Hong Kong War Crimes Trials 1946

IJA 38 Division

Vivian Bullwinkel