World: Operations Proceeding

Last week was Hong Kong's second week of siege. The Fragrant Port was hard-pressed on every side. The defending line, held by British, Canadian, Chinese, Scottish and Indian soldiers, threaded shakily across the island, from Mt. Davis in the west, through world-famed Happy Valley Race Course, to Mt. Sai Wan in the east, just off Tathong Channel.

Japan diluted its victory claims with a confession: The defenders were fighting "in a manner even to win the respect of the tough Japanese." But London weighed the odds, wrote off Hong Kong as an "inevitable loss."

The Japanese had captured Kowloon, Hong Kong's mainland center,...