Claire Taylor

Samantha Claire Taylor MBE (born 25 September 1975) is a former cricketer who represented England more than 150 times between 1998 and 2011. A top order batter, Taylor was the first woman to be named a Wisden Cricketer of the Year. Along with Charlotte Edwards, she was the mainstay of England's batting during the first decade of the 21st century, and played a key role in the team's two world titles in 2009.

Taylor did not play cricket until the age of 13, but four years later made her county debut. Initially considered a wicket-keeper with limited batting ability, Taylor struggled to break into the England team. She made her international debut in 1998, and within two years was a regular in the team. After an unsuccessful World Cup in 2000, Taylor left her job to become a full-time cricketer. Over the subsequent five years, she developed into one of the leading batsmen in women's cricket, but after another failure in the 2005 World Cup she resumed her career alongside cricket.

Despite her struggles at the World Cup, Taylor continued to improve as a batsman, and in 2006, she scored 156 not out, the highest individual total in an ODI at Lord's Cricket Ground. Her batting successes resulted in her being short-listed for the ICC Women's Cricketer of the Year in 2007 and 2008, and she won the award in 2009. After being the leading run-scorer in the 2009 World Cup, and player of the tournament in the World Twenty20 later that year, she was less consistent from 2010, though she performed well in the pair of quadrangular tournaments played in England during her final summer of cricket, and completed her career with batting averages in excess of 40 in both Test and ODI cricket. In July 2018, she was inducted into the ICC Hall of Fame.

## Early life and career

Samantha Claire Taylor was born in Amersham, Buckinghamshire on 25 September 1975, as part of a sporting family: her father played rugby, and her mother played hockey. She attended Dolphin School in Hurst, Berkshire, where she initially played softball, participating as the only girl in the school team. Taylor did not play cricket until a summer camp at the age of 13, but thereafter improved to such a level that she captained the Dolphin School cricket team, playing alongside the boys. She subsequently moved to The Abbey School, Reading for a short time, and finally Kendrick School. Although she primarily played hockey as a teenager, at which she represented England at Under-17 and Under-19 as a forward, she began playing women's county cricket for Thames Valley, making her debut for the side in May 1993.

Taylor was awarded a place at The Queen's College, Oxford to study Mathematics in 1994. At Oxford, Taylor earned three blues for hockey, and three half blues for cricket. She also played for the college men's cricket team, which included Iain Sutcliffe, who later played over three hundred county cricket matches. During her time at Oxford, Taylor continued to play for Thames Valley, and scored her maiden century in the women's County Championship, scoring 109 runs against Lancashire and Cheshire in July 1996. Her highest score prior to that innings had been 37. The following year, having graduated from Oxford with a second-class honours degree, Taylor scored successive half-centuries for Thames Valley, reaching 97 against Sussex, 77 against Lancashire and Cheshire, and an unbeaten 62 against East Midlands. She had been making intermittent appearances for England at various age group levels for the previous five years, and in September 1997, she scored 85 for England Under-21s against the touring South African side. Even so, she was not included in the team for the 1997 Women's Cricket World Cup, but she was named as a non-travelling reserve, something that Taylor said "confirmed to me my breakthrough into the senior squad."

## International breakthrough

In April 1998, Taylor travelled to South Africa as part of the England Under-21 squad that competed in the women's Inter-Provincial Tournament, scoring two half-centuries in the competition. Her full international debut occurred later that year, during the fourth One Day International (ODI) between England and Australia. Playing as a specialist batsman, Taylor scored one run during a heavy defeat for England. Taylor finished the 1998 women's County Championship with two strong batting performances: she struck her second century, scoring 103 runs against West, followed by 65 runs against Surrey. Towards the end of the English season, she kept wicket for England in a match against England Under-21s, scoring an unbeaten 45 runs. She retained her place in the England squad for the series against the touring Indian team in 1999. England struggled in the series, and Taylor was one of a number of inexperienced players in the squad who "failed to seize their chance", according to the Wisden Cricketers' Almanack report. Taylor's highest score in the series was 12 runs, and she had batting averages of 11.00 in the ODIs, and 5.50 in the solitary Test match.

During the subsequent English winter of 1999–2000, Taylor was part of the touring party that travelled to Australia and New Zealand for nine ODIs. The tour was a failure for the team: they lost all nine international matches, and their only win was a warm-up match against Wellington, in which Taylor scored 83 runs. She secured another half-century in the second ODI against New Zealand, scoring 56 runs after opening the innings. In a series in which England's batting was described as dismal, her half-century was one of only two in ODIs during the tour, and Wisden reported that giving Taylor an "overdue opportunity" was one saving grace of the trip. She struggled for runs in the series against the touring South Africans in 2000, aggregating 68 runs from five innings, as once again the English batting – particularly the top order – was criticised. After the conclusion of the series, Taylor struck a century in a county match, scoring 115 runs for Berkshire against Surrey.

England's "slide down the international ladder" continued during the 2000 Women's Cricket World Cup, according to Wisden. The batting was once more culpable, but Taylor provided some relief. She scored 267 runs in the tournament at an average of 66.75, ranking her among the top ten batsmen. She struck her first century in international cricket; scoring 137 not out against Sri Lanka. In doing so, she shared a partnership of 188 runs with Jane Cassar, which is a record for the fifth wicket in women's ODIs. England failed to qualify from the group stage of the competition.

## Full-time cricketer

After the 2000 World Cup, Taylor wanted to focus on her desire to become one of the best batsmen in the world. In order to achieve this, she decided to become a full-time cricketer. After university, she had joined Procter & Gamble, and by 2001 she was earning £38,000 as an IT assistant manager at the company. In contrast, her income from cricket totalled £7,000, and in order to afford to quit her IT job, she had to move back in with her parents. England's next series was against the World Cup runners-up, Australia, who toured in June and July 2001. England's batting remained unreliable, and Australia won all five matches between the sides: two Test matches and three ODIs. Taylor was praised as the only highlight of the English batting; her innings of 50 not out was the highest score by her side in any of the ODIs. In the second Test, she significantly improved on her previous best Test score of 18 runs, batting for over four hours in a gritty performance to reach 137 runs. Taylor missed the tour of India in January 2002 after injuring her knee in a training session, but returned the following summer with a string of good performances in the Super Fours—a competition in which the England selectors place the 48 leading players into four teams—trailing only her England teammate Charlotte Edwards as the leading run-scorer. In the four ODIs that season, against New Zealand and India, Taylor failed to make an impact, scoring just 43 runs in total.

Ahead of a tour by the England women to New Zealand and Australia, Taylor competed in the State League, a one-day competition in New Zealand, for the Canterbury Magicians. She finished the tournament in the top-five batsmen, scoring 252 runs at an average of 42.00. Unfortunately for England, her good form did not continue into the international matches: in her seven ODI matches, she scored 87 runs. She continued to struggle at the start of the 2003 English domestic season, prompting Wisden to report that she "had barely scraped a run" in the County Championship matches. Despite her struggles, she survived an overhaul of the England squad, in which seven of the players who had toured Australia and New Zealand had been dropped. She repaid the faith shown in her, striking centuries in both Test matches against South Africa. The first, a score of 177 runs, was the highest total she made in Test cricket, and was scored over six and a half hours, and was just twelve runs short of the highest by any England woman. Two weeks later, she became one of only five women, as of 2012, to have scored centuries in consecutive Test matches, when she scored 131 runs at Taunton. Her performances in the ODI series were less eye-catching, but a half-century in the first match helped her finish second to Laura Newton as England's leading run-scorer.

Taylor competed in the State League for the second consecutive year in early 2004, and finished with the second-most runs in the competition, scoring 401 runs at an average of 44.55. From New Zealand, she travelled to South Africa to join up with the England team for five ODIs. After scoring 90 runs in a warm-up contest against an Invitational XI, she finished as England's second most prolific run-scorer behind Edwards, though she only once reached a half-century in the international matches. Back in England for the 2004 Super Fours competition, Taylor and Edwards once more headed the batting tables, Taylor narrowly trailing her international teammate in terms of runs scored, but ahead of her on batting average, having scored 351 runs at 87.75. In the subsequent series against New Zealand, Taylor was the top-scorer in the first Twenty20 International match played by either gender. Despite the quicker-scoring nature of the Twenty20 game, Taylor was praised for her measured batting and placement. In the ODIs, England possessed greater depth in their batting, making the team less reliant on Taylor and Edwards' performances. That depth helped them to win the series 3–2, despite a low-scoring sequence of matches for Taylor in which she averaged below twenty.

In preparation for the 2005 Women's Cricket World Cup in South Africa, Taylor played her third and final season in the State League, though her 229 runs at an average of 38.16 were the lowest she achieved in any year of the competition. During a short warm-up series against South Africa, she enjoyed batting success, scoring 94 and 47 in the two ODIs, and then an unbeaten 166 runs against a side from Gauteng and North West. After the first round of matches were all lost to rain, Taylor struck the highest score of the tournament in England's second match, against Sri Lanka. She scored 136 runs from 128 balls, and shared century partnerships with both Edwards and Clare Connor to help England record a large victory. She made little impact against India in the next match, but then scored 55 not out against South Africa and 46 against New Zealand to help ensure England's qualification for the semi-finals. Cricinfo reported that Australia were "undoubted favourites" for their semi-final clash with England, and that Taylor would be one of her side's key players for the contest. After the early loss of Laura Newton, Taylor was dismissed for the third duck of her ODI career, and England subsided to a five-wicket loss. She finished the tournament as one of the top-three batsmen by both runs-scored and average, aggregating 265 runs at 53.00.

## Further development

After the World Cup, Taylor was disheartened by both her own, and England's, lack of success. She bemoaned that the sacrifices she had made had come to nothing, and after talking to psychologists, she realised that she needed to readdress her work–life balance. An amateur violinist, she was accepted into the Reading Orchestra, and by early 2006 was working out of the University of Reading as a performance management consultant.

In the English summer of 2005, England hosted Australia for two Test matches and six limited-overs contests. The two Tests formed The Women's Ashes, an accolade that England had not won since 1963. In the first Test, Taylor scored a patient 35 runs in the first innings, and shared a partnership of 81 with Edwards, but the pair fell in quick succession, and England struggled thereafter. In the second innings, England required over 300 runs to win, but their top-order collapsed, losing three wickets for just fourteen runs. Taylor suffered a duck in the match, and only a century by Arran Brindle rescued a draw for her side. In the second Test, which England won to secure the Ashes, Taylor scored 43 runs in the first innings to help England open up a 158-run lead. Taylor finished the five-match ODI series as England's leading run-scorer, totalling 325 runs at an average of 65.00. After hitting half-centuries in the first and the third matches, she was praised by The Daily Telegraph for the quality of her "on-driving and cutting" as she scored 116 runs in the fourth match to level the series 2–2.

Taylor, and England, had a difficult tour of Sri Lanka and India in late 2005; after winning the two ODIs against Sri Lanka, England drew the only Test against India and lost the ODI series 4–1. Taylor only scored 76 runs in the seven ODI matches, and made scores of five and three in the Test. She re-found her batting form at the start of the 2006 English cricket season, topping the batting averages in the 2006 Super Fours competition, scoring two centuries and two half-centuries in six matches for the Sapphires.

Facing the touring Indians later that summer, Taylor made small totals in her first two appearances at the crease, scoring 10 in the only Twenty20 match, and 32 in the first innings of their solitary Test. She reached her fourth and final century in a Test match in the second innings, scoring 115 runs to put England into a potentially match winning position, though the match finished as a draw. The first game of the ODI series featured what the Marylebone Cricket Club describe as "Taylor's finest hour in an England shirt". Batting at number three, Taylor was called upon early, after opening batsman Edwards was run out in the third over. She was dropped twice in quick succession during her innings, but continued to reach her century from 110 balls. Having reached the milestone, she scored more rapidly and remained 156 not out at the end of the innings, hitting 9 fours in her 151-ball innings. The score was the highest of Taylor's ODI career, and is the joint fourth-highest total in women's ODI cricket. It is also the highest score made in an ODI match at Lord's by either gender, passing the 138 runs scored by Viv Richards in 1979.

In the Women's Quadrangular Series hosted by India in early 2007, Taylor was England's best performer with the bat. Despite her side losing all six of their group matches, she finished the tournament with the second-most runs of any player, totalling 346. She scored half-centuries against each of the other three teams competing—Australia, India and New Zealand—and also scored an unbeaten 113 in the first match against Australia. She had a relatively quiet domestic season in 2007, ranking sixth amongst run-scorers in the Super Fours, having passed 50 runs just once, and despite ranking second by both runs scored and batting average in the County Championship, Taylor only scored two half-centuries in her five appearances in that competition. England started the summer with four Twenty20 matches, one against South Africa and three against New Zealand, in which Taylor made three scores of 20 or more, but did not reach a half-century. In the third ODI against New Zealand, she scored her sixth century in the format, but her 110 runs came from 133 deliveries, and the Wisden series report suggests that the scoring rate was too slow: New Zealand chased down the total in fewer than 36 overs. In the next match, Taylor scored 72 as England attempted to chase down 240 runs to win, but they were eventually bowled out 43 runs short. Though she only made small totals in the other three matches of the series, Taylor finished as the leading run-scorer in the series, though New Zealand's Aimee Watkins had a superior batting average. Her performances over the year from August 2006 resulted in Taylor being shortlisted for the ICC Women's Cricketer of the Year award, alongside Australia's Lisa Sthalekar and the eventual winner, India's Jhulan Goswami. During the voting period, Taylor scored three centuries and three half-centuries in international cricket.

## Leading batsman

England travelled to Australia and New Zealand in early 2008 attempting to improve on their previous visits. In ten ODI matches in Australia against their hosts previously, England had only managed one win, while against New Zealand they had won just three of fifteen contests. England started badly, losing two of their warm-up matches by significant margins, and then falling 21 runs short in the Twenty20 match which opened the series. Taylor top-scored for England in their Twenty20 defeat with 34 runs from 32 balls. She made a similar score in the first ODI match against the hosts, but in the second match both Taylor and Edwards were out for ducks in a heavy defeat for England. After the third match of the series was abandoned without any play, Taylor scored her first half-century of the tour, and shared a century partnership with Edwards to help England secure a 2–1 lead in the series, guaranteeing that they would at least draw the five-match contest. After Australia won the last ODI to tie the series, the two sides met at the Bradman Oval to play the only Test of the tour. Taylor and Edwards again enjoyed a successful partnership in England's first innings; Taylor scored 79 runs as the pair put on 159 together. She scored an unbeaten half-century in the second innings to help England to retain the Ashes.

Taylor carried her good form into the subsequent series against New Zealand, starting the second leg of their trip with a half-century against New Zealand A in a warm-up match in which she was acting captain. England struggled in the first ODI however: only Taylor and Edwards reached double figures for the tourists as they suffered a 123-run loss. In the following match, Taylor scored the seventh international century of her career, remaining 111 not out as England secured a nine-wicket win over New Zealand. She scored a half-century in the third ODI of the series, and 34 runs in the fifth to finish as England's leading run-scorer of the tour, scoring 342 runs at an average of 48.85 from the nine ODI matches in Australia and New Zealand.

Playing in the first match of Berkshire's County Championship campaign, Taylor scored 146 runs from 148 balls against Nottinghamshire, out of a team total of 212: no other Berkshire batsman scored more than 10 runs, and Nottinghamshire won by six wickets. In a two match ODI series against the West Indies she made minimal impact, but was described by Cricinfo as being "at her dominant best" in the first match of the subsequent series against South Africa. She struck 7 fours during her 70-ball innings and scored 83 runs. In the three remaining matches of the series, she made modest totals, before missing the Twenty20 Internationals due to illness. Taylor reached a landmark during the third series of the summer, making her 100th ODI appearance, against India. In the five-match series, which England won 4–0, Taylor remained not out in each of her three innings, scoring 125 runs. Following that series, the ICC introduced player rankings for women's ODI cricket, for which Taylor was top of the batsmen.

## Double world champions

In 2009, England participated in both the Women's Cricket World Cup, and the inaugural Women's World Twenty20. Taylor was identified as one of England's key players in a preview of the tournament, and she set up victory for England in their opening match against Sri Lanka with her eighth ODI century, her third in successive World Cup matches against Sri Lanka. She asserted her dominance once more in the second match, against India, scoring quicker than a run a ball for her 69 not out, to help England chase down a modest total in under 40 overs. Not required to bat against Pakistan, and dismissed for 19 against New Zealand, Taylor helped secure England's place in the final with a rapid 65 runs, including 2 sixes and 6 fours, against the West Indies. In England's final match of the group stages, Taylor top-scored with 49 runs in a dead rubber loss against Australia: Australia could not qualify for the final, and England were already through. In the final, having restricted New Zealand to 166, England were ahead of the required rate early. An early loss of wicket brought Taylor to the crease, and she played an attacking innings of 21, including 4 fours, before being bowled. England won the match by four wickets, to become ODI world champions. Taylor finished the tournament as the leading run-scorer, having made 324 runs, and her batting average was the highest amongst batsmen with over 100 runs. She was one of five England players to be named in the team of the tournament.

Taylor's next international action came during the inaugural Women's World Twenty20 tournament, held in England. Despite not being required to bat in England's opening match against India, she was the second most prolific batsmen in the competition, finishing with 199 runs, just one less than New Zealand's Aimee Watkins. In the group stage match against Sri Lanka, Taylor achieved her highest score in Twenty20 International cricket, making an unbeaten 75. Just five days later, she improved on that score, reaching 76 not out against Australia in the semi-finals. Batting with Beth Morgan, the pair maintained a run-rate of almost 10 runs an over to secure England's place in the final. Facing New Zealand in the final, England dismissed their opponents for 85 runs, but laboured to their total; Taylor top-scored for her side with 39 not out, and was the only England player to score a faster than a run a ball. Taylor was named as player of the tournament, and having only been dismissed once, finished with a batting average of 199.00. In England's subsequent series against Australia, Taylor struggled for runs, scoring 79 runs across four ODI innings, and being dismissed for under 20 runs in each innings of the only Test match. She opted to miss the tour of the West Indies in late 2009 to focus on her work commitments.

## Later career

Taylor returned to action for England in the 2010 Women's World Twenty20, hosted by the West Indies. England, and Taylor, struggled in the competition. Their only victory came against South Africa, after they had already been eliminated from the tournament. Taylor scored 24 runs in the tournament at an average of just 8.00. Later that summer, England hosted New Zealand. Taylor finished as England's leading run-scorer in the ODI series, scoring 166 runs at an average of 41.50, including half-centuries in two of the matches. In their next series, a tour of Sri Lanka, Taylor started strongly; scoring 73 runs in a narrow victory against their hosts, but failed to achieve double figures in an innings for the remainder of the tour. Taylor sustained a shoulder injury during the second warm-up match of their subsequent tour of Australia, which ruled her out of the rest of the visit.

Her injury had healed by the start of the 2011 season, but Taylor failed to make a significant impact on England's first two matches of the Twenty20 Quadrangular series, against New Zealand and Australia. In the third match however, ESPNcricinfo's Liam Brickhill claimed that she "roared back into form" with 66 runs from 46 balls to help England to a big win over India. England won the tournament, which was closely followed by an equivalent ODI Quadrangular. Taylor made at least 30 runs in three of her four innings of the tournament to finish among the top run-scorers in the series, which was also won by England. At the conclusion of the series, Taylor announced her retirement from international cricket. She finished her career with batting averages in excess of 40 in both Test and ODI cricket, and at the time of her retirement she trailed only Charlotte Edwards in ODI runs scored. She continued to represent Berkshire until the conclusion of the 2011 season.

## Playing style

During her teenage years, Taylor was considered a better hockey player than cricketer. When she began playing for Thames Valley, she was considered a wicket-keeper with no more than average batting ability. At university, she began to develop her batting, playing alongside the men for her college side. The different pace and strength required in the men's game meant that she had to learn to play off the back foot, in contrast to women's cricket, which is generally played off the front foot. After graduating from university in 1997, she made her international debut for England in 1998, but batted low in the order for England, having been picked as a wicket-keeper. Intent on improving her batting, she began one-on-one coaching with Mark Lane. At the time, it was unusual for a member of the England women's team to have individual coaching sessions, and Taylor had to pay for the meetings herself. When they began working together, Lane was critical of her batting; "She was just average, I would say." The sessions helped to improve Taylor's mental approach towards batting as well as making technical changes, though Lane promoted the use of bottom-handed hockey-style shots which came more naturally to Taylor. At her peak, she used her intelligence to help manipulate the field; in an interview she described that, "when I'm batting at my best I have a 3D awareness of the shape of the field and where the spaces are."

## Recognition

Taylor was the first woman to be selected as Wisden's Cricketer of the Year, in 2009. The editor of that years almanack, Scyld Berry, noted that "there is no element of political correctness or publicity-seeking about her selection," and that she had been "chosen on merit, for being pre-eminent in her form of the game." She was short-listed for the ICC Women's Cricketer of the Year in both 2007 and 2008, and won the award in 2009. She was also named as the England and Wales Cricket Board's Women's Player of the Year in May 2009. Continuing on from her success in 2009, Taylor was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) on the 2010 New Year Honours list. During her career she topped the ICC batting rankings for both ODI and Twenty20 International cricket, and upon her retirement, former Test cricketer Mike Selvey suggested in The Guardian that she was "perhaps the finest batsman the women's game has seen."

## See also

- List of centuries in women's One Day International cricket
- List of centuries in women's Test cricket

English cricketer

England women One Day International cricketers

England women Twenty20 International cricketers

International Cricket Council Cricketer of the Year

Members of the Order of the British Empire


The Hideous Sun Demon

The Hideous Sun Demon (sometimes billed as The Sun Demon, or in the UK as Blood on His Lips) is a 1958 American science fiction horror film produced, directed, and cowritten by Robert Clarke, who also starred in the title role. It also stars Patricia Manning, Nan Peterson, Patrick Whyte, and Fred La Porta. The film focuses on a scientist (portrayed by Clarke) who is exposed to a radioactive isotope and soon finds out that it comes with horrifying consequences.

The film was inspired by the financial success of The Astounding She-Monster, in which Clarke had starred earlier that year. The crew was made up of University of Southern California film students, while the cast consisted of unknowns in addition to Clarke's family and friends. Shooting took place under three different cinematographers over 12 consecutive weekends. Originally budgeted at \$10,000, the film ended up costing \$50,000. Distributed by Clarke's own Pacific International Pictures, The Hideous Sun Demon premiered on August 29, 1958 as part of a double bill with Roger Corman's Attack of the Crab Monsters. The film received mostly negative reviews upon its release, but has since become a cult film and has been referenced and parodied many times. An unauthorized sequel, the 1965 short film Wrath of the Sun Demon, was produced by Donald F. Glut. Two redubbed versions of the original film have been released: the comedic Hideous Sun Demon: Special Edition and What's Up, Hideous Sun Demon (also known as Revenge of the Sun Demon), the latter of which was produced with Clarke's permission.

## Plot

When research scientist Dr. Gilbert "Gil" McKenna (Clarke) falls unconscious after accidentally being exposed to radiation during an experiment with a new radioactive isotope, he is rushed to a nearby hospital. Attending physician Dr. Stern (Robert Garry) is surprised to find that Gil shows no signs of burns typical for five-minute exposure to radiation and informs Gil's co-workers, lab assistant Ann Russell (Patricia Manning) and scientist Dr. Frederick Buckell (Patrick Whyte), that he will keep the patient under observation for several days.

Later, Gil is taken to a solarium to receive the sun's healing rays. While he naps, he transforms into a reptilian creature, horrifying the other patients. Fleeing from the scene, Gil discovers his new appearance. Stern notifies Ann and Dr. Buckell about the incident, theorizing that the exposure to radiation caused a reversal of evolution, transforming Gil into a prehistoric reptile after exposure to sunlight. Stern suggests that Gil can control his symptoms by staying in the dark and remaining in the hospital, but admits that the patient cannot be held against his will.

Having reverted to normal, a disconsolate Gil notifies Ann of his resignation. Confining himself to his house and only coming out at night, Gil spends his hours drinking and wandering aimlessly around the grounds of his estate. He later drives to a bar where sultry piano player Trudy Osborne (Nan Peterson) is performing.

Buckell soon receives word that noted radiation-poisoning specialist Dr. Jacob Hoffman (Fred La Porta) has agreed to help Gil and plans on arriving in the area within a few days. When radiation poisoning studies offer no leads on solving Gil's own particular symptoms, the distraught scientist contemplates suicide, but soon changes his mind. Instead, Gil returns to the bar where Trudy joins him for a drink and comments that the evening is not over because it is "never late until the sun comes up." Although Gil is disturbed by the comment, his loneliness draws him closer to her. When bar patron George insinuates that he has purchased Trudy's company for the evening, Gil defends her, causing a fight between the two men. After knocking George unconscious, Gil flees with Trudy into the night. Later that evening, after walking the shoreline, they make love, falling asleep in the sand until the morning light awakens Gil. Horrified, Gil flees in his car leaving Trudy stranded on the beach. Arriving at the house, Gil runs in, but not before the transformation occurs.

Ann soon arrives, discovering Gil cowering in the cellar in a state of shock. Believing that he is beyond help, Gil at first refuses to see Dr. Hoffman, but after Ann's tearful pleading, Gil reluctantly agrees. During the examination, Dr. Hoffman orders Gil to remain in the house at all times as a precaution until he can return with help. Feeling guilty for leaving Trudy, Gil returns to the bar but is brutally beaten by George and his gang. Gil regains consciousness the next morning and discovers that Trudy, having felt sorry for him, brought him home to her apartment. George soon arrives and, upon seeing Gil, forces him at gunpoint out into the daylight. Transforming into the creature, Gil murders George in front of the horrified Trudy before fleeing into the hills. Returning to the house, Gil finds Ann, Dr. Hoffman and Buckell waiting there and returns to his normal human state. A disturbed Gil later admits to the murder, with the others assuring him that he acted in self-defense, but when the police arrive with an arrest warrant, the hysterical Gil flees from the grounds in his car and accidentally hits a police officer.

Hiding inside an oil field shack while police comb the area and set up roadblocks, Gil is discovered by young Suzy who offers to fetch him cookies. Hurrying back to her house, Suzy is caught hoarding cookies by her mother and is forced to reveal who they are for. While her mother calls the police, Suzy slips out of the door to return to Gil. Her mother chases after her into the oil field, and police cars soon arrive. Realizing Suzy is endangered by being with him, Gil carries the girl out of the shack into the sunlight where he lets her go. He soon transforms into the creature. In the ensuing police chase, Gil slaughters one of the officers and then climbs the stairs to the top of a tall natural gas tank, where the remaining officer chases after him. As Gil begins to strangle him, the officer shoots Gil in the neck. Mortally wounded, the mutated Gil falls several stories to his death while Buckell, Hoffman and a sobbing Ann watch in dismay.

## Cast

- Robert Clarke as Dr. Gilbert McKenna / The Sun Demon
- Patricia Manning as Ann Russell
- Nan Peterson as Trudy Osborne
- Patrick Whyte as Dr. Frederick Buckell
- Fred La Porta as Dr. Jacon Hoffman
- Peter Similuk as George Messorio
- Bill Hampton as Police Lt. Peterson
- Robert Garry as Dr. Stern
- Donna King as Suzy's Mother
- Xandra Conkling as Suzy
- Del Courtney as Radio DJ

## Production

### Development

Development for The Hideous Sun Demon began after the 1957 release of The Astounding She-Monster, a science fiction film starring Clarke. In his contract for the film, Clarke was promised five percent of She-Monster'''s profits in addition to his salary. Although Clarke later admitted that the film was poorly made, it was a financial success, with Clarke receiving a sizable sum from the film's box office returns. Inspired by that film's financial success, Clarke decided to direct his own low-budget science fiction film. According to Clarke, the story for the film was inspired by Robert Louis Stevenson's The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, which dealt with multiple personalities. Clarke and co-writer/director Tom Boutross wrote the first draft of the screenplay (although some sources, including Clarke himself, say his friend Phil Hiner co-wrote the first draft), then-titled Saurus or Sauros, names taken from the Latin word meaning "reptile". Other working titles for the film included Strange Pursuit and Terror in the Sun. Boutross, who is also credited as one of the film's co-directors, later edited films like Rat Fink (1965), A Man Called Dagger (1967) and 1974 hit The Legend of Boggy Creek. The first draft of the script was significantly different from what would be shown in the finished film. The original storyline centered on an explorer and a female lawyer searching for uranium in the country of Guatemala. While there, they are tormented by a man who had been mutated by experiments conducted on him by his scientist father, who is an expert in radiation, and when the young man is exposed to the sun, he transforms into a reptilian creature.

The film's crew consisted of students from the University of Southern California. Clarke pitched the story idea to Robin Kirkman, a student at USC, who liked the idea. The two men formed the production company Clarke-King Enterprises, and Kirkman worked as the film's associate producer. E.S. Seely, who later directed the 1961 film Shangri-La, wrote the final draft of the film's screenplay, which was then rewritten by Doane R. Hoag who "polished the dialogue", according to Clarke. The film was initially budgeted at \$10,000, but by the end of production, it had cost \$50,000 in total. The film was Clarke's first and only effort as writer or director.

### Casting

Clarke, the film's director, writer and producer, also starred in the lead role of Dr. Gilbert McKenna. A veteran actor, he wanted his character to seem realistic and multi-dimensional, with both bad and good qualities. "I acted the part as if I wouldn't let anything get in my way", Clarke later recalled. The rest of the cast consisted mostly of aspiring actors and actresses from around USC, with some characters played by Clarke's friends and family. Actress Nan Peterson, in her acting debut, was cast in the role of Trudy Osborne because of her voluptuous figure, according to Clarke. Originally, singer Marilyn King of The King Sisters, who was Clarke's sister-in-law, was cast for the role, but she dropped out due to her pregnancy at the time of production. King, however, did write and perform the song "Strange Pursuit", featured in the bar scene in the film, providing the vocals for Peterson's character. Peterson had previously worked as a model for Catalina Bathing Suits and was touring nationwide as "Miss Vornado" for the Vornado air conditioning company. Xandra Conkling, who played the little girl who befriends McKenna in the film, was actually the daughter of Clarke's wife's sister. Pearl Driggs, who portrayed an old woman on the hospital roof, was Clarke's mother-in-law. A radio announcer heard in the film was played by Clarke's sister-in-law's fiancé, and Clarke's nephew played a newsboy in the film.

### Filming

Principal photography for The Hideous Sun Demon commenced in 1957, lasting over a period 12 consecutive weekends on rented equipment. At the time of production, Clarke was busy acting in other films during weekdays while the student film crew attended school. A decision to film during the weekends was made, since it was the only time that both Clarke and the crew were free. The cast and crew were paid \$25 per day. Due to the film's low budget, items such as clothing and make-up were provided by the film's stars themselves. "I had to do my own make-up, [and] use my own clothes ... it was a very low-budget film", Peterson later recalled. The film was shot by three different cinematographers, all credited at the end of the film: John Morrill, who Clarke later stated shot at least half the film; Vilis Lapeniks, who also shot Eegah and the 1966 horror film Queen of Blood before working on bigger projects like Newman's Law (1974), Capone (1975) and Kiss Daddy Goodbye (1981); and Stan Follis, in his only film credit.

The film was one of the first to use practical locations during shooting. According to Clarke, "When we needed a scene in a bar, we went to Santa Monica and asked a guy how much money he would charge to let us come in and shoot scenes in his bar". Because Clarke also acted in the film, editor and co-writer Tom Boutross served as co-director on the film. The main character's home in the film was located on Lafayette Boulevard in Los Angeles, which is no longer standing. The four-story rooming house was rented for 5–6 weekend days for \$25 per day. The exterior shots of the character's house were shot in a different location around Glendale Hill. A scene in the film where a transformed McKenna graphically crushes a rat with his bare hands was not in the script, and was improvised while on location. The effect was accomplished by placing ketchup on the rat; Clarke would then gently squeeze the rat, making the ketchup ooze from his fingers. This scene was removed from prints that were released on television, but was later restored. Coastal scenes were filmed at Bass Rock and near Trancas, while other scenes were filmed near Signal Hill. Additional coastal scenes were filmed in Malibu. The film's climax was filmed around the area of the Union Station train depot. The large gas tank, which stood over 300 feet tall, was made available to the cast and crew by the Southern California Gas Company. Filming at this location proved to be a challenge, as the cast and crew had trouble communicating with each other, with Clarke attempting to direct the film crew while on top of the large structure.

The title monster was designed by production designer Richard Cassarino, who created the suit for \$500, and was built over a diver's wetsuit. Conditions inside the suit were very hot; combined with the humid weather, this caused Clarke, who performed his own stunts in the film, to sweat profusely. The original mask is currently owned by archivist and occasional actor Bob Burns. Cassarino later worked as production designer for the 1958 film Hell Squad, and also was responsible for designing the sea creature costume in the science fiction film Destination Inner Space (1966).

## Release

### Theatrical release

Clarke initially had no distribution deals set up for the film. Clarke's brother – a sales manager at an Amarillo, Texas, television station – put him into contact with the owner of several local drive-in theaters. Clarke agreed to premiere his film in Amarillo, and it played on a double bill with the Roger Corman film Attack of the Crab Monsters, under the alternate title The Sun Demon, on August 29, 1958. Peterson and Clarke appeared at the premiere, and, after the film, performed an interview together. While the audience was distracted, Clarke changed into his costume and made an appearance as the Sun Demon. After this success, Clarke declined a distribution deal with American International Pictures and instead chose a competitor, Miller-Consolidated Pictures, who distributed it across the US and UK in December 1959. Clarke made additional personal appearances as the Sun Demon. However, eighteen months after the company started distributing the film, it went bankrupt. Because of this, Clarke never saw any income from the deal. Clarke later sold off the film's rights to various distributors. In the United Kingdom, the film was distributed by D.U.K. and released with the title Blood on His Lips.

### Home media release

The Hideous Sun Demon was released on VHS as a part of Elvira's Movie Macabre by Rhino Home Video on September 8, 1993. It was later released by First Look Home Entertainment on September 18, 1997. The film made its debut on DVD on March 21, 2000, issued by Image Entertainment. It was later re-released by Image Entertainment as a two-disc double feature on December 30, 2003, paired with a comically redubbed sequel titled What's Up, Hideous Sun Demon or Revenge of the Sun Demon. This version of the film was later released on DVD by Image Entertainment on July 15, 2003.

## Reception

Critical reception for The Hideous Sun Demon has been mostly negative. In a contemporary review, the Monthly Film Bulletin gave the film a negative review, saying that "wordy dialogue, poor acting, uneven photography and sub-standard sound all add to the disadvantage of a hopelessly illogical plot".

Bob Stephens of the San Francisco Chronicle, in a 2000 review, criticized the film's narrative slightness and Peter Similuk's casting, but also wrote that he "must confess that I enjoy Demon. Its naivete is a more reliable pathway to wonder than the cynicism and condescension of contemporary fantasy films could ever be". TV Guide gave the film a negative review, awarding it 1.5 out of 4 stars and calling it "laughable", but also commented that the monster costume was good. Leonard Maltin gave the film a negative review, criticised the film's production values, calling it "hideous".

Author Jeff Rovin called it "a clever twist on the Wolfman theme" and an "effective and gritty film [that] boasts an excellent monster costume". Allmovie gave the film a positive review, calling it "a staple of TV horror programming since the early 1960s" and praising the film's claustrophobic feel, editing and actor/director Clarke's performance as the lead character, while criticizing the film's stock characters and "clunky" dialogue. In Cult Horror Films, Welch D. Everman wrote that the film expresses traditional 1950s themes: a warning about the dangers of nonconformity and a mixed message about nuclear energy. Chris Barsanti wrote in The Sci-Fi Movie Guide that the film distinguishes itself from other 1950s radioactive monster films by being an allegory for alcoholism.

## Legacy

### Wrath of the Sun Demon

In 1965, seven years after the release of the original film, a student short film serving as an unauthorized sequel was made by amateur filmmaker Don Glut, after he discovered the Sun Demon mask in Bob Burns' collection. Filmed in black and white with a running time of three-and-a-half minutes, Wrath of the Sun Demon starred Burns as the Sun Demon. The short film was made with the support of the University of Southern California, where Glut was a student at the time. The plot centered on a man (presumably McKenna) transforming into the Sun Demon and terrorizing several people before falling to his death off a cliff. The film also starred John Schuyler as the film's hero and Burns' wife Kathy.

Burns and his wife had been friends with Schuyler before production of the film. According to Glut, Schuyler had recently purchased a new sports jacket and did not want it to get soiled or damaged during production. During the fight scene, in order to avoid stepping on and damaging it, Schuyler would remove the jacket and carry it over his shoulder. When the time came for the film's climax, where the Sun Demon fell to his death off a cliff, neither Burns nor Glut wanted to do the stunt, and neither wanted to damage the mask by putting it on a dummy. So Burns modified a G.I. Joe action figure so that it resembled the Sun Demon, and Glut then shot the figure in slow motion tumbling down a hole that resembled a valley. The original film's soundtrack was later added to the remake during post-production, with Glut's friend Bart Andrews supplying the Sun Demon's voice.

### Parodies

Two redubbed versions of the film have been released. Years after Clarke sold off the film's rights, they were purchased from Wade Williams by Hadi John Salem and Gregory Steven Brown, who released a redubbed version of the film titled Hideous Sun Demon: The Special Edition. Unlike the original film, this version was intended to be a comedy.

Writing for Cinefantastique, David J. Hogan described plans for the original footage to be redubbed using a new screenplay written by Mark and Allan Estrin, with Clarke's character Gil renamed Ishmael Pivnik. This version was to center on Pivnik, whose formula for an oral suntan lotion transforms the hapless scientist into a monster. Salem and Brown were inspired by Woody Allen's redubbing of the 1965 Japanese spy thriller film Kokusai himitsu keisatsu: Kagi no kagi, which Allen then transformed into his directorial debut comedy film, What's Up, Tiger Lily?. The resulting redubbing was titled What's Up, Hideous Sun Demon (also known as Revenge of the Sun Demon), which was released with the original director's permission. Salem and Brown were not credited as the producers in this version, which was produced by Jeffrey A. Montgomery and written by Craig Mitchell. New footage for this version was shot with Clarke's son Cam along with Googy Gress, Mark Holton and Susan Tyrell. Actor and talk show host Jay Leno provided the uncredited voice for McKenna.

Image Entertainment released this film on DVD twice in 2003, first by itself on July 15, and later as a double feature with The Hideous Sun Demon on December 30.

### In other media

Clips from The Hideous Sun Demon appeared in the film It Came from Hollywood, while part of the film's soundtrack was used during the cemetery chase scene in Night of the Living Dead. The film appeared on Elvira's Movie Macabre, a television series in which the title character comments on the films that are shown, and the screenplay for the film was published as Scripts from the Crypt: The Hideous Sun Demon by BearManor on May 1, 2011. A modeling kit of the Sun Demon character was released by Resin from the Grave in 1988, sculpted by Fred Hinck.

In an interview with UK publishing company PS Publishing, author Bruce Golden credited The Hideous Sun Demon as inspiration for his book Monster Town''. According to Golden, he previously wrote a short story titled, "I Was a Teenage Hideous Sun Demon", which he described as a "dark satire" of the film. The band Hideous Sun Demons was named after the film.

English-language science fiction horror films


Stanley Internment Camp

Stanley Internment Camp (Chinese: 赤柱拘留營) was a civilian internment camp in Hong Kong during the Second World War. Located in Stanley, on the southern end of Hong Kong Island, it was used by the Japanese imperial forces to hold non-Chinese enemy nationals after their victory in the Battle of Hong Kong in December 1941. About 2,800 men, women, and children were held at the non-segregated camp for 44 months from early January 1942 to August 1945 when Japanese forces surrendered. The camp area consisted of St Stephen's College and the grounds of Stanley Prison, excluding the prison itself.

## Evacuation and arrival at camp

In 1939, the British government had drawn up evacuation plans for the British and other European residents of Hong Kong, which was a Crown colony of the United Kingdom (UK) at the time. The War Office thought the city would inevitably fall to Japanese forces in the event of an attack, so it should not be reinforced with more defensive forces. The presence of a large number of British women and children would have been an "embarrassment" for the government when the Japanese forces took Hong Kong, and additionally it was thought the internment of thousands of British civilians would cause unnecessary suffering and serve the Japanese as propaganda material. In July 1940, the colonial government of Hong Kong received orders from the UK to proceed with the evacuations. By 3 August, all service families and registered non-service British women and children were moved to the Philippines. However, the hurried compulsory evacuations prompted criticism from many evacuees, their husbands, and their employees, who felt the evacuations were premature and unnecessary. According to historians Bernice Archer and Kent Fedorowich, the local Chinese population were angered by their exclusion from the evacuations and condemned the plans as racist. Additionally, the plans excluded British passport holders who were not of European ancestry. Amidst the criticism, the government subsequently made the evacuations non-compulsory. Existing evacuations already ordered were cancelled provided evacuees volunteered for auxiliary roles, such as nursing or administrative work.

On 8 December 1941 Japanese forces attacked Hong Kong, marking the start of the Battle of Hong Kong. Seventeen days later, on Christmas Day of 1941, which came to be known as "Black Christmas", the Hong Kong government surrendered, and Hong Kong came under Japanese occupation. On 4 January 1942, a notice appeared in an English-language newspaper that all "enemy nationals" were to assemble on Murray Parade Grounds. Many people did not see the notice, but about 1,000 people were eventually gathered on the grounds. In addition to those who gathered voluntarily, there were people forcibly removed from their homes.

The people assembled were marched to and initially interned in hotel-brothels on the waterfront near the present-day Macau Ferry Pier. The conditions there were dirty and overcrowded, and the food was poor. After 17 days, the internees were taken by boat to Stanley. The "enemy nationals" who failed to assemble on Murray Parade Grounds avoided internment at the hotel-brothels. However, by the end of January, most of the civilians to be interned were moved to Stanley. Upon arrival at camp, the internees discovered little was prepared for them there. There were no cooking facilities, no furniture, little crockery or cutlery. The toilet facilities were dirty, inadequate, and without water. The rooms were soon overcrowded with random assortments of people unrelated to each other, and with little attention paid to hygiene or public health.

## Camp grounds

The Stanley site was chosen by the Japanese through consultation with two Hong Kong government officials – Dr. P. S. Selwyn-Clarke, Director of Medical Services, and F. C. Gimson, the Colonial Secretary. Located on Stanley Peninsula, which was about nine kilometres from the city at the time, the camp consisted of St. Stephen's College and the grounds of Stanley Prison, excluding the prison itself; the prison was used by the Japanese authorities to hold what they considered "criminals" from Hong Kong. Several hundred internees lived at St. Stephen's, while the majority of them lived on the prison grounds. Prior to Japanese occupation, St. Stephen's was a secondary school whose facilities, in addition to classrooms, included an assembly hall, bungalows for teachers, and science laboratories. Over twenty internees occupied each bungalow, which was built for one family, and more than that occupied each science laboratory, living between partitions of sacking and old blankets. Almost all the buildings in the camp were used for housing.

Certain buildings and areas on the prison grounds had specific functions:

- The Prison Officers' Club was used for multiple functions, including as a canteen, a kindergarten, Catholic church, and recreation centre.
- Two main divisions of quarters existed – the Warders' Quarters and the Indian Quarters. Before the war, the Warders' Quarters housed European warders, with large flats designed for one family each, and the Indian Quarters housed Indian prison guards, built with smaller flats. An average of thirty internees lived in each Warders' Quarters flat, and an average of six internees lived in each Indian Quarters flat.
- A building which had housed single Indian warders before the war was turned into a hospital called Tweed Bay Hospital.
- Two houses, originally used as homes for the prison superintendent and the prison doctor, were turned into the Japanese headquarters for the camp.
- The cemetery on the grounds became a popular spot for quiet relaxation as well as a place for intimate meetings between male and female internees.

## Life at camp

The internees numbered at 2,800, of which an estimated 2,325 to 2,514 were British. The adult population numbered at 1,370 men and 858 women, and children 16 years of age or younger numbered at 286, with 99 of whom were below the age of 4. The camp was under the control of the Japanese Foreign Affairs Department, but according to historian Geoffrey Charles Emerson, the Japanese forces had not made plans for dealing with enemy civilians in Hong Kong. As such, the camp was provided with few necessities, and the internees were left to govern the camp themselves. Committees were formed for such matters as housing, food, and medical care. The national groups remained mostly independent of each other except for matters of welfare and medical care. Very few government servants were selected to serve on these committees, due to anti-government sentiment; most internees blamed the government for the quick surrender of Hong Kong.

The biggest concern was food; ensuring there was enough food occupied most of the internees' time. Little food was provided by the Japanese authorities, and it was of poor quality – frequently containing dust, mud, rat and cockroach excreta, cigarette ends, and sometimes dead rats. Every day, the internees were served rice congee at 8 am, and meals consisting of rice with stew at both 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. Additionally, they relied on food mailed from friends or relatives in the city, Red Cross aid, garden-grown vegetables, and bought food from the canteen or the black market.

Another concern was the health and medical care of the internees. Although medical facilities were inadequate, the internees counted amongst them about 40 doctors, two dentists, six pharmacists, 100 trained nurses, and a large number of volunteer auxiliary nurses. Because of this, according to historian G. B. Endacott, no major epidemic occurred. The most common sickness amongst the internees were malaria, malnutrition and its associated diseases, beriberi, and pellagra. The shortage of medical supplies and equipment posed a challenge for those in charge of medical care, with the lack of soap and disinfectant being a particularly troublesome concern.

The women and children contributed to a sense of normality as their presence provided conventional social, family, and gender relations. The internees believed the children's presence made them less selfish, as it forced them to think of the latter's welfare. The women organised Christmas and birthday celebrations. Other diversions such as musicals, plays, recitals, and variety shows were also staged. Although the camp lacked books and educational supplies, the teachers and educational administrators amongst the internees were able to provide lessons for the children at the primary and secondary levels. Additionally, extensive educational opportunities were available for the adults: language courses for Chinese, Malay, and French, and also lectures on photography, yachting, journalism, and poultry-keeping. In addition to the personal diaries kept by internees, many of them now held by the Imperial War Museum, a record of life in the camp was created using a double bed sheet. The Day Joyce Sheet was embroidered and appliquéd with 1100 names, signs and figures including a diary in code.

## Deaths

Records show that 121 internees died in the camp, mostly due to illness, with half the deaths being of internees over the age of 50. There were also a few accidental deaths. Two internees died from falls and one child drowned. The worst accident occurred during the large US Navy attack against Hong Kong on 16 January 1945, when a plane accidentally bombed Bungalow 5 at St. Stephen's College, killing 14 internees. These internees were buried at Stanley Military Cemetery.

Another seven internees were executed by the Japanese authorities. These internees had possessed a radio set which they used to pass messages in and out of camp. The radio was discovered by the Japanese and the internees were arrested. The other internees were forced to watch their public torture. Military trials were subsequently held and on 29 October 1943, some of the internees were executed by being shot and at least one, John Fraser, was beheaded. Aside from this, the Japanese authorities had executed by decapitation three Chinese policemen for bringing cigarettes and tobacco to the camp's internees.

## Escape attempts

A number of factors made escape attempts daunting for the internees. They would have to navigate through Japanese-occupied territory, find food, and as few internees spoke Cantonese, they would also have to deal with the language barrier if they succeeded in escaping. Despite these difficulties, there were three major escape attempts, of which two in March 1942 were successful. One group of eight internees escaped on a small boat to neighbouring Macau. Another group, consisting of two internees, escaped through the New Territories and into mainland China. The third group, four policemen, in April 1942 managed to escape the camp grounds but were caught within a few miles of camp. They were subsequently imprisoned and released back to camp after a few weeks.

## Early repatriation

Repatriation was one of the two most talked-about subjects at camp (the other being food). On 6 May 1942, the Japanese authorities informed the internees repatriation for the Americans would take place on 15 June. Japanese treatment of the American internees improved during this period before the actual repatriation took place; more and better food was given to them, and they were allowed contacts with Chinese friends outside of camp. American journalists were interviewed by a Japanese news agency and asked questions about the war and the camp. The internees came to find out later the interview became war propaganda for the Japanese, in the form of an article claiming that American journalists had complimented the Japanese military and the camp itself, stating the camp was "probably the most comfortable in the world." It was not until 29 June that repatriation for the Americans finally took place, after Japanese and Thai citizens held in the US and South America boarded ships in late June in preparation for exchange of internees. Those being repatriated were given smallpox vaccination, cholera inoculation, and thorough medical examinations. No books, bibles, diaries, or addresses were allowed to leave with the Americans, but the remaining internees were each allowed to write a 150-word letter for the Americans to take with them. The American internees boarded the ship, the Asama Maru, along with other Americans who had been allowed to stay in Hong Kong outside of the camp. After picking up Americans for repatriation from other locations in Asia, the Asama Maru arrived at Maputo, Mozambique (then called Lourenço Marques) on 22 July, where the Americans and Japanese exchanged internees. The Americans were to finally reach New York City on 25 August. Reportedly a total of 377 Americans were repatriated from Hong Kong.

Repatriation of Canadian internees and remaining American internees was announced in August 1943 (not all American internees had been repatriated in June 1942). Preparations similar to the prior repatriation were made, including messages and reports to be delivered. The ship, the Teia Maru, reached Hong Kong on 23 September, taking on board 73 Canadian internees, 24 American internees, and 13 Latin American internees. The ship sailed to Goa, where an exchange of prisoners and internees with Japan took place.

There were indications and notices to the British internees that their repatriation was possible; Gimson told them a Swiss Red Cross representative had spoken "encouragingly" about repatriation, the Japanese authorities twice informed them (on 24 May 1943 and 2 November 1943) that they would be repatriated, and 25 May 1943 issue of the Hong Kong News reported negotiations for repatriation were "going on rather smoothly". Despite this, the British internees were not repatriated until the end of the war.

## Freedom

The internees were freed on 16 August 1945, the day after Emperor Hirohito broadcast his acceptance of the Potsdam Proclamation in surrender. About two weeks later, the British fleet came for the internees, and several weeks after that, the camp was closed. Many internees went back to the city and began to adjust back to their former lives, and many others, particularly those of poor health, remained on the camp grounds to await for ships to take them away. Historian Geoffrey Charles Emerson wrote the "probable" reason the British internees were not repatriated before the end of the war was related to the Allied forces refusing to release Japanese nationals held in Australia. These nationals were the only sizeable group of Japanese nationals held by the Allies after the repatriation of the American and Canadian internees. They had been pearl fishermen in Australia before the war, and knew the Australian coastline well. Their knowledge would have been "militarily important" to the Japanese if an invasion of Australia was attempted, hence the Allied refusal to release them.

## Compensation

In 1948 the US government, through the War Claims Act, authorised a payment of US\$60 for every month an adult spent in an internment camp, and US\$25 per month for child internees. Some also received US\$1 per day for "missed meals". In the UK, from 1952 to 1956, about 8,800 British internees, specifically those who normally resided in the UK when the war began, received a sum of £48.50 as reparation. Payments for American and British internees were made from the proceeds of Japanese assets seized per the Treaty of San Francisco. Dutch internees each received a sum of US\$100, with the payments funded by a separate agreement signed between the Dutch and the Japanese in 1957.

The rise of Japan as an economic power and the opening of World War II files at the UK's Public Record Office created a sentiment in the 1990s that not enough had been done to redress the suffering of internees and prisoners-of-war. In November 2000, the British government announced a compensation scheme for British civilians who had been interned in World War II. The scheme called for a package of £167 million, and by February 2001, the first raft of payments of £10,000 were being made. Initially, the plan excluded British persons who had no "bloodlink" to Britain, a point of distinction that was made between those who were "British citizens" and those who were "British subjects".

In reaction to this, former Stanley internee Diana Elias launched a civil action case against the British government, alleging the distinction of "bloodlink" made by the compensation scheme was discriminatory, and that the Japanese authorities had made no such distinction in their treatment of the internees. Elias' family, including her parents and her grandparents, were all holders of British passports. The "bloodlink" distinction, however, made her ineligible for compensation because she is of Iraqi Jewish ancestry. In July 2005, the High Court in London ruled in her favour, and was subsequently backed by the Court of Appeals when the Ministry of Defence appealed the High Court's decision. This allowed for hundreds of surviving civilian internees to collect the compensation earlier denied to them by the "bloodlink" distinction.

## Post-war

St. Stephen's College was re-opened in 1945 after the war. St. Stephen's Chapel was built on the grounds of the school in 1950; the memorial window over its west door was a donation, serving to remember the suffering at Stanley Internment Camp.

## Notable internees

- Sir Mark Aitchison Young – Governor of Hong Kong
- Captain Mateen Ansari GC (c. 1915 – 29 October 1943) of the 5th Battalion, 7th Rajput Regiment
- Sir C. Grenville Alabaster – Attorney General of Hong Kong
- Morris Abraham Cohen
- Kenelm Hutchinson Digby
- Geoffrey Herklots
- Elly Kadoorie
- Sir Atholl MacGregor – Chief Justice of Hong Kong
- Lewis Morley
- Hilda Selwyn-Clarke
- Andrew Lusk Shields
- Francis Arthur Sutton
- Sir Franklin Charles Gimson KCMG KStJ – Colonial Secretary of Hong Kong and later Governor of Singapore

## See also

- Pacific War
- History of Hong Kong
- Japanese occupation of Hong Kong
- List of Japanese-run internment camps during World War II
- North Point Camp
- Second Sino-Japanese War
- St. Stephen's College massacre
- Battle of Hong Kong

Civilian internment camp in Hong Kong

Japanese prisoner of war and internment camps