Murder at the Docks
A Life Served in Empire, Ensnared by War and Buried in Silence
by Richard Martin
This engaging new work is primarily a family history, spanning life within the British Empire, two world wars, murder and other upheavals of the twentieth century. It is told through the extraordinary life of Enid Craik and covers almost nine decades, with the Far East war chapters central to the story. Tessa McDonald, Enid's granddaughter, describes the book, which was written by her brother, Richard Martin:
"Following the aborted evacuation of dependants from Hong Kong in June 1940, my family was divided. My father and sister were sent to Shanghai, whilst my grandmother stayed in Hong Kong to work. They remained separated as Hong Kong fell and my grandmother was interned in Stanley at the end of January 1942, with the children interned in Yangchow 'C' camp in mainland China, in March 1943.
"In all, mother and children had been separated for five years by the time they were reunited in October 1945. Their different experiences of occupation, separation, internment and eventual liberation consequently form a pivotal part of this book.
"It is, however, the process my brother, Richard Martin, underwent to discover what happened that will reverberate with COFEPOW members. Richard didn't write the story originally with the idea of publication, but rather just to explore whether there was anything that could be documented that might explain what actually happened to his father and grandmother. Their overwhelming silence on the matter was punctuated only by the occasional anecdote; a conversation that should not have been heard; a few notes, photographs, artefacts and letters, left after their deaths. Even the historical source materials, such as they are, occasionally disagreed and diverged. First-hand accounts differed because they were forged in a time of almighty stress, fear, disease and malnutrition, none of which helped build a consistent story. In one case, even an official archive which existed one day simply ceased to exist the next. But a story emerged nonetheless.
"Murder at the Docks is a deeply personal excavation of memory, resilience and pervasive silence, and ultimately asks the question how later generations might legitimately reconstruct the lives of people whose experiences were poorly recorded, partly remembered and largely left untold."
Tessa McDonald
First published in September 2026, Murder at the Docks is available from all major booksellers, including Amazon UK, Foyles, Waterstones and Browns Books.
Tessa and her family would very much like to hear from anyone who had relatives in Stanley Camp, Hong Kong, or Yangchow C Camp, China. If you would like to get in touch, please contact her at tessa_mcdonald1@outlook.com.