Where: We're looking across the Causeway Bay typhoon shelter towards North Point, with the Kowloon hills in the background.

Who: It's hard to imagine, but the small boats in the foreground were homes. Signs of this floating vilage's life include mother & child top-right, a passing sampan as local transport in the foreground, and families' washing all around:

When: The exact location of the boat people's village had changed several times over the years, and if we follow the changes we'll get an idea of when this photo was taken.

Here's a modern map of the area [1]:

Note the straight Causeway Road across the middle of the green areas, and the curved Tung Lo Wan Road below them.

Here's a map of the same area from 1845 [2]:

Originally the "Tung Lo Wan", literally "Bronze Gong Bay", was a shallow, muddy bay. The furthest south the boats could reach was the shoreline, marked by the line of today's Tung Lo Wan Road.

But by 1845, the map shows a causeway had been built across the mud, carrying a road that ran out to Saiwan then down to the British Army's barracks at Stanley. The causeway gave its name to the road and later became the English name for the bay. (But if you listen to the MTR station announcements, you'll hear that Causeway Bay Station is still announced as "Tung Lo Wan" in Chinese).

The causeway blocked access from the sea to the original shore, but it wasn't all bad news. The causeway also made a convenient place to get from the land to boats and back, as shown in this photo from the 1950s:

1950s Causeway Bay, by moddsey

After the causeway was built, the next change was in 1884 when a breakwater was completed across the mouth of the bay. The report at the time [3] explained it was "intended to form a harbour of refuge for the boat population during typhoons", and so the typhoon shelter was born.

Here's a view of the shelter in the 1940s, with the breakwater visible on the right:

1940s Causeway Bay view, by eternal1966c1

It also shows that the muddy bay south of the causeway had been reclaimed to form sports grounds, but the shape and extent of the shelter was still the same as it was in the 1880s.

In the 1950s, the boat people moved again when a new typhoon shelter was built, further out in the harbour. After the new shelter's breakwaters were built, the old shelter was filled in to form Victoria Park [4], and the old breakwater became the new north shore. Here's a photo taken soon after the reclamation was finished, showing the changes (compare this with the previous photo and you'll see a side effect of this work was to join Kellett Island to land for the first time): 

1956 Victoria Park.JPG, by TaiHangWong

Now back to our original photo. It was printed as a photo, but turned into a postcard by using a rubber stamp on the back:

This rough-and-ready approach suggests it was sold sometime not long after the second world war. The scene is of the pre-Victoria Park reclamation, but there are hints that the 1950s reclamation work might already be underway. eg I can see a dredger in the photo:

And over on the right there's what look likes like one of the temporary buildings often seen at construction sites:

So I'll guess this photo was taken in the early 1950s. If you can pin it down more accurately please let us know!

What: Across the harbour we can see the rocky hill behind the dockyard at Hung Hom [5], and the Hok Un power station [6] on the right:

Back on this side of the harbour there are some interesting buildings along the water's edge. Does anyone know what they were used for?

And finally, the chimneys of the North Point Power Station [7] are visible in the distance.

Gwulo photo ID: A431

References:

1. Map of Causeway Bay today.
2. Map of Causeway Bay in 1845.
3. The first Causeway Bay breakwater.
4. Victoria Park.
5. Hong Kong, Kowloon & Whampoa Dockyards, Hung Hom.
6. Hok Un Power Station.
7. North Point Power Station.

The Battle of Hong Kong began on 8th December, 1941. My father was one of the brave soldiers that fought the Japanese invaders. In his honour and that of the others who fought, died and survived the most terrible hardships, I am reposting this article:

Dad, the invasion of Hong Kong and prison camp

The Japanese invasion of Hong Kong started on the 8th December 1941 and lasted for 17 bloody days until the British forces, surrendered on the 25th, in the person of His Excellency the Governor, Sir Mark Aitchison Young.

Dad, as did all men over the age of 18 in Hong Kong, joined the Hong Kong Regiment and had to report to camp once a month and once a year for a two-week camp. These camps were not particularly onerous as they were piled into a truck and driven out to some location in the New Territories where a contingent of coolies would carry their kit bags up to the camp site. Their equipment also consisted of a wind-up gramophone and a box of 78s, several crates of beer and other necessities of life.

They would set up their billets and report for machine gun practice with the water-cooled Vickers Machine gun, about which, more later. Practice consisted of spotting the enemy, which was usually a collection of bone pots and blasting them to pieces. Eventually the indigenous villagers complained of this to the government and they had to find other enemies to practice on.

As the war came closer the volunteers were given training in anti aircraft guns and as it was believed that the attack when it came, would be a night time attack, they were called out at all hours of the day and night to man the guns.

1938 Anti-aircraft Gun practice at Sai Wan Hill Battery, by Moddsey

As a child, growing up in Hong Kong I remember hearing the air raid sirens which were still in place at late as the early sixties. The government continued to test them on a regular basis and I still remember the feeling of unease whenever I heard one go off.

Finally it was December 1941 and despite the impending war it was still the Christmas season. On the evening of the 7th Dad was attending a black tie function complete with dinner jacket and cummerbund. It was early the following morning that the sirens started wailing. Several inebriated gentlemen shrugged off the alarm as yet another drill and it was not until the bombs actually started falling that my father and his team manned their anti aircraft gun, still wearing their dinner jackets. The war had finally caught up with Hong Kong.

There are numerous websites dedicated to the fight for Hong Kong so I will not go into that here. Dad was trained as a signalman and as the defending forces fell back he eventually found himself in Stanley along with the remains of the British forces. On one occasion he was ordered to deliver a message on his motorcycle. He set off, delivered the dispatch and was returning when a Japanese mortar shell knocked him off his bike. Stunned and grazed but relatively unhurt he returned to the lines where, due to water rationing, his wounds were disinfected with cherry brandy. He told me later that he would much rather have drunk it.

The fighting was fierce and the invading Japanese soldiers hurled themselves at the defenses. Thousands of them were killed and Dad told me that at one location their bodies lay three deep outside the perimeter wire. The Vickers machine guns that they had trained with in the hills of the New Territories were nurtured carefully by the volunteers. The belt ammunition passed up promptly and the cooling cylinders refilled routinely as the water boiled away. Eventually the fighting was so fierce that there was no time to refill the cylinders and the volunteers fired on, expecting the barrels to melt down or the mechanism to jam. However, the weapons never let them down.

Hong Kong surrendered to the invading forces on Christmas day, the 25th December 1941 but not before, on the same day, Japanese soldiers forced their way into the British field hospital at St. Stephen's College where they tortured and killed over 60 injured soldiers and raped the medical staff.

After the surrender the Volunteers were imprisoned in various locations. Dad was sent to the Sham Shui Po POW camp.

Prison Camp art-Shamshuipo, by IDJ

(In 1969 when I started my apprenticeship at China Light & Power I was sent to the training school which at that time was in the Sham Shui Po depot. Each morning I had to walk past the British Forces REME camp. It was the same spot where the POW camp had been situated.)

Dad and his companions settled down to life in prison camp having no idea how long they would be there. People reacted differently to their incarceration and many years later Dad told me that there were many that just lay down and died. Others, like Dad made the best of a bad deal and he soon had a little business going darning socks with knitting needles that he had made from barb wire. It was not long before the prisoners started resembling the living skeletons so vividly depicted in photographs taken by the relieving forces and their daily diet was supplemented by grasshoppers, which Dad collected out of the surrounding bushes. They were boiled and added to the meagre portion of rice that they lived on.

The cruelty of the Japanese guards has also been well documented and I do not intend to dwell on it here. When the prisoners assembled every morning they were forced to kowtow three times to the emperor. On one occasion Dad refused and was beaten about the back and shoulders with the flat of a samurai sword. And then on another occasion when Dad was scrounging grasshoppers near the fence he was approached by a Japanese officer. Dad bowed deferentially and backed away but the officer motioned him closer. Dad of course obeyed.

“What do you want? Is there something you need?” asked the officer. Fearing a trap Dad stood there unable to speak.

“Quickly,” said the officer.

“Bread,” said Dad. No really knowing what else to say.

The officer moved away and Dad shuffled back to the barracks, grasshoppers forgotten.

It was three days later that Dad was out foraging again. He was unaware of how long the officer had been standing there watching him but heard a gentle cough. There was the officer on the outside of the fence. It was winter at the time and the officer was wearing a long coat. He looked about to make sure that no one was watching and then tossed three small loaves of bread over the fence before quickly moving away.
Dad never saw him again.

This was the story from my mother's perspective:

Discussions with Mum 

When I was a child, like all children I went through an inquisitive phase and no drawer or cabinet was safe from my prying eyes and hands. I recall looking up in awe at my father’s Masonic regalia as it hung in his closet, ready for his next meeting, wondering what possible occasion might require the wearing of such things.

Three generations of Sloan men in Masonic wear, by Stewart Sloan

It was during this period that I happened to go through my mother’s drawer in the camphorwood chest that we still have in the family. Among the bits and pieces there were two items of interest, seven manicure sets and a five hundred dollar note the size of a face cloth. It wasn’t until many years later I asked my mother about these items.

It was after my father had passed away from a year-long struggle with stomach cancer and Mum was staying with us for a few days. She became very withdrawn and my wife and I did everything we could to keep her busy. Mum was very fond of our son, James and he did his bit to keep her running about after him. It was during this period that, completely out of the blue we started talking about her early days in Hong Kong.

1992/3: me and mum on the visit mentioned above, by Stewart Sloan

Mum, Jean Miller Whyte, had come to Hong Kong in the early 30s with her parents who were brought out to the colony by the Royal Naval Dockyard. Like my father, Mum went to the Central British School in Tsim Sha Tsui which was the forerunner of King George V. The building may still be seen on Nathan Road as it is one of the few ‘listed’ buildings in Hong Kong and is, I believe the Antiquities Office.

My father, Charles McConnell Sloan was born in Hong Kong in 1914, the son of John Sloan, an employee of the Taikoo Sugar Refinery. After completing his education he joined what was then the Hong Kong Motorbus Company as an apprentice, where he assured me, he spend his first year learning how to make tea and sweeping the workshop floor. When they thought they could actually trust him with anything more complicated that a broom they put him on the night shift with an older apprentice. His work on these shifts, when he wasn’t making tea or sweeping the floor, was to help prepare the buses for the next day and go out with retrieval team and bring back any buses that had broken down.

Charles "Chucky" Sloan on left

When my father and the retrieval team arrived they found the body of the person that had been hit, still underneath the bus. Apparently he wasn’t a local resident so no one had bothered to come and rescue him. They pulled the body out from under the bus and deposited it inside, managed to start the engine and drove off. They didn’t get far. One of the locals had heard their arrival and came out to investigate. With no street lighting and the headlights of the bus being smashed, they didn’t see this black clad gentleman and knocked him over. They leapt out of the bus to find him alive, but unconscious on the ground. Quickly, before anyone else came to investigate, they placed him in the bus alongside the corpse and drove off as quickly as they could.

My father went on to become one of the first Rolls Royce qualified engineers in the Far East and finally retired from, what was then Gilman Motors, in 1972.

Mum and Dad were married in 1939, not really an auspicious year. Following the wedding and a night of nuptial bliss in the Hong Kong Hotel (which incidentally was at the foot of Pedder Street in Central in those days), boarded a Blue Funnel Steamer headed for England and their honeymoon.

After six weeks of travel via Singapore, Malacca, Penang, Port Said, the Mediterranean and Gibraltar they finally docked in England completely oblivious of the fact that World War II had broken out. My father was given the opportunity of staying in the UK and joining the British Army or returning to Hong Kong and the Hong Kong Volunteers, which he was already a member of. As their lives and family were in Hong Kong they decided to return.

They enjoyed almost two years of peace before the war caught up with Hong Kong in December, 1941. By then Mum had been evacuated to the Philippines and from there to Australia. During that time my brother Jim was born and he was almost five before he met his father for the first time.

I don’t want to go into the hardships they both endured during those years; that is for another day, but whilst Mum was in Australia, Hong Kong fell to the invading forces and my father was eventually sent to Japan as slave labour. At the end of the war he and his fellow prisoners were flown to the Philippines in stripped out bombers and from there to Canada where he travelled across that country by train to the east coast. From there he was transported England to be reunited with his family.

Chucky & Jean Sloan, by Stewart Sloan

It was while Mum was telling me this that I remembered the manicure sets and the enormous five hundred dollar note in her drawer. Dad, she told me, was never the most romantic of husbands and could never think of what to buy her for her birthday, so every year he bought her a new manicure set. The five hundred dollar note, she told me, was her ‘escape money’. She had never forgotten having to leave Hong Kong with only what she could carry.

Thanks to Stewart for sharing his family's history with us. The Gwulo website has several other accounts of life in Hong Kong, both in war and in peace. If you can add any accounts from family or friends, they will be very gladly received. Please contact David with details:

The cooler weather is the perfect time to get out for a wander - follow Phil and me as we take a stroll around Shau Kei Wan. We visited wartime relics (Japanese & British), a 1960s film set, one of the oldest British relics in Hong Kong (over 170 years old!) and more. It was a very enjoyable outing, but one that had a sombre start...

A wartime atrocity

We met at Shau Kei Wan MTR station, and set off up the Chai Wan Road. If you've passed by here, you've probably noticed the older, yellow-coloured building up on the right:

And may even have spotted the building's name:

The Salesian Missionary House [1] is home to the Salesians, a Roman Catholic organisation that focuses on providing services to the young.

Seventy five years ago, it was the site of one of the atrocities carried out by Japanese soldiers during the fighting in December 1941. The Missionary House had been taken over by the British authorities for use as a medical station. It was close to where the Japanese soldiers first landed on Hong Kong island during the fighting, and when they reached the building they murdered most of the unarmed medical staff they captured there [2].

A lucky meeting

After passing the Missionary House, we carried on up Chai Wan Road to the traffic lights where there's road off to the left, signposted to the Lei Yue Mun Park & Holiday Village. We took the left turn, and walked the short distance to this pumping station:

We were going to the Sai Wan Hill Battery [3] (also described as "Sai Wan Fort" on local signs), and we had two choices of route. One is to follow the road on the left of the photo, which does a long loop but is a gentle climb. The other is to cross the road and walk up those steps, then follow a path up the hillside. It's not an official path, but it is clear and easy to follow, and cuts off a long loop of road.

We took the steps, and it turned out to be the best decision of the day!

Some way up I spotted a clearing on the left, and asked Phil if he'd mind a quick detour to look for any Japanese tunnels. We didn't find any tunnels, but we did find a gentleman reading his newspaper. In our best Cantonese we asked if he knew of any tunnels in the area? Granted, that's probably not what he expected to be asked about so it took several to and froes before we could get our message over, but then the light bulb went on and up he jumped: "Yes I do, and I'll take you there!"

Let me introduce Mr Chan:

70 years old, a great sense of humour, and full of energy, Mr Chan was our guide for the next two hours.

We carried on up the steps til we re-joined the road, then followed it til we reached the old entrance to the battery. Mr Chan remembers when the British Army was still here, and there would be a sentry on duty in the small guard box on the left:

Phil & Mr Chan are looking at a building on the right, still showing its camouflage paint. There are several like this along the road:

A Japanese tunnel

A little further up the hill is the first of the Japanese tunnels. The entrance is has been blocked with bars:

But if you peer through the bars you can see the tunnel leading back in to the hillside:

When the Japanese first invaded Hong Kong, they seemed invincible. Hong Kong was just one of a string of victories against the Allies.

But less than a year later, after the battles of Coral Sea and Midway [4], they were on the defensive. As American troops started re-capturing islands in the Pacific, the Japanese in Hong Kong started preparations for defence against the attack they expected would eventually come. Many of the tunnels they dug at that time are still visible today [5].

Sai Wan Hill Battery

At the top of the road we reached a flat, open area below the battery.

The buildings here are made from stone and brick, and are much older than the concrete buildings we passed on the slope.

These are also closed off with bars, but looking inside we can see the arched ceilings, and passageways leading off under the battery. I expect they lead to the magazines built to hold ammunition for the guns on the battery above.

Hollywood comes to Sai Wan

To the right of the buildings, a road curves up and around to the battery's gun emplacements. When you get up there, you'll see this staircase on the right that leads to the very top of the hill:

Mr Chan was taking us over to the gun emplacements, but Phil couldn't wait and dashed up the steps for a look. Why the interest?

Phil writes a blog identifying the locations used in films shot in Hong Kong. One of the films he's written about recently is "Les Tribulations d'un Chinois en Chine", from 1965. Part of the film was shot here, so there are some great views of how the site looked before all the trees grew up around it. Here's a still from that film, looking back down from the top of the stairs:

Visit Phil's blog [6] for more views of this area from 1965, plus then & now comparisons.

The gun emplacements

Rob Weir's history of this battery [7] tells us it was first completed in 1903, and housed two six-inch guns. They'd have been installed in emplacements above the magazines we saw a moment ago.

By the 1920s it had changed to house two of the new anti-aircraft guns, and from then on it was always used as an anti-aircraft battery. Here's a photo showing how it looked in the 1930s:

1938 Sai Wan Hill Battery, by Moddsey

It was in action from the 8th til the 18th of December 1941, when it was overrun by the advancing Japanese troops.

After the war the site was rebuilt to house four, newer anti-aircraft guns, and that's the layout we see today.

The sites of the northern two guns are visible in the 1965 photo above. When you're there you can spot them by the big mounting bolts in the concrete floor:

Also the storage lockers around the edges:

One thing I haven't seen before is these iron fittings on top of the wall around the emplacement:

The further one still has a bolt fitted, so from their angle I wondered if they were anchor points for some type of tent or camouflage that covered the guns when they weren't in use. More knowledgeable answers welcome!

From here we headed up to the top of the hill.

Sai Wan Redoubt

The site has been re-developed several times, so there's a mish-mash of things to see. The first part we saw is the newest development, a fenced-off area marked as "Transposer Station (Sai Wan Shan)" on the government maps:

But just next door is the oldest part of the site, this innocent-looking stone pillar:

It dates back to late 1843 or early 1844, and was used both to mark the corner of a plot of military land, and as a trig point for Hong Kong's early map makers [8]. Though it has stood here for over 170 years, its continued existence was only re-discovered last October, proving there are still interesting discoveries to be made by wandering the hills!

If you look at the modern map again, about half way along the western wall a small square structure is shown:

From the top of the redoubt a staircase leads down to a lower level, and the entrance to that room:

It was known as a caponier, built to allow soldiers to fire at anyone trying to attack the walls of the redoubt. The loopholes they'd fire through are visible in the walls:

Back up the staircase and we walked over to the northern half of the redoubt. Old maps show it as an open area, but at some point it has been converted into a reservoir. The pipes are still visible, but the area is dry now:

The last thing we noticed on the redoubt is this pillar with metal strips on top. 

Can anyone identify what it was used for?

Along the walls

From here we walked back down the concrete staircase, and along the redoubt's west wall. Steps lead up to what would have been the arched entrance to the redoubt, now sealed over by the walls of that water tank.

We're walking along the west wall of the redoubt, so further along is the outside view of the caponier.

Note that only two loopholes are visible in the wall facing us, but look at the inside view again and there are three openings:

I didn't pay close enough attention to that, so its something to look into on a return visit.

The front wall has these larger openings with stepped sides. They look like later additions, possibly dating to the Japanese occupation:

At the southwest corner of the redoubt, we took the path down the slope. First we came to the modern descendant of the granite trig point we'd seen earlier:

Japanese tunnel #2

Then lower down we saw the second Japanese Tunnel of the day. A lot of earth has slipped down into the entrance:

But poking a camera in to the gap shows a tunnel has definitely been cut into the rock here:

It looks wider than the usual tunnels for people to walk through, and a possible reason for that is further down the slope:

It's a concrete structure, that would have protected people behind it. The opening is unusually large, so perhaps a gun was based in the tunnel behind, and pulled forward to fire through this opening?

That's just a guess though. I didn't spend enough time to check if the level of the opening matches the level of the tunnel behind. Also the location is odd - if you were positioning a gun to overlook the harbour, it would have made sense to put it on the east side of the hill.

A puzzle!

This has turned out to be a longer write-up than I expected, so I'll pause here then follow up with part 2 as a separate post.

If you see anything interesting when you're out and about, we'd love to see it! Please leave a message below or, even better, upload a photo to show us what you found.

Regards, David

References:

1. Salesian Missionary House
2. The events of December 1941 at the Salesian Missionary House are described in an online extract from the book "Long Night's Journey Into Day ...".
3. Sai Wan Hill Battery
4. Battles of Coral Sea and Midway
5. Japanese wartime tunnels in Hong Kong
6. Phil's blog is Hong Kong (& Macau) Film Stuff, and here's a link to its pages about Sai Wan Fort.
7. History of Sai Wan Hill Battery, Chai Wan.
8. Marker stone at Sai Wan Redoubt.

We'll finish off the walk around Shau Kei Wan, then I'll suggest some more walks you might like to try over the holidays. But more important things first - let me wish you a very Merry Christmas:

A wintertime wander through Shau Kei Wan: Part 2

When we finished part 1 of this walk, we'd just walked down from the Sai Wan Redoubt. Mr Chan asked if we were going to look at the old barracks area [1], but we said we didn't have tickets [2]. He replied that "We morning walkers often walk through there. As long as we don't steal or break anything, they don't mind. Follow me." So we did!

Lyemun Barracks

We soon reached the "Wordsworth" block [3]:

It's one of several blocks in the area named after English poets - Tennyson [4] appeared soon after:

The newest (and poet-free) block is Block 3 [5], at the bottom of the hill near the riding centre. (There used to be a Block 2 in the same style as Block 3, but it was demolished to make way for that riding centre.)

The year '1939' shows Block 3 was built just before the Second World War. Its appearance reminded Phil of the old Wanchai Market [6], which was also built around that time.

From here we walked back up the hill to Block 10 [7]:

In the middle of the wall facing us you can see a letter "D", and beneath it is written the year "1935". This is a much older style of building though, and was definitely built before 1935 as it appears in this view of the area from 1902:

It's the long building on the skyline. The modern building is even longer, so perhaps 1935 refers to the year an extension was completed?

Look closely at the 1902 photo, and left from Block 10, on a small rise at the end of the ridge, is Block 7. You can imagine it would have had great views out over the harbour. Today Block 7 has been converted into a cafe, and its viewing platform still gives you a great view of the area:

The view explains the British military interest in this area. The Lei Yue Mun channel is the narrow eastern entrance to Hong Kong's harbour. In the 19th- and early 20th-Centuries, when Britain was worried about attacks on the harbour by foreign navies, this was an important area to defend. We've already seen one of their gun batteries up on Sai Wan Hill, but they also built more batteries downhill, nearer the water.

Several of the batteries lie in the grounds of the Museum of Coastal Defence [8], and are open to the public. The white, tent-like roof on the right is the Museum's main exhibition building.

By now our tummies were starting to rumble, so we asked Mr Chan for his lunchtime recommendations, and walked back down in to Shau Kei Wan town.

Shing Wong temple

We made a small detour on the way to lunch, to stop and take a look at the Shing Wong temple. It's easy to find as it is right by the loop of track that marks the end of the tram line.

"Shing Wong" is translated as the "City God", the god who looks after a certain locality and its residents.

After thanking Mr Chan for all his help, and saying our goodbyes, we had a quick lunch then set about exploring the local streets.

Curvy buildings

Is there an official name for this type of building? Here's one we saw on the corner of Po Man and Mong Lung Streets [9]:

It is six storeys high, built c.1960, and originally had open balconies running around the building. Over the years the balconies tend to be enclosed, and you end up with a mix of styles as each owner takes a different approach. But a similar building in TST [10] was recently redeveloped and returned to its original appearance:

I think it looks rather smart!

Every movie, ever

If you follow Hong Kong's history through old movies, you might want to pay this shop a visit:

Shelf after shelf of VCDs and DVDs, stacked up to the ceilings. The address says it is 20A Ngoi Man Street, but the entrance is in an alley that runs along the back of that building.

Caves in the cliff

Walk along to Sun Shing Street, and you'll find these curious caves in the cliff face, reached by ladders. There are three in a row, each with a ladder that is longer than the last.

They look like the type of cave a wise old sage would live in, but in fact they're another wartime relic. These were part of a network of tunnels, network number 29 [11], built as air raid shelters c.1940.

Now if you need to get into an air raid shelter, you're probably in a hurry. Then a ladder seems an odd design choice!

A map of the tunnels explains:

The red lines mark the original extent of the network. Back in 1940, the tunnel entrances were further north, opening out onto the hillside there. Since then the slope has been dug away to make room for Sun Sing Street, so now the remains of the tunnels are left high up the cliff face.

Ready for lift off

We followed the road around then walked west along Sai Wan Ho Street til we saw this building:

It's the Lee Ga building [12], built in 1981. No curves on this one, it's all straight lines and angles.

Lots of buildings from around this time have a similar, slanted top. It is explained by an old rule that a building's profile had to fit under a line drawn up from the centre of the road, at 76-degrees to the horizontal [13]. The idea was to make sure enough light and ventilation reached the streets, with the natural side-effect to limit the height of buildings. Initially, building heights stopped where they reached that 76-degree line. Then later, developers realised they could squeeze in extra floors by stepping the highest floors inwards to follow the line. That rule no longer applies, so newer buildings are higher still.

More curves

Towards the western end of Sai Wan Ho Street, the curvy buildings are back in force.

One day these will become as rare as the old shophouses are. But today there are still plenty to be seen:

One other unique feature of this area is the street name signs. They are cast from concrete, and much larger than a typical sign:

Other walks for the Christmas holidays

That marked the end of our outing - is it one you'd like to try over the holidays? Other straightforward walks on paved paths are the walk around Happy Valley, or the one around Mount Davis. If you fancy heading a bit further afield, how about an outing to Cheung Chau?

For a more challenging outing, the scramble up High West should get you sweating, and reward you with great views. Another long walk with great views (unless you pick a foggy day like we did!) is the visit to explore the Japanese wartime radar site at Tai Mo Shan.

Two more sites with a wartime theme are the Shing Mun redoubt, and the Japanese pillboxes at Luk Keng. You'll see from the photos that these are very interesting to visit, but the Luk Keng site can be difficult to get to.

If you're planning to do another walk, take a quick look at Gwulo's map of Places to see what interesting things are near your route. And please let us know what new things you discover!

Happy exploring,

David

References:

1. Lyemun Barracks
2. Details of the official way to visit the Lei Yue Mun Park, built on the site of the old Lyemun Barracks.
3. "Wordsworth" Barracks Block 34
4. Tennyson Barracks Block 30
5. Barracks Block 3
6. Wanchai Market (2nd generation) [1937-2009]
7. Barracks Block 10
8. Museum of Coastal Defence
9. 21, Mong Lung Street
10. The Camphora
11. ARP Tunnel Network 29
12. Lee Ga Building
13. Building Codes and Postwar Reconstruction in Hong Kong

For the first newsletter of 2017, here are some new scanned paper maps to enjoy. Click any of these links to see the paper map overlaid on the map below (or start with the tutorial if you're new to Gwulo's maps):

• 1905 Map of Hong Kong's north shore / plus markers
• 1912 Map of the Peak / plus markers
• 1924 Map of the Peak / plus markers
• 1957 Map of Hong Kong's north shore / plus markers

I like the two maps of the north shore best, and a few things caught my eye - on the 1905 map I see all the old Police Stations are shown. How many can you find? Here are a couple to get you started: No. 1 Police Station, No. 2 Police Station. Then out at the western end of the map we can see the Tung Wah Plague Hospital, which came up in conversation some time ago. By adjusting the transparency of the overlay we can see it was on the site of today's Ka Wai Man Road Garden.

Looking at the same area on the 1957 map, the Plague Hospital is gone, but the Tung Wah Group were still in the area. The building on the SW corner of the Cadogan St. / Victoria Road junction has a shaded square and a Chinese name 一別亭 (Yat Pit Ting). The building was used for funeral ceremonies before heading to the nearby cemeteries, and was run by the Tung Wah Group.

On a happier note, a little further west were a couple of swimming areas, as shown by the graceful divers!

Please leave a comment below if you spot anything interesting on the maps.

Thanks to Andrew, Annelise, Klaus, and Peter for providing the digital copies of these maps. I've used them to create the overlays shown above.

As we start the New Year, let's look back at how we did in 2016, then talk about plans for Gwulo in 2017.

You'll see that the site has continued to grow over the last twelve months. We finished 2016 with over 3,000 subscribers, 27,000 pages, and 1,290,000 page views! Thank you to everyone who contributed to make that happen.

Best regards, David

2016 Review - progress against plans

Last years plans were split into three groups:

1. Ask for help with running costs

I made my appeal for help last April, using the Patreon service to collect a small monthly contribution from patrons - people who enjoyed Gwulo's newsletters and website, and wanted to support the costs of running them.

Combining the patrons who've signed up via Patreon, and those who contacted me directly, we ended 2016 with 54 patrons, paying a total of USD315 / HKD2,440 a month.

I was surprised in two ways: The number of patrons works out to appx 1.5% of subscribers, which is lower than I'd hoped. But the average contribution is almost USD6 per month, which is much higher than I'd expected. Thank you to Gwulo's patrons for your generous support!

2. Talks and a book

I gave six talks last year. I've also finished a first draft of a book, based on my first talk, and sent it to a publisher in December. They say they are interested, so fingers crossed that will go ahead.

3. Keep the site running smoothly: upgrades and new features

Upgrades first:

• Maps. Maps on Gwulo are now much faster to use, and have scanned paper maps available on both individual Places and the map of all Places. I started the year planning to upgrade the Openlayers mapping library we used to the newer version, but that didn't work well so we ended up switching to the Leaflet library instead.
• Image support. That was an upgrade to a newer version, which was completed without any problem.
• Switch subscription service. We changed from the free Feedburner to the paid MailChimp service. Feedback from subscribers about the new service has been good, and it gives me useful new features. I've also noticed we're adding new subscribers faster since we switched, probably because the new sign-up is easier.
• Upgrade web hosting. We used up all the storage on the old plan, so had to upgrade. Not much work involved, I just had to start paying the hosting company more each month!

New features

• Add support for Youtube videos & PDFs. I've decided against this for now. They aren't used often enough to make it worth adding the support.
• Allow users to add lines, shapes and markers to maps. The original idea was to allow us to make custom maps that could be included in posts and comments. There are several existing 3rd-party websites that can do this, so I won't add this feature. I still plan to add a variation on this idea though, as explained in the "2017 Plans" below.
• Use Relationships to link People and Places to photos. This was added at the end of the year, with a minor tweak that "Relationships" are now called "Connections" instead. I'm already finding it useful, and hope it will be widely used.

2016 Review - the year in numbers

The site continues to grow, and it's good to see the growth is widely spread across all the different types of information:

The number of readers is growing too:

A few explanations:

1. Since switching from Feedburner to MailChimp, we have no way to monitor the number of RSS subscriptions.
2. The "70 years ago" diaries finished at the end of 2015, so I don't count their subscribers this year.
3. The Total is less than the sum of the rows because many subscribers are subscribed to more than one year's Wartime Diaries, but I only count them once in the Total.

Finally, the numbers of visitors to the website continues to grow too:

2017 Plans

This year's plans will look familiar:

1. Ask for help with running costs

The current monthly income is less than the Hong Kong minimum wage, so I must improve it or I'll have to sue myself!

Ideas:

• Add more patrons: If you'd like to contribute, please sign up on Gwulo's Patreon page.
• Accept corporate sponsors: Please contact me if your company would be interested in sponsoring Gwulo.
• Apply for grants: So far the grants I've seen are for new projects, rather than maintaining an existing project like Gwulo. Suggestions welcome if you know of any grants that might be appropriate for Gwulo.
• Divert time to paid services, a combination of: selling prints, providing research services, speaking at events, and leading guided walks. If you hear anyone is looking for these, please send them my way.

2. Talks and a book

I've been asked to give a new talk in May, which will be talk #4. Details to follow.

There's still a lot of work to get from having a draft to having a printed book, so I'll keep working on that with the goal to publish it this year.

3. Keep the site running smoothly

I don't plan on making any major changes to the site's infrastructure this year, but instead focus on improving what we have. These are points I'd especially welcome your input on:

• Housekeeping. The site has been running for over ten years, so just like living in a house for ten years, mess accumulates. Tags need attention first - there are many duplicates and unused tags that need to be cleaned up. Are there any other parts of the site that need the attention of Gwulo's feather duster?
• Performance. As the site grows, it naturally gets slower and needs work to speed it up again. At the moment I'm happy with the performance, but if there are any parts of the site that are frustratingly slow to use, please let me know.
• Usability. What changes will make the site easier to use? A few suggestions and ideas include:
   - easier entry, and better display of tags.
   - make "Add a connection" wider, so we can distinguish between similar items when their name is long.
   - add user profiles, where we can say a little about our interests.
   - show scanned maps without any background.
   - allow login with a Facebook account if the user is already registered with Facebook, so they don't have to create another account for Gwulo.
  Any other ideas?
• Tutorials. Improve the FAQs to introduce more of Gwulo's features, and help new users find their way around. Is there anything you'd like to know how to do?
• Fix bugs. As an example, I usually visit Gwulo on my desktop PC, so I don't see any problems that iPad users experience. I've just realised that the sliders on the catalogue page (eg to select a date range) don't work - and have likely never worked - on an iPad.
  Are there any other bugs you've noticed?

4. Add new features

Add area-outlines to Places. We currently show a Place's location with a marker on a map. I'd like to also show the area that it covers. eg imagine adding the many reclamations that have happened over the years. We can make a Place for each one, but it will be a lot easier to understand their effect if we can also show an outline of the area each reclamation covers.

Add a new "Street" page type. This will be the seventh type of page, in addition to the Place, Person, etc., that we currently have. I'm cautious about adding a new type of page, as it makes the site more complicated to use and run. But I think a Street page type will be a good addition, that fits in well with the rest of the site. Some of the ways I imagine it working include:

• We can connect Places to the Street they are on, and then for a Street we can show a list of all the buildings (Places) along it.
• Following on from that we can automatically generate a list of all the photos that show a Street - similar to how the "Photos along the tram line" pages work.
• Gather information about the re-numbering of a street over the years, following Herostratus's lead.
• Record the origin of the Street's name, its date of creation, and its development over the years.
• Record the Street's route, and show that route on modern maps and scanned copies of old paper maps.

Are there other new features you think would improve the site, and I should be aware of?

Please leave a comment below if you have any feedback or questions about these plans.

And if you've only been a reader of Gwulo so far, I hope that 2017 is the year you'll jump in and add your comments / photos / questions / research / etc., to help us continue to grow this record of Hong Kong's history we're building.

Best regards, David

Where: This is the view across Salisbury Road in Tsim Sha Tsui, looking at the YMCA [1] and the Peninsula Hotel [2]. They've been neighbours for ninety years.

When: The photo comes from a small set that was sold to tourists. Looking at some of the other photos in the set, they were taken in the early- to mid-1950s.

What: The YMCA is the older of the two buildings:

It opened in November 1925, with the Peninsula Hotel opening three years later in November 1928. The Hotel would have opened earlier, but it was delayed when the British Military Authorities used the new building as accommodation for soldiers in 1927.

Here's a photo of the YMCA and Peninsula in 1930:

The YMCA was extended in 1932, adding a west wing that included a swimming pool. The new wing is clear to see on this photo from the mid-1930s:

At the opening ceremony for that new wing, Mr Shenton, President of the YMCA, mentioned the need for a second, east wing:

Having completed our scheme in connexion with the west wing, and having already found a real demand for all the facilities at our disposal, our thoughts naturally turn to an east wing. Our policy must always be one of conservative progress, for nothing is static—if we don’t go on we shall go back, and surely an Association such as ours should have a couple of wings.

Progress was indeed conservative. In the 1950s when the main photo was taken, the YMCA was still the same L-shaped, single-winged building it was in 1932.

Who: I noticed the people we can't see - there aren't any drivers in these cars:

In the 1950s the roads were still quiet enough to allow roadside parking along Salisbury Road. Not any more!

Gwulo photo ID: A293F - prints are available to order in the shop.

References:

1. YMCA, TST (First generation)
2. The Peninsula Hotel

This week's newsletter is an extract from Captain Thomas Pritchard's memoirs. He wrote them, and drew the sketches, while interned by the Japanese in Stanley Camp. Sadly he died in the Camp in 1944, but a friend kept the document safe, and delivered it to Captain Pritchard's family in North Wales after the war. If you're interested in ships and the sea, I recommend you read the full memoir, which starts with him working on sailing ships in the 1890s.

In June 1924 I joined the Hong Kong Canton & Macao Steamboat Company River Steamer but considered to be the best (one of the best) Company on the coast - home leave every five years, the wages similar to B.&.Swires ((Butterfield & Swires)), safe navigation money, etc to the Captains. There were five steamers two on the Hong Kong Macao run and three on the Hong Kong, Canton run, running in conjunction with the B.& S. Co. In fact B. & S. controlled it and their Superintendent supervised the ships. I joined the Paddle Steamer Honam to commence with, an old Steamer but she could travel about 16 knots. I was 2nd Officer but the ships were well kept and good food, bed linen, towels etc. - in fact - as good as being in a 1st. Class Hotel.

s.s. Honam, by Chinarail

It did not take me long until I was promoted to Chief Officer of the “Kinshan" and later to the s/s "Lung Shan" under Captain Bell Smith. The vessel was almost a new ship when I joined her fitted up like a 1st Class hotel hot & cold water throughout.

In 1925 (about June) a strike broke out in Hong Kong, all Chinese servants and workmen came out, all the Coast and River steamers were laid up from Shanghai to Canton - the ?????? (some of them) started to run up in the North in the month of October.

In July I had very bad news from home my little girl Ellen aged 10 passed away after an operation for peritonitus a sad blow. The death of my mother soon followed and later Miss Bannerman, Fron, Abererch passed away. She had been a  great friend and help to me for many a year. Seeing everything was upset at home I went home on shore leave. I found my wife very low spirited and decided to have her shifted to Pwllheli to live before going away again so I bought "Talarfor" South Beach and shifted there as soon as possible- although the house was much too big for such a small family however I stayed home for two months and went away again.

Sailed from Liverpool in a Blue Funnel Steamer for Hong Kong and when I arrived in Hong Kong the strike was still on and some of the ships laid up. I was put on the "Kin Shan" on the Macao run the "Honam" by this time had been sold and broken up and the s/s "Taishan" had been launched and was running to Macao. A beautiful steamer, but had very bad luck to start with running to Macao was poor trade for her running, of course, at a great loss - however the strike continued until until 1927. Capt. McKinnon went home sick, and I was shifted to s/s Taishan as Chief Officer.

s/s Taishan, by Captain Pritchard

In 1927 strike eased down a bit and the ships "Lungshan" and "Taishan" commenced to run to Canton but could not carry passengers or cargo either way and the situation was very delicate, the Chinese had all turned Bolsheviks through the Russian Red propaganda only by slow strides the position had become normal and the people had found that they had made a mistake having lost their jobs etc. Chang Kai Shek had advanced from Canton to the Yangtse taken all the chief cities on the river including Shanghai however things gradually became normal and Europeans were again respected and Chang Kai Shek threw all the Russians out and did away with Red propaganda. However trade with Canton was never the same again and the ships continued to lose money no foreign cargo due to the high tariff on the Foreign goods.

In 1931 our Secretary Mr. J. Arnold retired due chiefly to the Company having passed into the hands of Sir Robert Ho Tung and his other Chinese directors they thought that they could do better than the European directors but it soon proved they could not as good as European companies such as the P. & O., Blue Funnel, and C.P.R. stopped almost altogether to send their cargo by one Company. Our European Directors were the heads of the P. & O. heads of B. & S. heads of Union Insurance head of Dodwells & Co. and were people of influence. Not only that the new directors started to meddle with our home leave and pay and instead of the pension they adopted the provident fund which I hold but little hope in now.

In March (12th) 1931 I had a collision with the s/s Venezia when in the s/s SuiTai bound from Macao to H. Kong and Venezia going the opposite way and in a position off Cheong Chan Leong the two met in thick fog - Sui Tai collided with her by hitting her stern on just before the Bridge on the Port side she had a narrow escape from sinking - Sui Tai's bow was badly smashed. However I won the case and the Venezia's Company had to pay his own damage and ours, (ours was about $14000). It broke them and she only ran for a short time after that.

s.s. Sui-An & s.s. Sui-Tai, by IDJ

I vent home on leave in December 1934 - my second leave. Sailed on the 29th December in a P.& O. steamer. My first leave was in June 1929 via Canada went by Empress of Russia to Vancouver and cross country to Montreal across the Canadian Rockies a beautiful sight also across the Prairies 5 days going across just like crossing the wide ocean nothing to be seen but a farm here and there, not even a tree for hundreds of miles and the weather was fine. I had to stay in Montreal for two days to await a steamer for Liverpool. I crossed in the Militin C.P.R. Steamer and somehow think I was in her as Commodore of Convoy in the last war (I brought half of the Convoy from Halifax other half from New York). However I arrived in Liverpool on Saturday evening and got in a train for home on Monday morning, During my home leave my Father-in-law (Rev. H. Davies) died at the age of 79, buried in Abererch.

During my leave quite a lot of changes had happened in the Company. I was put in the s/s "Taishan" on my return. We gave a farewell dinner to Mr. Arnold in the s/s "Kinshan’ and a present of a model Chinese junk. Mr. Ellam was made acting Secretary and Mr. Arnold sailed for Canada on retirement. Mr. Ellam died about 1933 and Mr. Luz took his place.

Whilst on home leave (last one) in 1935 I bought a small motor car I think a Morris 7, 2nd. hand, gave £40 for it quite a good little car and was well worth it. By now I am extremely pleased that I bought it. With it I was able to see more of Wales than ever I did in my life before. I saw some beautiful places and took my family about with me and they enjoyed it. My longest run in it was to Wrexham and back the same day. Before leaving home I sold it for £45 which was I think a much better car than it was when I got it.

I left home in August (while home that time I spent ten days with my brother Jack at P. Talbot quite a nice time there and they were nice to me - on August Bank Holiday we went to Pwllheli by Jack car lovely drive [Armstrong Sidley Car] started 6am, arrived at Pwllheli 10pm, lovely drive via Wye valley that way) to sail in the P. & O. Steamer “Citral" on August 16th arriving in Hong Kong in September some time. I joined the s/s Kinshan.

Sir Robert Hotung & Captain Pritchard, by pritchah

Mr. Luz was now Secretary and he was bothered about shifting some of us on the night run as Captain Lake Was very dissatisfied. However he failed to do so until the Company made a rule that no Captain was to be on the Macao night run longer then 6 months - and I and others were shifted around, me to the Sui Tai but not for long on account of Captain Thomson resigning. There was another shift around and I was put on the Taishan again. So we were again settled down for a while until the "Lung Shan" and the "Sui An" were laid up. Officers and crews of these vessels were paid off including Captain Hadden and Captain Hales officers Macon and Bolt and some 2nd officers the names I have forgotten. However Captain Hadden died after an operation in about a month’s time.

In 1937 Japan made war on China and trade to Canton became difficult due to the Barrier thrown across the Canton River but there was plenty of cargo and big freight and the ship was paying well. In the winter of 1938 (in October) the Japanese captured Canton after having bombed it day and night for about 12 months. I was in Canton in the "Kinshan" and was held there for about 6 weeks. The city was almost all destroyed by fire, all trade from H.Kong to Canton was now stopped and when I got back to Hong Kong I was put back in the “Taishan" after her yearly docking and we carried on this run through Cap-si-mim pass until the European War broke out Sept, 1939. Then we were only allowed to use Cap-si-mim when we used the channel between Lantau Island and another small island just off it inside the Brothers - not much water in the Channel on low tide - otherwise the official Channel for Macao Steamers now was the East Lamma Channel outside Chuen Chan Island which proved to be very boisterous at tines with high running seas straining the vessel badly, besides River Steamers are not built strong enough to heavy rolling in the open sea. However every Captain protested about it and wondering why the small Channel by Lantau could not be used but of no avail.

The "Lungshan” and "Sui-an" were sold to Shanghai shortly after they were laid up, and "Sui Tai" sold just after to Shanghai. The Company bought a little motor steamer named the Lee Hong afterwards renamed the "Ching Shan" which proved a failure in every way. She was no use for Cargo or Passenger on any run. From 1938 the company had only one vessel running to Macao sometimes "Taishan" and sometimes "Kinshan" was used until finally they only ran the s/s "Taishan" on the night run.

Many thanks to Captain Pritchard's grandson Huw for sharing these memoirs with us.

If any readers have family memoirs of life in Hong Kong you can share with us, they'll be very gratefully received.

Best wishes to you and your family in the year of the rooster.

This rooster comes from a 1930s application to register it as a trademark. He was to be used "in respect of Raisins, rolled oats, canned sardines, canned abalone and pearl barley". Quite a versatile fellow!

I like looking at the old trademark designs. Some are simple but effective, like this design for bottles of Toilet Water:

While others look to have scrimped on the artist's budget:

Would that encourage you to buy "all kinds of biscuit or Chinese Cake"?

One group that could clearly afford good artists were the tobacco companies. The British Cigarette Co. Ltd registered 14 different designs on one day, including these:

If you'd like to see more of these old trademarks, visit the HKGRO website and search for trademark. There are lots more to enjoy.

When: This comes from the same set as the recent photo of the YMCA and the Peninsula Hotel in TST, and should be taken around the same time in the 1950s. There's a personal connection between the two photos, which we'll look at in the "Who:" below.

What: Over at the right of the photo, there looks to be a "San Miguel" sign on the end of the building. Possibly a pub?

In the centre is a more substantial building, the J E Joseph Hall:

Do you remember either of them?

Where: The photo was sold to tourists with the title "A suburb view in Hong Kong", but according to the 1938 report for the New Territories [1] the location is somewhere in Fanling:

In January H.E. the Governor opened Joseph Hall, the fine new building at Fan Ling presented to the New Territories Agricultural Association through the generosity of Mr J. E. Joseph.

Can anyone pinpoint where the hall stood on a modern map?

Who: The Hall is named after Joseph Edgar Joseph [2], and he's the connection with the previous photo of the YMCA and the Peninsula in TST:

If you had to associate a name with the TST photo, it would be Kadoorie. Not only are they the family behind the Peninsula, they were also one of the main donors towards the cost of building the YMCA. The Kadoorie and Joseph families share many links.

Looking back through the Jurors Lists, we can see they worked together. J E Joseph first appears in the list for 1905 [3], working as an assistant at Benjamin, Kelly & Potts. The "Kelly" in the company name was an alias used by the Kadoorie family, and so in that same list we find Eleazer (aka "Elly") Silas Kadoorie, working there as a broker.

The families likely first met through the Jewish community. They were certainly both prominent members of the Ohel Leah Synagogue [4] up on Robinson Road. The membership lists for the synagogue [5] show them swapping roles between member, committee and trustee over the years.

1966 Ohel Leah Synagogue , by cliff_dive

They were also both connected with the nearby Jewish Recreation Club [6]. The first clubhouse was a gift from the Kadoorie family, opening in 1909. It was destroyed during the second world war, but the Club re-opened in a building that had been donated by J E Joseph as a house for the synagogue's Hazzan [7] [8].

The last connection is their generosity to various charities over the years. As one example, they both supported Hong Kong's farming community, and created funds that are still in operation today. The Kadoorie Agricultural Aid Loan Fund [9] grants loans to "to individual farmers, pond fish operators and mariculturists", while the J.E. Joseph Trust Fund [10] grants to "farmers' co-operative societies and individual farmers".

Though they shared many similarities, one big difference is that while the Kadoorie name is still well known, few remember J E Joseph. The likely explanation is given in Joseph's obituary: it doesn't list any children to carry on his name and reputation [11].

References:

1. Report on the New Territories for the year 1938.
2. Joseph Edgar JOSEPH [c.1880-1946]
3. 1905 Jurors List
4. Ohel Leah Synagogue
5. Ohel Leah Membership Lists [1934 – 1940]
6. Jewish Recreation Club
7. The early history of the Jewish Recreation Club is given in "A History of Jews in Hong Kong, 1946"
8. A hazzan or chazzan is a Jewish musician, or precentor, trained in the vocal arts who helps lead the congregation in songful prayer
9. Kadoorie Agriculture Aid Loan Fund
10. J.E. Joseph Trust Fund
11. J E Joseph's obituary

Where: This is the view across Salisbury Road in Tsim Sha Tsui, looking at the YMCA [1] and the Peninsula Hotel [2]. They've been neighbours for ninety years.

When: The photo comes from a small set that was sold to tourists. Looking at some of the other photos in the set, they were taken in the early- to mid-1950s.

What: The YMCA is the older of the two buildings:

It opened in November 1925, with the Peninsula Hotel opening three years later in November 1928. The Hotel would have opened earlier, but it was delayed when the British Military Authorities used the new building as accommodation for soldiers in 1927.

Here's a photo of the YMCA and Peninsula in 1930:

The YMCA was extended in 1932, adding a west wing that included a swimming pool. The new wing is clear to see on this photo from the mid-1930s:

At the opening ceremony for that new wing, Mr Shenton, President of the YMCA, mentioned the need for a second, east wing:

Having completed our scheme in connexion with the west wing, and having already found a real demand for all the facilities at our disposal, our thoughts naturally turn to an east wing. Our policy must always be one of conservative progress, for nothing is static—if we don’t go on we shall go back, and surely an Association such as ours should have a couple of wings.

Progress was indeed conservative. In the 1950s when the main photo was taken, the YMCA was still the same L-shaped, single-winged building it was in 1932.

Who: I noticed the people we can't see - there aren't any drivers in these cars:

In the 1950s the roads were still quiet enough to allow roadside parking along Salisbury Road. Not any more!

Gwulo photo ID: A293F - prints are available to order in the shop.

References:

1. YMCA, TST (First generation)
2. The Peninsula Hotel

This week's newsletter is an extract from Captain Thomas Pritchard's memoirs. He wrote them, and drew the sketches, while interned by the Japanese in Stanley Camp. Sadly he died in the Camp in 1944, but a friend kept the document safe, and delivered it to Captain Pritchard's family in North Wales after the war. If you're interested in ships and the sea, I recommend you read the full memoir, which starts with him working on sailing ships in the 1890s.

In June 1924 I joined the Hong Kong Canton & Macao Steamboat Company River Steamer but considered to be the best (one of the best) Company on the coast - home leave every five years, the wages similar to B.&.Swires ((Butterfield & Swires)), safe navigation money, etc to the Captains. There were five steamers two on the Hong Kong Macao run and three on the Hong Kong, Canton run, running in conjunction with the B.& S. Co. In fact B. & S. controlled it and their Superintendent supervised the ships. I joined the Paddle Steamer Honam to commence with, an old Steamer but she could travel about 16 knots. I was 2nd Officer but the ships were well kept and good food, bed linen, towels etc. - in fact - as good as being in a 1st. Class Hotel.

s.s. Honam, by Chinarail

It did not take me long until I was promoted to Chief Officer of the “Kinshan" and later to the s/s "Lung Shan" under Captain Bell Smith. The vessel was almost a new ship when I joined her fitted up like a 1st Class hotel hot & cold water throughout.

In 1925 (about June) a strike broke out in Hong Kong, all Chinese servants and workmen came out, all the Coast and River steamers were laid up from Shanghai to Canton - the ?????? (some of them) started to run up in the North in the month of October.

In July I had very bad news from home my little girl Ellen aged 10 passed away after an operation for peritonitus a sad blow. The death of my mother soon followed and later Miss Bannerman, Fron, Abererch passed away. She had been a  great friend and help to me for many a year. Seeing everything was upset at home I went home on shore leave. I found my wife very low spirited and decided to have her shifted to Pwllheli to live before going away again so I bought "Talarfor" South Beach and shifted there as soon as possible- although the house was much too big for such a small family however I stayed home for two months and went away again.

Sailed from Liverpool in a Blue Funnel Steamer for Hong Kong and when I arrived in Hong Kong the strike was still on and some of the ships laid up. I was put on the "Kin Shan" on the Macao run the "Honam" by this time had been sold and broken up and the s/s "Taishan" had been launched and was running to Macao. A beautiful steamer, but had very bad luck to start with running to Macao was poor trade for her running, of course, at a great loss - however the strike continued until until 1927. Capt. McKinnon went home sick, and I was shifted to s/s Taishan as Chief Officer.

s/s Taishan, by Captain Pritchard

In 1927 strike eased down a bit and the ships "Lungshan" and "Taishan" commenced to run to Canton but could not carry passengers or cargo either way and the situation was very delicate, the Chinese had all turned Bolsheviks through the Russian Red propaganda only by slow strides the position had become normal and the people had found that they had made a mistake having lost their jobs etc. Chang Kai Shek had advanced from Canton to the Yangtse taken all the chief cities on the river including Shanghai however things gradually became normal and Europeans were again respected and Chang Kai Shek threw all the Russians out and did away with Red propaganda. However trade with Canton was never the same again and the ships continued to lose money no foreign cargo due to the high tariff on the Foreign goods.

In 1931 our Secretary Mr. J. Arnold retired due chiefly to the Company having passed into the hands of Sir Robert Ho Tung and his other Chinese directors they thought that they could do better than the European directors but it soon proved they could not as good as European companies such as the P. & O., Blue Funnel, and C.P.R. stopped almost altogether to send their cargo by one Company. Our European Directors were the heads of the P. & O. heads of B. & S. heads of Union Insurance head of Dodwells & Co. and were people of influence. Not only that the new directors started to meddle with our home leave and pay and instead of the pension they adopted the provident fund which I hold but little hope in now.

In March (12th) 1931 I had a collision with the s/s Venezia when in the s/s SuiTai bound from Macao to H. Kong and Venezia going the opposite way and in a position off Cheong Chan Leong the two met in thick fog - Sui Tai collided with her by hitting her stern on just before the Bridge on the Port side she had a narrow escape from sinking - Sui Tai's bow was badly smashed. However I won the case and the Venezia's Company had to pay his own damage and ours, (ours was about $14000). It broke them and she only ran for a short time after that.

s.s. Sui-An & s.s. Sui-Tai, by IDJ

I vent home on leave in December 1934 - my second leave. Sailed on the 29th December in a P.& O. steamer. My first leave was in June 1929 via Canada went by Empress of Russia to Vancouver and cross country to Montreal across the Canadian Rockies a beautiful sight also across the Prairies 5 days going across just like crossing the wide ocean nothing to be seen but a farm here and there, not even a tree for hundreds of miles and the weather was fine. I had to stay in Montreal for two days to await a steamer for Liverpool. I crossed in the Militin C.P.R. Steamer and somehow think I was in her as Commodore of Convoy in the last war (I brought half of the Convoy from Halifax other half from New York). However I arrived in Liverpool on Saturday evening and got in a train for home on Monday morning, During my home leave my Father-in-law (Rev. H. Davies) died at the age of 79, buried in Abererch.

During my leave quite a lot of changes had happened in the Company. I was put in the s/s "Taishan" on my return. We gave a farewell dinner to Mr. Arnold in the s/s "Kinshan’ and a present of a model Chinese junk. Mr. Ellam was made acting Secretary and Mr. Arnold sailed for Canada on retirement. Mr. Ellam died about 1933 and Mr. Luz took his place.

Whilst on home leave (last one) in 1935 I bought a small motor car I think a Morris 7, 2nd. hand, gave £40 for it quite a good little car and was well worth it. By now I am extremely pleased that I bought it. With it I was able to see more of Wales than ever I did in my life before. I saw some beautiful places and took my family about with me and they enjoyed it. My longest run in it was to Wrexham and back the same day. Before leaving home I sold it for £45 which was I think a much better car than it was when I got it.

I left home in August (while home that time I spent ten days with my brother Jack at P. Talbot quite a nice time there and they were nice to me - on August Bank Holiday we went to Pwllheli by Jack car lovely drive [Armstrong Sidley Car] started 6am, arrived at Pwllheli 10pm, lovely drive via Wye valley that way) to sail in the P. & O. Steamer “Citral" on August 16th arriving in Hong Kong in September some time. I joined the s/s Kinshan.

Sir Robert Hotung & Captain Pritchard, by pritchah

Mr. Luz was now Secretary and he was bothered about shifting some of us on the night run as Captain Lake Was very dissatisfied. However he failed to do so until the Company made a rule that no Captain was to be on the Macao night run longer then 6 months - and I and others were shifted around, me to the Sui Tai but not for long on account of Captain Thomson resigning. There was another shift around and I was put on the Taishan again. So we were again settled down for a while until the "Lung Shan" and the "Sui An" were laid up. Officers and crews of these vessels were paid off including Captain Hadden and Captain Hales officers Macon and Bolt and some 2nd officers the names I have forgotten. However Captain Hadden died after an operation in about a month’s time.

In 1937 Japan made war on China and trade to Canton became difficult due to the Barrier thrown across the Canton River but there was plenty of cargo and big freight and the ship was paying well. In the winter of 1938 (in October) the Japanese captured Canton after having bombed it day and night for about 12 months. I was in Canton in the "Kinshan" and was held there for about 6 weeks. The city was almost all destroyed by fire, all trade from H.Kong to Canton was now stopped and when I got back to Hong Kong I was put back in the “Taishan" after her yearly docking and we carried on this run through Cap-si-mim pass until the European War broke out Sept, 1939. Then we were only allowed to use Cap-si-mim when we used the channel between Lantau Island and another small island just off it inside the Brothers - not much water in the Channel on low tide - otherwise the official Channel for Macao Steamers now was the East Lamma Channel outside Chuen Chan Island which proved to be very boisterous at tines with high running seas straining the vessel badly, besides River Steamers are not built strong enough to heavy rolling in the open sea. However every Captain protested about it and wondering why the small Channel by Lantau could not be used but of no avail.

The "Lungshan” and "Sui-an" were sold to Shanghai shortly after they were laid up, and "Sui Tai" sold just after to Shanghai. The Company bought a little motor steamer named the Lee Hong afterwards renamed the "Ching Shan" which proved a failure in every way. She was no use for Cargo or Passenger on any run. From 1938 the company had only one vessel running to Macao sometimes "Taishan" and sometimes "Kinshan" was used until finally they only ran the s/s "Taishan" on the night run.

Many thanks to Captain Pritchard's grandson Huw for sharing these memoirs with us.

If any readers have family memoirs of life in Hong Kong you can share with us, they'll be very gratefully received.

Best wishes to you and your family in the year of the rooster.

This rooster comes from a 1930s application to register it as a trademark. He was to be used "in respect of Raisins, rolled oats, canned sardines, canned abalone and pearl barley". Quite a versatile fellow!

I like looking at the old trademark designs. Some are simple but effective, like this design for bottles of Toilet Water:

While others look to have scrimped on the artist's budget:

Would that encourage you to buy "all kinds of biscuit or Chinese Cake"?

One group that could clearly afford good artists were the tobacco companies. The British Cigarette Co. Ltd registered 14 different designs on one day, including these:

If you'd like to see more of these old trademarks, visit the HKGRO website and search for trademark. There are lots more to enjoy.

When: This comes from the same set as the recent photo of the YMCA and the Peninsula Hotel in TST, and should be taken around the same time in the 1950s. There's a personal connection between the two photos, which we'll look at in the "Who:" below.

What: Over at the right of the photo, there looks to be a "San Miguel" sign on the end of the building. Possibly a pub?

In the centre is a more substantial building, the J E Joseph Hall:

Do you remember either of them?

Where: The photo was sold to tourists with the title "A suburb view in Hong Kong", but according to the 1938 report for the New Territories [1] the location is somewhere in Fanling:

In January H.E. the Governor opened Joseph Hall, the fine new building at Fan Ling presented to the New Territories Agricultural Association through the generosity of Mr J. E. Joseph.

Can anyone pinpoint where the hall stood on a modern map?

Who: The Hall is named after Joseph Edgar Joseph [2], and he's the connection with the previous photo of the YMCA and the Peninsula in TST:

If you had to associate a name with the TST photo, it would be Kadoorie. Not only are they the family behind the Peninsula, they were also one of the main donors towards the cost of building the YMCA. The Kadoorie and Joseph families share many links.

Looking back through the Jurors Lists, we can see they worked together. J E Joseph first appears in the list for 1905 [3], working as an assistant at Benjamin, Kelly & Potts. The "Kelly" in the company name was an alias used by the Kadoorie family, and so in that same list we find Eleazer (aka "Elly") Silas Kadoorie, working there as a broker.

The families likely first met through the Jewish community. They were certainly both prominent members of the Ohel Leah Synagogue [4] up on Robinson Road. The membership lists for the synagogue [5] show them swapping roles between member, committee and trustee over the years.

1966 Ohel Leah Synagogue , by cliff_dive

They were also both connected with the nearby Jewish Recreation Club [6]. The first clubhouse was a gift from the Kadoorie family, opening in 1909. It was destroyed during the second world war, but the Club re-opened in a building that had been donated by J E Joseph as a house for the synagogue's Hazzan [7] [8].

The last connection is their generosity to various charities over the years. As one example, they both supported Hong Kong's farming community, and created funds that are still in operation today. The Kadoorie Agricultural Aid Loan Fund [9] grants loans to "to individual farmers, pond fish operators and mariculturists", while the J.E. Joseph Trust Fund [10] grants to "farmers' co-operative societies and individual farmers".

Though they shared many similarities, one big difference is that while the Kadoorie name is still well known, few remember J E Joseph. The likely explanation is given in Joseph's obituary: it doesn't list any children to carry on his name and reputation [11].

References:

1. Report on the New Territories for the year 1938.
2. Joseph Edgar JOSEPH [c.1880-1946]
3. 1905 Jurors List
4. Ohel Leah Synagogue
5. Ohel Leah Membership Lists [1934 – 1940]
6. Jewish Recreation Club
7. The early history of the Jewish Recreation Club is given in "A History of Jews in Hong Kong, 1946"
8. A hazzan or chazzan is a Jewish musician, or precentor, trained in the vocal arts who helps lead the congregation in songful prayer
9. Kadoorie Agriculture Aid Loan Fund
10. J.E. Joseph Trust Fund
11. J E Joseph's obituary

Gwulo takes to the airwaves! Annemarie Evans invited me on to her show, Hong Kong Heritage, where we chatted about the late Dan Waters' book collection, sidetracked into hunting & trapping in Hong Kong, then returned to Dan's apartment and its connection to the film Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing.

Here is the link to listen to the show: 
http://podcast.rthk.hk/podcast/item_epi.php?pid=164

Below I've included links to more information about the topics we discussed, with the time as it is shown on the podcast player. Then at the bottom of the page is the usual round-up of new pages and questions on Gwulo this week.

Thanks to Annemarie for inviting me on to her show. I see her list of past 'Hong Kong Heritage' episodes has a new look with a short description and a photo for each one, making it much easier to browse through and find something that you're interested in: Visit the RTHK website to view the list of episodes.

Regards, David

More information about the topics discussed: 

• 00:00 Deric Daniel WATERS (aka Dan) [1920-2016]
• 01:52 Book: The Arthur May Story by Ronald Taylor
• 02:00 Book: Power and Charity: A Chinese Merchant Elite in Colonial Hong Kong by Elizabeth Sinn
• 02:45 Hong Kong Social & Economic Trends 1968-1972
   - Population pyramid
  
   - Households who make their living from agriculture
• 07:15 Book: Understanding Technical English by Ken Methold & Dan Waters
• 08:40Wartime diaries of Hong Kong in WW2
• 10:40 Hong Kong Military History Notes by Phillip Bruce
  
   - Does anyone have contact details for Phillip Bruce? I'd like to get in touch.
   - The Battlebox
   - Pillboxes
   - West Battery
• 12:40 Book: Hong Kong Ways & Byways, a Miscellany of Trivia by Eric Cumine
• 16:10Sign up for Gwulo's newsletter!
• 16:30 Dan's paper about the history of 41 Conduit Road: "YET MORE THOUGHTS ON HAN SUYIN'S A MANY SPLENDOURED THING: CONDUIT ROAD AND ITS ENVIRONS"
• 16:40 The original Number 41 Conduit Road building:
• 21:00 The Hong Kong Journals Online website
• 21:05 Dan's paper about the history of 41 Conduit Road: "YET MORE THOUGHTS ON HAN SUYIN'S A MANY SPLENDOURED THING: CONDUIT ROAD AND ITS ENVIRONS"
• 24:00 See more scenes from the film Love is a Many-Splendored Thing
• 25:00 The Cheung Po Tsai Traditional Path
• 26:00 The old waste incinerators around Hong Kong
• 26:15 Where was the incinerator in Silvermine Bay / Mui Wo?

Where: It's the view across Statue Square [1], with Queen Victoria's statue [2] in the foreground, and the Hongkong Club [3] beyond.

Between the two we can see an untidy patch of land. It would get worse before it got better, as by 1909 the area had acquired a brick oven, two simmering cauldrons of coal tar, and ...

"an unsightly conglomeration of ramshackle and tattered matsheds, piles of rotting poles, odds and ends of old timbers, untidy heaps of granite chippings, weed-grown stacks of bricks; cook-houses— other outhouses —all the stagnant squalor which collects in a builder’s yard. [4]"

By then the end was in sight, and once the nearby building projects were completed, the area was finally grassed over.

After the First World War, it was chosen as the ideal site for the new war memorial, and Hong Kong's Cenotaph [5] was erected there:

When: The photo was taken in 1902 by R C Hurley [6] for his book, Views of Hong Kong.

What: The oldest of the temporary buildings [7] is over on the left, originally built as the office for the Praya Reclamation.

On the right of the building site there's a steam-powered crane on a short length of railway track.

Was the steam engine also connected to the wheels, or did it just power the lifting so that the crane had to be moved by muscle-power?

There's another short length of railway track over on the seafront. It would make sense for the two railway lines to be connected, so the crane could be used to unload building materials from boats at the harbour wall. Unfortunately the low building is in the way, so we can't see if that was the case.

There's another steam crane out in the harbour.

I believe that is working on the project to extend the Naval Dockyard, either dredging, or lowering stone blocks into position to build the new sea wall.

Beyond that, the white ship is HMS Tamar.

When the dockyard extension is finished, Tamar will move into its new home there. It will be moored along the west side of the dockyard's new tidal basin.

Who: A couple of rickshaw pullers are outside the entrance to the Club, waiting for customers.

What else can you see in this photo?

Gwulo image ID: NDA07

References: 

1. Statue Square
2. Queen Victoria's statue
3. The Hongkong Club
4. Minutes of the Legislative Council Meeting for 2nd December, 1909
5. The Hong Kong Cenotaph
6. R C Hurley
7. Temporary buildings in Statue Square

Chris Hall spent three years here in the 1950s, and has kindly shared these family photos:

This train is on its way to Red China

Castle Peak Hotel

On a forbidden road in Shatin. Very pretty. By a reservoir + Government property.

New Territories. Rice + Wheat fields.

Aberdeen

19 Mile Beach. New Territories.

Billy Tinglers

The captions come from the notes that Chris's mother Isabel Lily (known as "Billy") wrote on the back of each photo. In late 2003 she also wrote down her memories of those years in Hong Kong, which you can read below.

Her story begins with the family living in the Sudan, where Chris was born.

Khartoum + Cricket = Hong Kong

When all the British officials in the Sudan received 2 months notice on New Year's Day in 1955, everybody had to apply frantically for jobs. Among the many that Henry sent off to was one to Hong Kong University as assistant bursar. He mentioned that he played cricket.

Sir Lindsay Ride, the Vice Chancellor of the University of Hong Kong was a great cricket fan, and so was his friend and fellow Australian, the Vice Chancellor of Khartoum University. Sir Lindsay contacted him and mentioned Henry's application. On receiving a complimentary report he visited his friend in Khartoum on a sea trip to England and had an interview with Henry at the same time.

The Khartoum Vice Chancellor was captain of the cricket team and confirmed that Henry was a very good cricketer so he was offered the job provided he played cricket for the university team. That was how we came to Hong Kong. We got the cable on the ship in the Red Sea on our way home to England.

Sailing to Hong Kong

We set off for Hong Kong on a German boat from Southampton, I have forgotten the name. It was the height of the monsoon season. It was terribly hot and humid and very little air conditioning. It wasn't like the modern cruise ships. Great gaps in the side of the ship. I had to be very careful of Christopher who was 3 years old. He jumped into the pool once and had to be rescued.

There were very few passengers, probably because of the time of year. However, they were a friendly lot and we amused ourselves with fancy dress competitions, charades, etc.

We called at Ceylon where there was a marvelous zoo full of flowers and shrubs beautifully maintained. The animals were well looked after and very free. We called there again a few years later when it had become Sri Lanka, but it was very neglected and Colombo was very scruffy looking.

On to Singapore - I was thrilled with this. Men looking like Indian princes opening doors for us. We were greeted with very decoratively dressed natives offering us rides on rickshaws. We enjoyed Raffles and the Long Bar. Went to a very glamorous place to dance in the evening. Also enjoyed shopping in Change Alley where everything was very cheap. However, all the passengers told me that Hong Kong was the Pearl of the Far East. I had seen nothing yet.

(I forgot to mention that I was quite shocked to see that all the men wore long trousers. In Africa all the men wore white shorts and white shirts, very smart and suitable for the climate. You put a tie on when you went to see the boss in Africa.)

Arriving in Hong Kong

As we sailed into that beautiful harbour, everybody went mad. It was so lovely. Lights everywhere - it was nighttime. All kinds of boats and the most fascinating signs with exotic Chinese names wherever you looked. I had the feeling that this was it. What I had always dreamed about. 

It was 11pm and the Bursar came on board to take us ashore. I protested that we couldn't wake up Christopher at that hour. Surely it could wait until the next morning. He agreed but it was only later that we learned that Henry had missed a whole month's salary through this as it was the 31st May. Henry was very upset about it.

Living at Hong Kong University

We were taken to the Bursar's house which was called "Buckingham Palace" as it was the largest block for professors or their equal in seniority, and stood on top of the university compound which rose from the bottom of the mountain. The compound was all up the mountain with a few houses on it and with beautiful views of the islands, the sea and mountains. The compound itself was well laid out, a wonderful place for children to play. Most of it is built over now.

University

University

Precincts of University - Father + two Chinese students.

Playing FORFEITS in the compound. Cherry Wilson on C's right.

Fishpond in the compound. Some Goulds + C.

We had to stay at the Bursar's place for a time. His wife was in England putting their son to boarding school. We were not very popular. There was water rationing and of course I left a tap on and flooded the place.

I had asked for a girl to look after Christopher for me. I had heard they were very good. Unfortunately the cook boy introduced his girlfriend. Arthur, the Bursar, used to put all the bills that the cook boy brought by his chair on a table. The so called children's nurse was asleep and Chris picked up all the papers and threw them out of the window. It was a wonder that Christopher didn’t throw himself over. Arthur decided Christopher was the naughtiest boy he had ever come across. After that it was discovered that the cook's girlfriend didn't like children and didn't want the job. So by this time I had found a very good girl to cook for me and look after the house and a very nice girlfriend to look after Chris.

Ah Hing + Ah Moy on the balcony of our flat.

Soon we moved into our own place just below. A lovely view of course, being up on the mountain.

Our flats. Our verandah second one down in front."Missie upstairs"(the noisy one) waving on their back verandah.

Our flat. Glimpse of "Buckingham Palace" beyond.

One of the professors' wives ran a nursery school. It was just across the compound and Chris loved it.

Professor Stock's wife Gwen's nursery school on university compound.

There was a tennis court in the university compound and I soon found some fellow enthusiasts. I particularly played with Flo McFadgeon, the medical professor's wife and Monica Hodges, the surgeon's wife.

Tennis pavilion

Working in Hong Kong

I had found myself a job with Government and was earning money once again. I had to drive to work in Central, plenty of parking spaces. We bought a green Ford Prefect as soon as we arrived. Henry just had to walk down the garden path to his office.

I got rather bored working for Government after a time. There really wasn't enough to do and i wanted some spare afternoons for swimming or tennis. I got a job as secretary to the Children's Playground Association in Wanchai. It is still going strong. I took over from a manager and secretary and did the job in half the time.

Southorn Playground

Southorn Playground

Maple Street Playground, Kowloon. C with his back to us

Jungle Gym in Maple Street Playground, Kowloon - Can you see Christopher?

It suited me very well. As long as I got the work done, the committee I was answerable to were happy. I could take Christopher everywhere with me. He was just one child among many. I had playgrounds to inspect in Kowloon as well as Hong Kong.

There were evening meetings of course, on Kowloon side as well as Hong Kong. All the committee were busy people.

Out and about

I found the shopping fascinating. Along Queen's Road Central there were lots of little shops selling beautiful embroidery and trinkets. I used to send a parcel to mother every month. There were lots of little souvenir shops up side streets of Queen's Road Central full of lovely hand embroidered things, beautifully made nic-nacs. Everything was very cheap. I found marvelous clothes in the little side streets called the lanes. Also a market called Cloth Alley full of wonderful materials, very cheap. I was introduced to a very good tailor. He used to come into my house when it suited me.

From the university there was a lovely coast road like Cornwall to Deep Water Bay beach, very different now of course. Deep Water Bay beach was a very safe and lovely place to swim, nearly always very calm water. Christopher learned to swim there.

Stop me and buy one. Ice cream man at Deep Water Bay.

Time to leave

I thought Hong Kong a paradise. Henry wasn't so happy though. Arthur was not interested in sport, only in work, and he made it very difficult for Henry to play cricket. However, the Vice Chancellor ensured that Henry was always free to play cricket for the university. (Henry also played for the Hong Kong Veteran Team). Henry played cricket at the Cricket Club in Central, now replaced by a rather ugly park with a large bare space in the middle.

Hong Kong Cricket Team against combined 11 of former students

At the end of Henry's contract, he was put on the permanent staff. To my great shock we were contemplating a four year term before going on leave. Henry said we must put Christopher to boarding school. I couldn't bear the thought of parting with him for 4 years.

Henry didn't like working for Arthur Wilson much. He obtained a job in Nigeria where they gave annual air passages to send children to school in London, and leave after 2 years.

When we left Hong Kong in 1958, we steamed straight into the middle of a typhoon. That was a time when big farewell parties took place. So we had a big sendoff. At the farewell gathering we were smothered with flowers etc. When the typhoon started everything took off. Plants and flowers were whirling round the cabin. Henry was flat on his back as he got seasick. I ordered Christopher to get on his bed as I didn’t want him injured and he was very light. I don't get very seasick so I managed to collect the debris and put it is the bathroom and close the door. 

Mr and Mrs Hall spent several years in Africa, but moved back here in 1968. Chris also returned in the 1970s, and the family made Hong Kong their home.

Thanks to Chris for sharing his family's story with us. You can see more of his photos in the gallery 1950s Hall family's photos. If you have any photos to share we'd love to see them - here's how to upload them to Gwulo website.

This week's newsletter was written by the late Dan Waters:

Largely, I suppose, because I saw action and four years of active service myself, in the Western Desert and Italy, in World War Two, when I have walked over the hills of Hong Kong and have seen the fortifications and foxholes, I have often pondered on the battle for this “outpost of Empire”, in December 1941. When I joined the Hong Kong Government, in 1954, the war had not been over very long, and it was still the backs of people’s minds. Time has passed quickly however, as it always does here, and there is a danger the brave deeds will pass into oblivion.

While the courage shown by Company Sergeant Major John Robert Osborn, Victoria Cross, has been recorded, few people, I suspect, know much about the man. Indeed it was not until 1982 that I learned he was born in the County of Norfolk, England, not far from my home town of Watton.

The village of Foulden is an unspoiled, peaceful place, but at the turn of this century it was even more isolated than it is today. For a number of years a group of horse-drawn caravans made its way, every year, from the Fen Country to tiny Foulden. They gypsies, who occupied, these “home-on-wheels”, earned their livings by making clothes-pegs and rock (confectionery), and they also managed to obtain part-time work on the land, for instance at harvest. While nobody got to know any of them well, the Osborn family always seemed to spend longer in Foulden that the others.

Their ornate timber caravan was high and brightly painted, and almost every time it returned to the village I seemed to have an additional occupant. In later years the family comprised father and mother, four sons – one of whom was killed in World War One – as well as a daughter. In fact John Robert Osborn, so people said, was born in that caravan in Foulden. And, while people generally had not, rightly or wrongly, much time for gypsies, they had to admit that the Osborns were a nice, peace-loving family.

By the start of World War Two the caravans had long since stopped coming to Foulden, and John Osborn had emigrated to Canada in 1920. However, 12 days after the infamous attack on Pearl Harbour, in the cool grey dawn of the 19th December 1941, 42-year-old Sergeant Major Osborn, together with “B” Company of the Winnipeg Grenadiers, found himself on the other side of the world, near Mount Butler, in the centre of Hong Kong Island, ready to do his duty and take on the might of the Imperial Japanese Army.

“B” Company attacked in the direction of Wong Nai Chung Gap and later turned towards Stanley Gap. As the soldiers charged they came under consistent merciless fire, and their ranks were severely thinned. The officer Commanding was killed early in the battle, where upon Osborn took charge. They mainly young and tired group of 65 Grenadiers, which is all that remained after the charge, was under-trained with little experience in action.

Osborn was, however, different. HE had faced death before, as a 17-year-old seaman at the Battle of Jutland, in 1916, and he had later served on the Western Front in World War One. His life had been hard, firstly as a gypsy in rural England, and, later, as a casual worker, during the years of depression, on farms and railroads, in Manitoba and Saskatchewan, in Canada. Osborn was tough; the kind of man you are glad to have on your side in a tight corner; a natural leader.

While most of the Grenadiers may have been little more than raw recruits, and lacked experience under fire, under Osborn’s leadership they were determined and fought like battle-innoculated, regular soldiers. Osborn was everywhere inspiring his men, and although he had let a bayonet charge it had run into a hail of fire from Japanese-entrenched machine guns.

The Canadians, who by now had been reduced to about 30, clung fiercely to a bare hill and twice they beat off counterattacks and always Osborn was there using whatever weapon came to hand such as a rifle or bayonet; and sometimes he used his fists or “went in with the boot”. However, in spite of great courage the Grenadiers were finally forced back by superior fire power and again Osborn covered their withdrawal single-handed.

By mid-afternoon, the 12 men that had survived were left exhausted and surrounded, and although the Japanese were within a few yards of their positions, they continued to fight doggedly on. At that stage hand grenades began to fall among them, and on no less than six occasions Osborn flung them back. Finally, however, a grenade fell which Osborn could not grab in time and, after shouting a warning and pushing others out of the way, he threw his body over it thus saving the lives of his few remaining comrades. Osborn was killed instantly, but the six men who were with him survived. “B” Company of the Winnipeg Grenadiers had been almost wiped out. It had covered itself with glory, but courage, on its own, had not been enough.

Some years later one of the six survivors, speaking on behalf of the group, said that it was hard to express how much they owed to Osborn’s gallant sacrifice. The details of the CSM’s exploits were not known until after the war. On April 2, 1946, the posthumous award of the Victoria Cross, Britain’s highest decoration for conspicuous bravery or devotion in the presence of the enemy, was made to CSM H6008 John Robert Osborn.

The citation reads:

“CSM Osborn was an inspiring example to all throughout the defence which he assisted so magnificently in maintaining against an over-whelming enemy force, for eight and a half hours, and in his death he displayed the highest quality of heroism and self-sacrifice”.

Annemarie Evans discovered this article while reviewing Dan's papers. She writes:

"I'm not sure what Dan's intention was with this as there are no footnotes etc. But it makes for an interesting read, so I've just typed it up."

As far as I can tell it was never published, so my thanks to Annemarie for saving it and making it available for us to read.

There is more information about John Osborn, and the full text of his citation, on the Canadian Forces website.

When: This photo was taken shortly after a devastating typhoon hit Hong Kong on the 18th of September, 1906.

Where: The photo was commercially produced, with a caption on the bottom. Unfortunately it was trimmed before it was put in the photo album, but we can still make out some of the words:

??. ?????? & Company's Godown, West Point

Older maps show West Point was a headland in the area between today's Shek Tong Tsui and Sai Ying Poon. Around the time this photo was taken, West Point was used as a more general term for the western area of the city.

The hill on the right looks like High West, which would put the photographer somewhere in Kennedy Town. To confirm the location, I tried to take a photo from Kennedy Town facing in this direction, but all the modern high-rise buildings blocked the view of the hills. So I went up to Pokfulam Road above Kennedy Town, where this view of High West confirms it's the hill in the 1906 photo.

We can also see a Kennedy Town street name above the window nearest to us:

So the godown was on Smithfield, at a crossroads.

The Government's report on the typhoon's damage [1] lists "Godown on Inland Lot 1,296, Kennedy Town" under "Collapses involving the total reconstruction of buildings", so I believe that's the godown we're looking at. Inland Lot 1,296 [2] ran along the east side of Smithfield, between Chater Street (later renamed to Catchick Street) and Belcher Street.

Confirmation comes from a newspaper article the day after the typhoon [3]. In a section titled "BUILDINGS DESTROYED", it says "The godown in Chater Street, now the property of Messrs. Jebsen and Company, formerly the old Feather Factory, was also razed to the ground."

Now we know what it was, look back at the caption and it's possible to make out the name "JEBSEN":

What: One part of the building that is still standing is the chimney with its lightning conductor:

Not that the lightning conductor did much to protect the building in this case!

The goods that were in the godown look to be in a sorry state:

Heinrich Jessen, one of the founding partners of Jebsen & Co., thought the same but found things weren't as bad as they first looked:

“When I went to inspect the damage in the afternoon, I saw that [...] our warehouse had been crushed by the force of the storm. There were our stocks to the value of about two million marks exposed to the torrential rain. We began to salvage the goods that evening … It was a terrible sight, and even though the damage later proved to be less than it initially appeared, these days were a great strain on the nerves.” [4]

Who: The long exposure means that people in motion just appear as blurs. eg this group of four, carrying loads on their shoulder poles:

Others are standing still and are clear to see. Some are employees of Jebsen involved in the salvage work. Others appear to be passers-by who've stopped to watch the photographer at work.

Gwulo photo ID: BA093

References:

1. Typhoon Damage was reported in point 19 of the Annual Report of the Public Works Department.
2. IL1296 shown on a 1924 map.
3. The article "Typhoon Effects", on page 4 of The Hong Kong Telegraph, 1906-09-19.
4. Heinrich Jessen is quoted on page 28 of the e-book, "Three Mackerels. 
   The Story of the Jebsen and Jessen Family Enterprise."

Finding what you weren't looking for is part of the fun of a visit to the archives. Here are a few surprise finds from a visit to the UK's National Archives last month:

Refractory women on Kellett Island

The description of item WO 44/98 [1] looked relevant to the rusty iron water tank quest. Turns out it wasn't, but as I skimmed through it this caught my eye:

"The Barrack Master has [unclear] to state, as one cause of the state of disrepair of the small Barrack at Kellett's island, that it has been occupied by some refractory women of the 18th Regiment, who had been placed there by the Assist. Adjud. General without the knowledge of or any previous communication with the Barrack Master."

It was written in 1844, so it's the earliest reference to Kellet Island [2] I've read. I didn't expect to find it being used as a mini-Alcatraz!

Another document, WO 55/2962 [3], has several maps at the back including this detailed map of Kellett Island as it looked in 1853. By that time the main building on the island was a magazine to store explosives:

The other two maps in that document show"Military Cantonments", ie military camps, in 1853. The first shows the "Cantonment at Victoria" - the area we know as Admiralty today [4]:

The second shows the army's buildings at Stanley [5]:

The army buildings at Stanley haven't survived, but at the bottom of the map is a small patch of land marked "Grave Yard". Those early graves and their gravestones are still there today, now part of the current Stanley Military Cemetery [6].

Re-starting Hong Kong in 1945

Klaus recently posted a couple of photos taken from "W.A.D. Brook's Air House" in November 1945:

Mid-Levels and HK University, by Arthur Fiddament

Mid-Levels 1945, by Arthur Fiddament

Air Commodore W A D Brook was in charge of the RAF in Hong Kong at the time. The airmen were busy helping Hong Kong get back on its feet after the war.

I wondered if the archives would tell us anything about the house he took the photos from, which led to "Occupation of Hong Kong: reports by Air Commodore W.A.D. Brooke. Date: 1945 Aug.-Nov." [7].

He does mention his house:

"My own house was the residence of the Japanese Chief of Police, a very well built modern house overlooking the harbour with a bathroom to every bedroom and every modern inconvenience [sic.]."

And also made another couple of good observations of the situation at that time:

"As you might imagine there was a general spread of enthusiasm as most people were doing jobs they had never dreamed of and making a good show of it. One of my officers, a fighter pilot, was a Governor of a Jap concentration camp in which some 10,000 were incarcerated, including at least three Generals and one Admiral."

"We have done very well with the [Hok Un] Power Station [8], where we had to alter the fuel burners from coal to wood and back again in relation to the fuels that were available, from time to time. All this has been done by a very small body of personnel including a Lancashire boilerman who, when I complimented him on his efforts, said that "there's nowt much to it", and he had had worse jobs to fix up back in Wigan."

RAF Little Sai Wan's camp's magazine, c.1957

I took a look at the Operations Records Books for RAF Little Sai Wan [9], hoping to learn more about their listening operations. Instead the records are very dry, covering topics such as "Health & Welfare", "Distinguished Visitors", and the other minutiae of running a camp.

The pleasant surprise in this case was a copy of the camp's magazine, "Ariel", filed along with the more usual paperwork:

I enjoy seeing the adverts in old magazines:

The magazine doesn't have a date, but looking at the Rediffusion advert above I guess it was from early 1957, as that was the year they launched their cable television service in Hong Kong. Hopefully the TV would take the airmens' minds off the service in their canteen:

First use of radar to detect rainfall

In the rainy time of year, the Hong Kong Observatory's online Weather Radar [10] is my best friend. It shows the bands of rain approaching Hong Kong, so I can time outdoor dashes to catch the dry spells. One surprise was how early this technology was first used in Hong Kong - 1946!

That snippet came from reports about the AMES in Hong Kong. The AMES, or "Air Ministry Experimental Station", was the original name for the RAF's radar stations. Several operated in Hong Kong, and the rain radar report came from the AMES at RAF Kai Tak [11][12]:

"2 Mar 1946: Several [unclear] were plotted during the morning and full information was passed to the Met. Section at Kowloon Observatory. Doubt was expressed as to the existence of nearby rain clouds, but shortly afterwards the district was swept by a heavy rainstorm which flooded the technical site. The Observatory was impressed, and [...] a system of liaison and regular reporting was commenced."

Another AMES report that mentions the weather came from the AMES up at RAF Tai Mo Shan [13][14]. Not such good news though, it describes the miserable start to their time in Hong Kong:

• 1 Mar 1946: Camp enveloped in dense mist for the 5th successive day.
• 2 Mar 1946: 60 mph gust of wind blew off the parabolic reflector and smashed it irrepairably.... Main electrical supply failed. Petrol electric standby generator in use.
• 5 Mar 1946: Standby generator failed, camp now lit by hurricane lamps.

Living standards improved over time, so that by September 1950 reports from the AMES on Mount Davis [15][16] list regular film shows:

• 7 Sep 1950 "Now Barrabas was a Robber"
• 18 Sep 1950 "The Bishop's Wife"
• 21 Sep 1950 "Nightbeat"
• 26 Sep 1950 "Unfaithfully Yours"

I'd requested these documents from an interest in the AMES over at Ping Shan [17]. It was the radar site nearest to the border with China, and their reports [18] show that apart from the film shows and weather services, there were times when the radar was used as originally intended:

"December 1949: Several Chinese Nationalist transport aircraft were intercepted during the month, mostly outside the Colonial boundary. [...] Raid Reporting tracks have fallen almost by half. In the main due to the grounding at Kai Tak of all non-defected Chinese National Airways Corporation and Chinese Air Transport Corporation aircraft. [...] Order 13/49 was received ordering the unit on to a 24 hour operational basis on receipt of the executive signal. This is a precautionary measure to counter any possible hostile action by the Chinese Nationalist Air Force if an when Great Britain recognises the Chinese Peoples Government as the Government of China."

This has turned out longer than I expected. I'm still only half way through, so I'll stop here and send out the second half in a few days time.

If you're visiting London and you're interested in Hong Kong's history, I recommend a visit to the National Archives. They're easy to get to, just a short walk from Kew Gardens Underground station. Here are details of how to prepare for a first visit.

References:

1. 1844: Disputes with Ordnance. UKNA ref: WO 44/98
2. Kellett Island
3. 1851: Ordnance Office and War Office: Miscellaneous Entry Books and Papers. Lands and Buildings Owned and hired by the Ordnance -. Statements of Lands and Buildings... Hong Kong. UKNA ref: WO 55/2962
4. Why is Admiralty different?
5. Stanley Military Cantonment
6. Stanley Military Cemetery
7. 1945 Aug-Nov: Occupation of Hong Kong: reports by Air Commodore W.A.D. Brooke. UKNA ref: AIR 20/5485
8. Hok Un / Hok Yuen Power Station [1921-1991]
9. 1956 Jul- 1959: Dec Air Ministry and Ministry of Defence: Operations Record Books, Royal Air Force Stations. LITTLE SAIWAN. UKNA ref: AIR 28/1331
10. Hong Kong Observatory Weather Radar Image
11. 1945 Jul - 1946 May: No. 15069 AMES Kai Tak. UKNA ref: AIR 29/194 
12. RAF Kai Tak
13. 1945 Jul - 1946 Jun: No. 5097 AMES Tai Mo Shan. UKNA ref: AIR 29/187 
14. RAF Tai Mo Shan
15. 1946 - 1950: No. 21022 AMES Mount Davis. UKNA ref: AIR 29/1941
16. RAF Mount Davis
17. RAF Ping Shan
18. 1946 - 50: No. 15138 AMES Tai Ping Shan. UKNA ref: AIR 29/1944