Daughter of Portuguese natives of Macau, Glória Barreto was born in July 10th in Kowloon and brought up in Fanling, New Territories. She attended Saint Mary’s Canossian School before becoming a secretary at the Navy, Army, and Air Force Institute (NAAFI).

Initially serving in the Military Central, Glória was moved with the NAAFI to Deep Water Bay Road, and then to the nearby Repulse Bay Hotel. She was present and experienced the entire siege of the Commonwealth Forces by the Japanese troops, witnessing the behaviour of the rich and famous, the shelling, and the fighting both inside and outside the hotel.

Recognised as Portuguese, she was spared and not interned by the Japanese, delivering food parcels and sometimes smuggling  messages into the POW camps during the Occupation.

António Fragoeiro and Dr Kwong Chi Man