About this collection
HSBC’s network closed down, branch by branch, as the Pacific War enveloped Asia in the early 1940s. Eventually only three offices remained active in India and China. Many of our employees and their family members were imprisoned across the region, and thirteen staff members did not survive their incarceration. In this snapshot, we hear from those who did. From giving birth to bartering gold for eggs, these evocative oral history clips tell a tale of remarkable resilience and ingenuity during the darkest of times.
