Where: The photographer was up on Hospital Road, looking north-east across Tai Ping Shan to the harbour, and Tsim Sha Tsui beyond. Here's a copy marked up with some of the roads in the area (click the photo for a larger copy you can zoom in to):

What: Most of the area is densely-packed housing, but there are a few larger buildings and landmarks we can identify. The best group is down in the bottom-left corner:

The open area at the top is marked "Possession Point" on an 1889 map [1]. It's still an open area today, now called Hollywood Road Park.

Just south across Hollywood Road there's a church on the corner of Po Yan Street. It's the original St Stephen's church in Hong Kong [2], founded here in the 1860s.

South again across New Street is the compound of the Tung Wah Hospital [3], with several grand buildings there. To the right across Po Yan Street is a building under construction. When it is finished, it will be an extension to the Tung Wah Hospital.

Up on the seafront, this building with its larger windows stands out as something different from its neighbours.

It was a government building, the Harbour Master's office [4].

Following the shoreline along to the right, there's a ship docked at a pier:

That 1889 map shows it joined the Praya (today's Des Voeux Road) roughly where the junction with Man Wa Lane is today. However it doesn't note the name of the pier or the shipping company that used it - can anyone identify it?

When: We'll look across the harbour for clues.

The building is the old Marine Police Headquarters [5] in TST. The building was finished in 1884, so the photo can't be older than that. And it looks as though the time ball is visible on top of the round tower to the right. That went into service in 1885, so we're looking at 1885 or later for this photo.

Another 1880s photo in my collection [6] also shows the TST shoreline. Here's a comparison:

The upper photo looks newer, as it shows an extra pier at the Kowloon Wharves, and additional development underway in front of the Marine Police HQ.

We know that the upper photo can't have been taken later than 1888, as it shows the Roman Catholic Cathedral (finished in 1888) is still under construction. That narrows down the date range for this photo to 1885-1888.

I'd provisionally dated the newer photo to 1886, which would narrow down the dates for the present photo even further to 1885-6. However, another source suggests 1887, based on the Tung Wah extension that's under construction. Mr Cheng Po Hung comments [7]:

that the location of the Tung Wah Hospital expansion, which was under construction in the photo, was ((previously)) a cinema ((probably a theatre)).The cinema was burnt in c1885. The Tung Wah Hospital then acquired that land and built the new hospital. so the date of this photo should be around 1887.

A search for "Tung Wah" in the newspapers didn't turn up any mentions of this extension, so I haven't been able to confirm the date. I'll stick with early 1886 as my guess for this photo's date, but corrections are welcome.

Who: The only people we can see are the bricklayers, hard at work on the Tung Wah extension:

Here they're working on straight walls, but we can also see they wooden forms they've made to help them build neat brick arches:

Trivia: Here's how the photo looked before restoration:

That line sweeping down across the photo looks like a bad scratch, but in fact there isn't any damage to the photo's surface. Instead it was caused by a crack in the glass plate negative. The crack hadn't completely broken the plate in two yet, so the photographer was still using it to make prints for sale. But you'd wonder how many customers would buy the photo with a line across it like this.

From the other photos it was sold with, I guess that the original owner bought it around 1900. The glass plate was already over 10 years old, and coming to the end of its life.

References:

1. "(1889) The City of Victoria", Plate 3-2, Mapping Hong Kong
2. St Stephen's Church
3. Tung Wah Hospital
4. Harbour Master's Office
5. Marine Police Headquarters
6. c.1886 View over Central and the Harbour
7. Mr Cheng's comments: http://gwulo.com/node/5132#comment-11166

Here are the ten most popular pages on Gwulo in 2013:<!--break-->

10. "A guided walk around Mount Davis", viewed 1,441 times

This was one of the first pages I wrote, way back in 2006. It's a nice surprise to see people still read it! If you fancy a gentle walk after eating too much turkey this Christmas, please click here to visit the page. 

9. "c.1961 Cine-film of Hong Kong", viewed 1,653 times

Tania Scott uploaded these films, taken by her father in the early 1960s. Here's a sample:

Click here to see the full list of films from Tania.

8. "1972 Po Shan Road landslide / Kotewall Road disaster", viewed 1,657 times

The page starts with this photo:

Then carries on with comments from readers who remember the incident. Click here to view. 

7.  "Inscriptions for cemetery sections 17-47", viewed 1,749 times

This page lists inscriptions on the gravestones in the Hong Kong Cemetery, painstakingly collected by Patricia Lim. They're a glimpse into the lives of previous residents of old Hong Kong, who might otherwise have been forgotten. They're also a great tool for anyone researching their ancestors who lived and died here.

Here are a couple of extracts from the list that caught my eye. First a lady who'd survived the war years, only to die shortly after liberation:

Sacred to the memory
of Helen
the beloved wife of D. C. W. Fitches
who ascended from this transitory abode
on 15th October 1945
aged 41 years
And while she lies in peaceful sleep
her memory we shall always keep

While this one is a reminder of how unhealthy a place Hong Kong was to live in earlier years, and how that often meant re-marriages:

Agnes Mary wife of
William B.A. Moore
died 6th December 1914
and of
Ethel Eileen his second wife
died February 28th 1923
I will never leave thee nor forsake thee

Click here to view the full list. 

6. "1845 Map of Hong Kong", viewed 1,779 times

This is one of the pages I'm proudest of. It combines a beautiful old map, the use of modern technology to overlay it on a modern map, and the many Places that Gwulo's contributors have created over the years. Click here to view. 

5. "Royal Hong Kong Police", viewed 1,783 times

A useful list of resources about the history of Hong Kong's Police Force, compiled by Gwulo's contributors. Click here to view. 

4. "Kai Tak Airport History", viewed 1,823 times

Though it has been closed for over fifteen years, Kai Tak remains a popular topic. The hair-raising descent into Kai Tak was certainly unforgettable. Click here to view the page. 

3. "Hong Kong under Japanese rule", viewed 2,276 times

This is the most popular page in Andrew Craig-Bennett's excellent series: A simple history of Hong Kong. This page covers the dark "3 years, 8 months" period in the Second World War. Click here to view. 

2. "Hong Kong 1960s & 70s : Mike Cussans' photos", viewed 4,965 times

Mike Cussans has generously scanned and uploaded over 200 colour photos of Hong Kong taken by Mike and his father. Here are a few samples:

Click here to see the full set. 

1. "Who is Bruce Lee's biology maternal grandmother what's his German blood come from ?", viewed 6,397 times

6,397 times... so on average this page gets viewed 17 times a day! Who knew that the identity of Bruce Lee's grandmother was such a burning issue? Click here to join in the discussion.

Hopefully the list includes some of your favourite pages on Gwulo?

Regards, David

* The "viewed N,NNN times" number comes from Google Analytics. It counts the number of times the page has been viewed in a web browser between January 1 and December 15, 2013.

As one person could view the page more than once, the number of unique individuals who have viewed the page is smaller, typically 75-80% of the numbers shown above.

We've got several old Hong Kong Christmas cards in the photo galleries. Here's the oldest, from the early 1900s:

The setting is a familiar scene for a Christmas card, but it was likely a new experience for the children. The card is titled "Unterm Weihnachtsbaum im Blindenheim in Hongkong (China)", or "Under the Christmas tree at the home for the blind in Hongkong (China)" [1].

Several of the other cards were sent by members of the armed forces stationed in Hong Kong. Here's one from "The Withycombes", sent in 1912:

The photos inside the card capture a big change these Yorkshiremen had seen during their stay in Hong Kong, the disappearance of the queue after the revolution in China [2]:

This was a typical card design for the time: choose a picture that would show some foreign aspect of life in Hong Kong to the mothers, wives and girlfriends reading the cards back home in the UK.

Fourty years later, this Christmas card card still followed a similar approach. It was printed "H Q Land Forces" and sent to Pauline by her late husband in 1954:

But the RAF's 28 Squadron at Kai Tak took a different artistic direction. Contributor IDJ says they had "a tradition of decorating their Christmas cards with young ladies working as BOAC ground hostesses." Here's the photo on their 1957 Christmas card:

You have to hope they also had a plainer card to send home to wives and girlfriends, otherwise their chances of a Happy New Year were slim!

Merry Christmas to you and your family,

Regards, David

PS Thanks to Christoph, Pauline and IDJ for the cards shown above. If you have any old Hong Kong Christmas cards, we'd love to see them. Here's how to upload a photo to the website.

References:

1. Hildesheim Mission for the Blind
2. 1912: Farewell to the Queue

We're spoilt for choice at the moment, with four different exhibitions underway. (If you're reading this from outside Hong Kong, I've added some other ways to see these photos at the bottom of the page.)

This is the last message for 2013, so before we look at those exhibitions, let me wish you a very happy and healthy new year.

Regards, David

1. John Thomson's photos at the Maritime Museum

They have over eighty of Thomson's photos of Hong Kong and China on display, all taken within a year or two of 1870. The photos have been blown up so there is lots of detail to see. Here's a view of the Praya, with the hills looking very barren and imposing in the background:

Entrance to the exhibition is included in the price of the ticket to the museum, so allow enough time to visit both.

The exhibition runs until 16th February, click here for details.
 

2. Early Photographs of Hong Kong, c. 1862 - 1900, at Wattis Fine Art

Up the hill on Hollywood Road, the walls at Wattis Fine Art are currently covered with an interesting selection of photographs. This photo shows the Happy Valley Stadium decked out to celebrate Queen Victoria's diamond jubilee in 1897:

They're different from the Thomson photos, as they're old originals rather than recent re-prints. That means the individual photos are smaller, but there's a bigger selection, and each one has a good write-up explaining what's in the photo. Well worth a visit to see, and they're all for sale if any catch your eye.

The exhibition runs until 28th January, click here for details.
 

3. Changing Causeway Bay at Lee Gardens

Hats off to Hysan, who have an exhibition that shows the history of the Causeway Bay area. Lots of photos to see, and plenty of written information to absorb.

It's on show in the lobbies of the Lee Gardens office building, from the ground floor up to the 3/F. The only mention I can find of it online is this press release. It doesn't give an end date for the exhibition, so better see it while you can.
 

4. Photos of Old Hong Kong at the Museum of History

I haven't seen this one yet, but plan to see it soon. It includes photos from the museum's own extensive collection, and others from a new collection of 10,000 Hong Kong & China photos they've received on loan.

I'm curious to see what this means too:

"... the exhibition will employ advanced technology and creative skills for producing a series of multimedia programmes, in which the scenes of old Hong Kong will be reconstructed through utilizing the old photos offered by Moonchu Foundation and the museum's old photo collection."

The exhibition runs until 21st April, click here for details.

If you're not in Hong Kong ...

• John Thomson's photos. The original glass plates are held in the Wellcome Library in London. The've put digital copies online at the Wellcome Images website.
• Wattis Fine Art. They have scans of the photos from the current exhibition online.
• Hysan's Causeway Bay. I can't find this online yet, but hopefully all that good research won't be lost, and will end up on the Hysan website before the exhibition ends.
• Museum of History. They have a small collection of old photos online.

And for a bonus, take a look at http://web.stagram.com/n/furkidsinhk/. Great (modern) photos of Hong Kong, each with some snippets of history and local knowledge about whatever it is we're shown.

Before we look ahead to the new year, let me thank everyone who has contributed to Gwulo over the last twelve months - every day when I visit the website there is something new and interesting to read.

Then for 2014, my goal is to upgrade the website software. It's getting embarrassing, as I said the same thing in 2013, ... and in 2012! More details on last year, and my plans for this year, below.

I hope you'll keep reading Gwulo in the year ahead, and please keep sharing your stories and knowledge of old Hong Kong with us.

Best regards, David

2013

How did last year's plans turn out?

And throughout the year we've kept on adding more photos, facts, and stories about old Hong Kong:

We've ended 2013 with over 7,800 photos, 15,000 pages, and 20,000 comments!

Of course there's no point writing all this if no-one is going to read it, but there's good news there too:

We've had a steady increase in the number of people subscribing to the weekly email newsletters and the daily wartime diary updates. (The wartime diary figures are a bit exaggerated, as some people have subscribed to multiple years.)

Apart from the newsletters, we also have more visitors reading content via the website:

I note there hasn't been much growth in the number of 'Unique Visitors' to the website this year. On the other hand, each visitor is reading more pages, which is fine by me.

2014

Looking ahead, there is just one goal for the year:

• Upgrade the website software.

This is becoming more urgent as the current software starts falling behind in its support for new versions of browsers, mapping software etc. And finishing the upgrade will allow me to add some new features to the website that will make it easier to use and more effective.

So that will be my focus from now until it is done. I don't know how long it will take. I'm hoping that in three to six months time we'll be using the new version of the website, but we'll see.

I plan to keep sending out the weekly newsletter, and I shall also continue working on the paid research I mentioned last year. But otherwise I'll be posting less comments and new information to the site for a while as I get on with preparation for the upgrade. I'll keep you updated on progress, and hope you can help keep the site busy by posting up your photos and stories for us to enjoy.

Thanks again, David

Where: We're in Sheung Wan, looking east along Des Voeux Road from near the junction with Cleverly Street. Off in the distance we can see a couple of trams, and beyond them is the junction with Rumsey Street, where Des Voeux Road veers around to the right:

To the left of the trams is an older version of the Wing On Department Store. They still have a store on the same site today.

Who: The short shadows suggest it's near midday, and the streets are busy with the lunchtime crowd. Down in the foreground a dapper gentlemen is heading further afield in a rickshaw, passing a labourer carrying a couple of heavy baskets:

What: The buildings are decorated with flags:

And in the distance is what looks like the tower of a temporary 'pai-lau', the ceremonial arches built for special occasions:

When: This postcard comes from an album that belonged to a British serviceman in WW2. The pages are dated from 1943-45, and follow his travels.

The Hong Kong pages are dated 1945, so he'd have arrived shortly after liberation. But I think that most, if not all of the postcards he bought show pre-war views taken in the 1930s.

Given the flags and tower, this could have been taken near to the date of one of the major royal events of the 1930s, either King George V's silver jubilee in May 1935, or the coronation of King Edward VIII in January 1936.

The people are dressed more for May weather than January, so I'll date this to 1935. Corrections welcome!

Regards, David

Trivia:

It would be good to know more about the postcards on sale in late 1945.

After the Japanese surrender, people in Hong Kong were very short of cash. The allied servicemen visiting Hong Kong had money to spend, and local salesmen would be keen to sell to them. I can imagine postcards would have been on sale almost as soon as the first allied ships sailed into harbour in 1945.

But where did they come from? Were there stocks of postcards that had been hidden away during the occupation? It seems more likely that local photographers had kept their negatives safe, and used them to print new postcards for sale. This style of postcard is printed using a photographic process, so if the paper and chemicals were available it would have been possible to get started printing on a small scale very quickly, and without needing a lot of capital.

If anyone has family that were in the photo-studio business around this time, I'd be very interested to hear if they were involved in selling postcards, and how they re-started their business.

In this update for the CPS Project [1] we'll look at photos of the streets around the Central Police Station (CPS) site:

View CPS neighbourhood in a larger map

The neighbourhood

The CPS site is marked in dark blue, and the neighborhood around it in light blue. It isn't a big piece of land - you can walk across it in ten minutes or less - but it contained a great variety of people, living in very different circumstances.

Let's pick the 1870s and introduce some of the local residents that the policemen would have seen.

Saints & Sinners

Two of Hong Kong's biggest<!--break--> churches, the Union Church and the Roman Catholic Cathedral, were nearby. The sound of their church bells would have been part of the police and prisoners' daily routine:

Then how about the red lines? They mark streets that in 1877 had one or more brothels [2].

Rich & Poor

Photos of the seafront and Queen's Road show the grand buildings of leading local businesses, and the organisations that served them. On the corner of Wyndham Street and Queen's Road stood the Hong Kong Club, and across from it were the Court House, the Post Office, and the Hong Kong Hotel.

But moving south / uphill from Queen's Road you'd pass through a densely populated area. Then towards the top of the neighborhood it would change again and you'd find detached houses with gardens, belonging to wealthy individuals. 

You can get an idea of the differences from this 1874 map, where you see the plots of land get bigger as we move south / uphill from Queen's Road:

East & West

Pottinger Street runs from the shore to the CPS, splitting the neighborhood roughly in half. I've read that Pottinger Street was considered an informal boundary between the more European Central District, and the Chinese area to its west. That certainly seems the case in this 1920s photo of Queen's Road Central:

The photographer is looking west along Queen's Road from near the junction with D'Aguilar Street. If you click on the photo and zoom in, you'll see the shop signs change from English to Chinese as you move west along the road.

Old & New

The end of the 1870s saw huge changes in the neighbourhood. A great fire in 1878 destroyed close to a quarter of the shaded area on the map above:

"... it was about 10.5 acres in an area framed by Queen's Road, Pottinger Street, Hollywood Road and Peel Street. Rebuilding began in January 1879. [2]" 

This engraving shows the fire in full flame. Can you see the building with two towers to the left of the smoke? That's the Roman Catholic Cathedral we noted earlier.

Then what photos are available to show us these streets, people, and buildings?

Photos - the view from above

Luckily for us the view from the Peak has always been a popular subject for photographers, and their photos often capture the CPS and its surroundings.

Here is a sequence of these photos taken over the years, showing the changes in the area. (Click any photo to see its source.)

1865. The photographer wasn't as high as the Peak, but the photo still gives us a good view of the Gaol and nearby buildings:

c.1875:

1886:

c.1894: See: http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/cdm/ref/collection/p15799coll123/id/36017

1932: In the bottom-left corner of this photo you can see that the Prison had expanded outside the current CPS site. A couple of extra Prison Blocks were built to its west across Old Bailey street:

1946. Post-war reports note that the Prison had been damaged during the war, and part of it was demolished afterwards. You can see the demolition by comparing this photo with the previous one - look to the left of the octagonal tower:

Q.15 Do you know of any other good photos from the Peak that show the CPS site? It would be good to add photos for as many years as possible, and certainly for the early decades of the 20th century.

Photos - individual buildings

Some of the larger buildings were considered important enough to deserve their own photo. Here are views of the three buildings I marked on the maps above.

Union Church on Staunton Street:

The Roman Catholic Cathedral on Wellington Street:

And the Hong Kong Club at the junction of Queen's Road and Wyndham Street:

Q16. Have you seen any photographs showing brothels in this area? They weren't famous like the buildings shown above, but they're an important part of the local history. I've seen photos of the 20th-century brothels in Shek Tong Tsui and Wanchai, but nothing from around here. 

Photos - street scenes

The photos from the Peak give a broad view of the area, and the close-ups of buildings show what they were like, but where are the people? Street scenes will help show us the people who lived and worked around the CPS.

We get plenty of choice for Queen's Road. It was the main business thoroughfare, and well photographed over the years. Here's a view from c.1890, looking west from the junction with D'Aguilar Street:

A few of the streets leading up from Queen's Road were also popular with photographers, ie Wyndham Street for its flowers:

And Pottinger Street for its steps:

Wellington Street was another popular choice, I guess to show a "bustling Chinese street" scene for tourists. Here's a view from the 1880s, with the Roman Catholic Cathedral visible in the distance:

But for many of the other streets in the area, I've only seen one or two pre-WW2 photographs, eg

The view of Old Bailey Street in 1862 we saw in the last update:

Another photo from the 1860s showing the view up nearby Cochrane Street:

And this view of Shelley Street, one street over from Old Bailey Street, one up from Cochrane Street:

(I'm surprised to see this photo doesn't look a whole lot different from the previous two, even though it was taken around 80 years later in 1945.)

Q.17 Have you seen any other good photos of the area at street-level?

Before photos - sketches, paintings and engravings

Finally, can we find any illustrations of this area from the earliest years of the colony? That was before photography was widely used, so I'm looking for sketches, paintings and engravings.

Here's an example from 1845, a sketch of the island drawn from the hills at the back of Kowloon:

It was drawn by Lieutenant T.B. Collinson of the Royal Engineers. He was in Hong Kong to survey the area and produce a map of the island, and fortunately for us he also included several panoramic sketches. Here is a closer look at the Central area of the shore:

Note that only Government Hill and the Gaol are labelled, reflecting their importance at the time. In later views from the harbour, most of the CPS is hidden by buildings in front of it. But here it stands out, and I hope it can also be seen in other sketches / paintings from that time.

For a closer view, we've previously noted this 1846 sketch by Murdoch Bruce, where the arrow points to the then-new Magistracy building:

Q.18 Do you know of any other old sketches or paintings that show the CPS and its neighborhood? There are several other sketches by Bruce that will be suitable. Do you know of any others?

The great variety in this area must have made policing it a real challenge.

I hope we can find more photos of the area and its inhabitants to bring them to life, so any leads gratefully received!

Regards, David

References:

1. In this project I'm performing paid research to find photos, sketches, and other images that can illustrate the history of the Central Police Station site. Read more about the project in the Introduction, and see photos we've already found of the Police Station, the Magistracy, and the Prison.
2. "A report for 1877 issued by the Inspector of Brothels on behalf of the Registrar General's Office lists both the registered and 'sly' houses for Chinese and European patrons in the entire colony. Brothels tended to be confined to certain districts on Hong Kong Island; the areas in which they were most numerous being those covered in this book. The addresses listed include Peel and Graham Streets, Lower Lascar Row, Lyndhurst Terrace, Hollywood Road, Wellington Street, Tai Ping Shan Street, Square Street, Wing On Lane, Elgin Street and Staunton Street amongst many others that are still very familiar." Elizabeth Sinn writing on page 265 of A Sense of Place: Hong Kong West of Pottinger Street.
3. Quote from Adam Nebbs, who has written a book about the 1878 fire: http://gwulo.com/The-Great-Fire-of-Hong-Kong

Where: We're looking west along Des Voeux Road in Central, with HSBC on the left, Prince's Building and Statue Square on the right.

When: This is another photo from the serviceman's album that he'd dated 1945, but was actually taken several years earlier. Let's see if any of the buildings can help narrow down the date.

This facade shows a very new-looking "The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation":

The building opened in 1935 [1], so the photo was taken after that.

This view also confirms it can't be a 1945 photo, as the lions weren't here that year. They'd been taken to Japan during WW2 to be melted down for scrap. Fortunately they survived the war, were recognised as the HSBC lions, and returned to Hong Kong. But they weren't re-installed here until October 1946 [2].

Just past HSBC, the pavement runs through this covered area:

I only know its address, "4, Des Voeux Road Central" [3], though other photos show it survived WW2 so it doesn't help us with a date.

Beyond number 4, we can just make out the front of the Bank of Canton building [4]. Then after the road bends to the right, we get a much clearer view of the next few buildings:

The building beyond the cyclist is Kwok Man House [5]. It's looking new as well. Does anyone know the year it opened?

Right from Kwok Man House is the Bank of East Asia Building [6]. It was their second building on this site. It opened in 1935, the same year as the HSBC building, so no help there.

But the next building to the right, an older, three-storey building with a pitched roof, does help. We know this was the Powell Building [7] but that by 1940 a new building, Windsor House [8], had replaced it.

So 1935 or later, but earlier than 1940. I'll guess 1937 as the date this photo was taken, but corrections are very welcome.

What: The road is quiet, but we can see several different vehicles:

If we have any car or tram experts reading, do they help identify the date in any way? (And if you can date the photo from the bicycle, I'll be very impressed!!)

Who: Over on the left is what looks like a family group:

When I first saw the photo, I thought they were looking at the lion. But with this close-up, I'd say they're looking inside the bank. It was certainly an eye-catching interior, with its colourful murals:

Across the street and behind the tram are these two men:

It looks as though they're carrying baskets of something on shoulder poles, but I can't make out what it is.

The people in the bottom-right corner are easier to see:

The main in the white suit, far right, appears to be studying the signs in front of him. The upper sign says "Private Cars Only", referring to car parking in Statue Square. Left from him is a hawker carrying baskets of his wares, and left again is an Indian policeman, walking away from us. Above them all, Sir Thomas Jackson stands on his plinth, keeping an eye on his bank across the road.

Questions, comments and corrections welcome!

Regards, David

References:

1. HSBC Headquarters Building (3rd generation)
2. "The HSBC Lions" factsheet from HSBC: http://www.hsbc.com/~/media/HSBC-com/about-hsbc/history/pdfs/110202-hsbc-lions-factsheet.pdf
3. 4, Des Voeux Road Central
4. Bank of Canton
5. Kwok Man House
6. Bank of East Asia Building
7. Powell Building
8. Windsor House

Let me join these two smiling gentlemen in wishing you Kung Hei Fat Choy!

What: Fish.

(If you're thinking "But isn't it the year of the horse?", the connection between fish and Chinese New Year is explained below.)

Who, When & Where: This photo was sold-as-seen, so I don't know anything about it. Can anyone recognise which of Hong Kong's fishing villages is shown here?

If we know that, the buildings in the background will help date it. In particular the one on the left, which is still under scaffolding:

Trivia:

Back to those fish...

At the start of the new year, auspicious 4-character sayings are very popular. I've already used "Kung hei fat choy", and another one you'll often see and hear is "Leen leen yau yu": 年年有餘.

The direct translation is "Year Year Have Surplus", meaning something like "May there always be abundance in your life".

The last character sounds the same as the Chinese word for fish, so fish appear in many Chinese New Year decorations, suggesting the abundance that they sound like.

I hope the year of the horse brings you an abundance of good things.

Regards, David

If you have any questions about life in Hong Kong from the 1920s til the 1950s, here's your chance to ask them.

Barbara first arrived in Hong Kong in 1927, aged 8. Her father came here to work, and brought the family. They stayed here for two years.

Barbara aged 9 in 1928

Barbara returned to Hong Kong in 1938, when her father was posted to Hong Kong for a second time. In 1940 she was part of the wartime evacuation of women and children from Hong Kong to Australia. She reached Manila, along with her mother and sisters. However the sudden and unexpected death of her father meant they had to turn round and head straight back to Hong Kong.

Here they stayed, and were in Hong Kong when the Japanese invaded in December 1941.

Barbara on Christmas day, 1941

Barbara lived through the fighting, and went on to spend the long years of occupation interned in Stanley Camp. After liberation she left Hong Kong, never expecting to return. Then next year she was back again!

She married a fellow-internee just a few years later, and they raised their young family here in Hong Kong. Barbara finally left for good in 1959, returning to Britain to live.

She celebrated her 95th birthday in December.

Barbara and her daughter in 2012

I'll visit Barbara in two weeks time, and she has kindly agreed to answer any questions readers have. What would you like to ask Barbara about life in Hong Kong during the 1920s - 1950s?

You can leave questions in the comments below, or send them to my email address:

I'll collect them up and take them with me to ask Barbara. If I can get a clear recording of our conversation on my mobile phone, I'll post that up here when I'm back to Hong Kong again. Otherwise I'll write up Barbara's answers for you to read.

Regards, David

Background

Luckily for us, Barbara has been a keen diary-writer, and has generously shared several sections of those diaries with us. Here are links to some highlights:

• 1927 - 1929: Childhood memories of life in Hong Kong.
• July 1940: Evacuation to Australia.
• December 1941: War comes to Hong Kong.
• August 1945: "Camp full of rumours and news of a truce, armistice and peace."
• 1945-48: Life after internment.

I met Barbara last week, and asked the questions that you'd sent in. Here is the first part of our chat.

Below the player I've listed the time when each question was asked, so you can jump straight to it if you like.

If you'd like to ask Barbara any more questions, please leave a comment below.

Regards, David 

I met Barbara last week, and asked the questions that you'd sent in. Here is the recording of the second half of our chat. (Subscribers, if you can't see the player below, please view it on the website: http://gwulo.com/node/19021)

Below the player I've listed the time when each question was asked, so you can jump straight to it if you like.

If you'd like to ask Barbara any more questions, please leave a comment below.

Finally, thank you to everyone who sent in questions, and of course a big thank you to Barbara.

Regards, David 

Here's how their appearance has changed over the years:

A. Single-decker (1st Generation) [1904-c.1913]

The public service started in 1904, running these single-decker trams:

B. Double-decker, open upper deck (2nd Generation) [1911-c.1914]

Hong Kong Tramways (HKT) [1] : "Owing to strong passenger demand, the first<!--break--> double-deck tramcar was introduced in 1912. The tramcar was open-top with garden seats design."

HKT says 1912, but this newspaper article from June 1911 shows they started running earlier:

New Tram Cars.

The new low level tramcars, double deckers, made their usual run yesterday. The travelling public are taking a keen interest in this innovation of the Tram Company. [2]

This photo catches old and new passing each other:

C. Double-decker, open upper deck with canvas roof (3rd Generation) [1913-c.1924] 

HKT [1] : "1913 - The open-top upper deck was not popular during rainy weather. Light canvas roof covers were then added. This kind of tram was categorized as the third-generation tram."

This letter to the editor in 1921 says the canvas roof wasn't much of an improvement:

Judge, therefore, of my ecstasy when ariving aloft I found all the seating accommodation thoughtfully moistened in order to secure a grateful coolth to the punishable part of one's anatomy, and the canvas awning, so carefully made flat, bulging with refreshing liquid that, percolating through, made one long for the society of your talented contributor, Adversarius, who, above all men, appears alone competent to descant faithfully on the charms of a saturated epidermis. [3]

He'd have to wait another two years for protection of his punishable parts...

D. Double-decker, open upper deck with wooden roof (3rd Generation) [1923-c.1926] 

HKT [1] : "1923 - tramcars were fitted with permanent wooden roofs and roll-down blinds."

To identify which type of roof is shown in a photo, the wooden roof is darker and has a vertical end, while the canvas roof was light-coloured and ended with a sloping section.

E. Double-decker, enclosed upper deck (4th Generation) [1925-c.1951]

HKT [1] : "1925 - Newly designed tramcars with fully enclosed upper-deck were in service. The new tramcars were improved further by giving more rooms for the passengers and the upper deck carried first class passengers while the lower deck carried the third class passengers. This kind of tram was categorized as the fourth-generation tram."

Old and new again, passing over the Bowrington Canal.

And a closer view of the 4th-generation tram.

Look at the side of the tram, and just above the lower-deck windows you can see a horizontal lip along the length of the tram, dipping slightly at either end. It marks the edge of the roof of the original single-decker tram that these later trams were based on.

F. Double-decker (5th Generation) [1950-c.1986]

HKT [1] : "1950 - Hong Kong Tramways had undertaken extensive re-designing and started building its own trams. The appearance of the tram body was similar to the fourth-generation but streamlined and the tram no. 120 is still in service today. This kind of tram was categorized as the fifth-generation tram."

The "lip" is gone, and there are now flat panels along the sides of both decks. Also note that the roof is flat, as that will change with #H below.

G. Single-decker trailer [1965-1982]

HKT [1] : "1965 - Due to passenger demand, single deck trailer was introduced." and "1982 - Trailers and the conductor system were abolished."

H. Double-decker (6th Generation) [1986-????]

HKT [1] : "1986 - Tram cabin was re-designed with a new look and this kind of tram was categorized as the sixth-generation tram."

An easy way to tell these from the fifth-generation tram is to look at the roof. The HKT website again: "The resistor box at the rear of the lower deck was relocated to the rooftop of the front of the tram." It's the box on the roof marked with the number of the tram, "109" in this case.

I. Double-decker (Millenium) [2000-????] 

HKT [1] : "Hong Kong Tramways launched the “Millennium” new tram on October 24, 2000."

They have a modern look that is quite different from earlier models. Too different it seems, as the latest models have returned to their traditional appearance.

J. Double-decker (7th Generation) [2011- ] 

HKT [1] : "2011 - Hong Kong Tramways launched the seventh-generation tram on November 28, 2011. It is a combination of modern interior design with traditional tram body exterior. The face-lift allows tram’s iconic image to be maintained."

Differences in appearance from the sixth-generation trams include:

• From the front: Illuminated LED destination panels
• From the side: Full-height doors on entrances

If we have any tram experts reading, I need your help. I'd like to know the years that each type of tram was in service, then we can use this page to help date any old photo that shows a tram.

The HKT website tells us when a tram type started service, but can you help identify when it went out of service?

eg we know the first single-decker tram started running in 1904, but when did the last one go out of service? I've set the dates as "[1904-c.1913]", guessing that all the single-deck trams had been converted to double-deckers within a year of the first double-decker being introduced.

It may well have taken longer, and in some cases, (eg adding canvas roofs), could have been quicker. If you can give any more accurate "out of service" dates, please leave a comment below. Any other corrections also welcome, as are additional photos of old trams.

Regards,

David

References:

1. The Hong Kong Tramways website has a good history of the service on their "Milestones" page: http://www.hktramways.com/en/copinfo/milestones.html
2. Article on page 4 of The Hong Kong Telegraph, 24th June 1911.
3. Extract from letter on page 4 of The China Mail, 25th May 1921.

Where I've looked:

• I've searched the local newspapers for articles with the word "tram" from 1910-1922 inclusive.
• The book "Early Hong kong Transport" by Cheng Po-Hung (English text).
• HKT website.

Who do you recognise in these old group photos?

Joan Izard sent in this photo of Central British School (today called KGV), showing the staff and students in 1939:

Joan can see her brother, Douglas Franklin:

And thinks this is probablyPat Loseby:

But the others are unknown. If you can identify anyone else, please click here to see a copy of the photo you can zoom in on, and so take a closer look at the faces. Please leave a comment on that page with the names of anyone you recognise.

If you scroll down this page, you'll see more group photos, dating from the 1920s up to the 1950s. Click any photo to take a closer look. And if you recognise anyone, again please leave a comment on that photo's page to tell us their name.

Finally, if you've got any photos to add, they'll be very welcome. Just upload your photo (click here for instructions), give it the tag: group photo, and it will automatically appear in the list below.

Regards, David

Where: This postcard shows the heart of Central, looking east along Queen's Road. The junction on our left leads into Theatre Lane, while the break in the shadows on the right marks the junction with D'Aguilar Street.

Who: Here's a closer view of some of the people on the streets:

There were plenty of offices nearby, so they could have beeen working locally. Or they might have been visiting one of the local cinemas or restaurants. There was the Queen's Theatre [1], just out of sight to our left, or across the road on the corner of D'Aguilar Street there was King's [2]:

We can see a couple of options for eating too. To the right of King's the three pillars have Chinese characters which I think read "On Lok Yuen". Across the front of the building we can read "Biscuit & Can??, The Ice Cream To???, S??? ?o???ain", probably Biscuits, Candies, Ice Cream, and Soda Fountain.

We've seen another On Lok Yuen store down on Des Voeux Road [3]. Were there two branches, or did they start here then move over to Des Voeux Road later?

If you preferred something savoury, back across the road there's a sign pointing to the Queen's Cafeteria:

(There's also a sign advertising "Kohinoor". Today that's the name of an Indian restaurant in Hong Kong, but does its history stretch back this far?)

When: This photo comes from the same soldier's album as several of the recent photos I've posted. Again I'm estimating a 1930's date, not 1945 as he'd written. Luckily we've got a cinema in the photo, and with a bit of work we can stretch their poster back in to shape:

"Delicious" starring Janet Gaynor and Charles Farrell. It was released on Christmas Day, 1931, and reviewed in the next day's New York Times [4]:

The Roxy was crowded yesterday afternoon and a throng waited in the rotunda for the first showing of "Delicious," a film which is being exhibited simultaneously in 162 theatres throughout the country. That popular team, Janet Gaynor and Charles Farrell, act the leading rôles in this production, for which George Gershwin composed the music and his brother Ira contributed the lyrics. The story, which is credited to Guy Bolton, is a conventional piece of sentimentality with dialogue that is scarcely inspired.

[...]

I guess it took a while to reach Hong Kong, so I've dated this photo to 1932. 

What: The building with the Kohinoor sign is the old China Building [5]. Just beyond it, at the junction with Pedder Street, there is one of the old umbrellas / pagodas that gave the traffic policeman standing there a bit of shade:

Most of the buildings along this stretch of the road are a similar height, five or six stories tall. But further along on the right there is still one of the earlier generation of buildings:

It's a lower in height, and extends further out into the street. (If you look back at older photos of Queen's Road, you'll see it was originally much narrower than it is today.)

Up on the roof of the building there's a flag. Can anyone recognise what it represents?

Looking higher up we come to the pitched roofs of the old Central Government Office buildings [6]:

And finally above that is a three-storey building with a bridge on it's left. That was part of the Bowen Road Military Hospital [7]. I thought this could be one building shown in the photo that is still standing today - but though the main buildings of the hospital are still here, this block has already gone...

As usual, comments, questions & corrections are very welcome.

Regards, David

PS This photo, http://gwulo.com/node/14120, shows a very similar area but looking in the opposite direction.

References:

1. Queen's Theatre: http://gwulo.com/node/4287
2. King's Theatre: http://gwulo.com/node/6980
3. On Lok Yuen on Des Voeux Rd Central: http://gwulo.com/node/13812
4. Review of "Delicious": http://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9905E3DE133AEE3ABC4E51DFB467838A629EDE
5. China Building: http://gwulo.com/china-building
6. Central Government Offices: http://gwulo.com/node/6052
7. Bowen Road British Military Hospital: http://gwulo.com/bowen-road-british-military-hospital

Ian Lambot co-wrote the well-known book about Kowloon Walled City, "City of Darkness". Here I ask Ian about the new and expanded edition, "City of Darkness Revisited".

David: The book is full of beautiful photos - do you have a favourite?

Ian: Where to begin! Should it be the aerial image I took one misty evening in, I think, 1989, which now appears all too regularly – and almost invariably without permission – on any website about the Walled City you care to mention?

Or should it be one of the City’s dark and dank alleys, lined above with the innumerable water pipes and electricity cables that had accumulated, layer upon layer, as successive residents of nearby buildings each installed their own supply? It became impossible to work out which pipe still held running water and which had fallen into disuse, but either way one had to run the gauntlet of unknown drips and ever slippery alleyways.

But then I realised that the one aspect of the City I photographed more than any other and, indeed, what had drawn me to photograph there in the first place was its rich and articulated elevations, and especially the caged balconies that seemingly lined every surface. Of course, these weren’t unique to the Walled City. I first arrived in Hong Kong in 1979 and in those days one could see caged balconies on most of the older tenement buildings. The streets around the back of Yau Ma Tei and Mong Kok were lined with them I remember, but their sheer profusion, on the Walled City’s south and east elevations in particular, had turned them into something of an art form.

At one level they appealed to the craftsman in me. At first glance they seemed to be very similar, but the more one looked, the more you realised that each fabricator and workshop had their own particular style. And although their purpose was entirely functional – a way of adding a little extra space to far too small and crowded apartments – each was decorated with unnecessarily complicated curlicues, arches and other geometric patterns, all given a sense of uniformity by their coatings of pale green or orange anti-rust paint.

The real fascination, though, was that they allowed the passer-by a glimpse into a multitude of people’s lives, a little like walking past homes on an English winter afternoon when the lights have been switched on but before the curtains are drawn. Here among the invariable washing put out to dry, were buckets and storage boxes, delicate bamboo birdcages, perhaps a child’s bicycle, and always somewhere or other flower pots, some with living plants growing out of them. Here was a wonderful patchwork of everyday life.

Sadly, in the name of progress, health and safety or just the elimination of ‘illegal’ structures, like the Walled City itself caged balconies have disappeared entirely from Hong Kong and I am sure I am not the only one who finds the urban street-scene the poorer for it. Hopefully, the pictures here will bring back warm memories of how Hong Kong used to be – and not that long ago.

David: Why did you decide to make this new edition? After all, the original book has been in print for 20+ years, and is still popular.

Ian: To my continuing astonishment, as you point out, the original edition remained in print for close on 20 years.

It was produced in a pre-digital age – difficult to imagine now – and only existed on the original films from which the printing plates are produced. As a consequence, changing anything apart from the cover was all but impossible.

For various reasons aspects of the City’s growth and recent history had been omitted from the original book, which had always bothered me, so the idea of an all-new edition had crossed my mind several times. But it was the approach of the 20th anniversary of the City’s demolition that provided the real impetus. It just seemed the right time to bring the story up to date.

David: I already have a copy of the original book, so should I buy the new one? How much new and different material will there be?

Ian: Naturally, we will be using all of the best of the photographs and resident interviews from the original edition again, though reorganised and reformatted, and both Greg and I have found a number of really very good photographs we took at the time that somehow never made the cut. Most importantly, though, the passing of 20 years has allowed us to go back and thoroughly research the history of the City’s growth from 1949 onwards; to look again at the City’s complicated legal and political standing and how this affected every aspect of life there.

Another section will explore the reality of the Triads’ influence there, which was indeed considerable for a few short years in the 1950s and early 1960s, but nowhere near the extent of the myths that continue to swirl around the place; and finally we have looked at how the City – in reality and myth – continues to influence popular culture to this day.

And all of this will be illustrated with a veritable treasure trove of new drawings, documents and photographs that have some to light over the past few years, many previously unpublished.

((David: Or by numbers - the original book had just over 200 pages, the new one is 50%+ bigger at well over 300 pages.))

David: I'm very interested to see you're using Kickstarter to raise the money for this project, as it's something I'd like to try. Why did you decide on Kickstarter?

Ian: Funding of some kind was absolutely essential. Though we are calling this a new edition, in reality it is an entirely new book. All of the photographs have had to be digitally rescanned, the whole book has been totally redesigned and, of course, there is a considerable amount of new material, which means that what was a relatively modest 200-page book has now expanded to 300 pages plus. Including all the research, this has been a very expensive exercise.

Greg and I have funded this entirely so far, but the final production and printing involves another level of magnitude that is frankly beyond us. We needed some form of support, but raising any form of sponsorship from either government, companies or individuals here was proving nigh-on impossible. It can also involve various provisos, so I just found the democracy of the Kickstarter approach much more appealing.

We were lucky in that we already had a quite a good fan-base so it seemed a good way to go. I have to say though, I hadn’t realised quite how emotionally draining the level of immediacy and exposure it involves would be.

David: Are there any questions you would like to ask Gwulo’s readers?

In general I think we have done quite well and, as I say, we have turned up a lot of really good new material. The one area that has proved almost impossible to source, though, are photographs of the Walled City during the 1950s and early 1960s. If anybody has any pictures from that era I would love to include them in the book. Otherwise, we are compiling on our website, all sort of personal recollection, all of which I find fascinating, so I’d love to hear from anybody with a good story to tell as well.

Ian and co-author Greg Girard have taken a different approach to funding this new book. They are using Kickstarter to raise money from supporters who want to see the book published. Supporters commit to buy a copy of the book when it is published, which guarantees the funds are available to finish the project.

To support this project visit their Kickstarter page:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1060791749/city-of-darkness-revisited

And if you'd like to learn more about the book's contents visit:

http://cityofdarkness.co.uk/

Where: We're looking south along Pedder Street, from the junction with Des Voeux Road Central. Here's how it looks today:

View Larger Map

When: The buildings can help us work out the date this photo was taken.

From left to right we have:

• The Hongkong Hotel [1] (red): This photo shows the hotel in its prime, extending all the way along Pedder Street from Des Voeux Road in the foreground to Queen's Road in the distance. The North Wing [2], nearest to us, was destroyed by fire on New Year's day in 1926.
• Asiatic Building [3] (green): This was finished in 1924, as were the next two buildings. It later changed hands and was renamed "Shell House".
• China Building [4] (blue): Almost out of sight from this angle, it was a large building on the corner of Pedder Street and Queen's Road Central.
• Pedder Building [5] (red): Still standing today, and celebrating its 90th birthday! It is much easier to see it in the present-day view above. The modern buildings around it are set back from the road, and no longer extend out over the pavements.
• Un-named building [6] (green): I'm not sure of its name, but on a 1911 map [7], it is shown as "2 Pedder Street", occupied by the U.S. Consulate and Mitsubishi Co. You can see Mitsubishi were still here when this photo was taken, as their flag is flying from the building:
  
• Jardine House [8] (blue): Their second building on this site, completed in 1908.

Who: Look at this group of people over on the left of the photo:

Jogging along the street there's a rickshaw puller, and a smaller figure behind him carrying a load on a shoulder pole.

Back on the pavement the people are standing, probably waiting for a tram as the round sign above them marks a tram stop, "All cars stop here":

The hotel doesn't look too impressed with the idea of having tram passengers standing in their arcade though. Their notice on the left reads:

Passengers waiting for tramcars are requested not to obstruct the passage.

Towards the centre of the photo are these people:

The man with the large basket on his shoulder looks as though he might be delivering the laundry. To his right is the first of two policemen in this view. He's got his back to us, and appears to be holding a striped stick - something to do with traffic control perhaps? Over past the car is another policeman, this one wearing a white uniform with what look like sergeant's stripes on his arm.

What: The cars in the photo have low registration numbers, marking them as early cars in Hong Kong. In the bottom-right corner is number 1260, while the car in the previous view is even earlier, number 494:

The other thing that caught my eye is this, sticking out from the 2 Pedder Street building:

It looks something like a lantern. Does anyone know if it was just for decoration, or if it has any meaning?

If you spot any mistakes, can add any information, or have a question, please leave a comment below.

Regards, David

Trivia:

This picture was printed as a photograph (that's why the details are so sharp), but sold as a postcard. Who ever bought this jotted down a note on the back:

"I go up here every time I go ashore, as it leads practically everywhere."

It sounds as though they lived on a ship when they visited Hong Kong, and made regular journeys to and from Central. Their launch would have brought them to Blake Pier [9], at the northern end of Pedder Street.

References:

1. Hongkong Hotel: http://gwulo.com/node/7087
2. North wing of Hongkong Hotel: http://gwulo.com/hong-kong-hotel-north-wing
3. Asiatic Building / Shell House: http://gwulo.com/node/7001
4. China Building: http://gwulo.com/node/7070
5. Pedder Building: http://gwulo.com/node/5699
6. 2 Pedder Street: http://gwulo.com/node/19554
7. "(1911) Map of Hong Kong Central", Plate 3-4, Mapping Hong Kong.
8. Jardine House: http://gwulo.com/node/7007
9. Blake Pier: http://gwulo.com/node/4422

The following post is courtesy of Rob Weir. He describes the pillboxes the British built around Hong Kong's coastline in the lead-up to the Japanese invasion. Over to Rob:

Pillboxes around the coast of Hong Kong island

Pillboxes (PB’s) were built on all beaches around HK Island considered suitable as landing sites for water borne attackers, as well as the waterfront areas along the northern coast in built-up areas [1].

[Each red marker shows one pillbox. Click any marker to see its name. Click the name for more details, and to see if we have any photos of that pillbox.

Subscribers - if you can't see the map, please click here to view the web version of this page.]

The map shows an obvious exception to the waterfront location: PB 45, built overlooking the valley behind Quarry Bay.

Originally, 72 pillboxes were planned, but as a result of exercises this was increased by at least a further six, and a photo exists of another one previously unknown [2].

Built to house the Vickers machine gun, they were considered bullet- and splinter-proof. Walls and roof were 12 inches (30.5 cm) thick, reinforced concrete. Each pillbox had between two and four firing loopholes, covered with outward-opening steel doors. Soldiers entered via an outward-opening, lockable steel door.

Pillbox 30 at Turtle Cove, viewed from the sea side. We can see two firing loopholes with their steel doors, and the round Commander's Turret on top.

Close-up of a loophole and its outward-opening steel doors on Pillbox 29.

A Commander’s Turret protruded from the roof, accessed by a steel ladder inside the PB. This allowed him external visibility through an open slot, which could be closed by a sliding steel shutter. Ventilation within the PB was through a vertical airshaft on the outside rear wall and external airducts on the roof, to preformed holes through the roof. Construction of a two loophole PB was costed at £260.

The view of the Commander's Turret of Pillbox 22 from below.

The remains of the sliding steel shutter in
the Commander's Turret of Pillbox 17.

A PB crew consisted of a commander and six men for a two-gun PB, increasing by two per additional gun fitted. Fold-away canvas stretchers were used during rest periods. Two of the PB crew were designated to operate the associated, adjacent, Lyon Light (LL). This was controlled by the PB Commander through voice via a speaking tube connecting the PB and LL, or predetemined whistle signals.

Remains of a couple of the fold-away stretchers on the walls of Pillbox 21.

Construction of these PB’s did not commence until after the revised Defence Plan of 1938 aimed to fully defend HK Island only. Initially, only those on the West, South and East coasts were constructed, due to difficulty in obtaining suitable land in the built-up area along the North coast.

As the probability of war increased in 1941, PB’s were built in the missing areas, but these were of a slightly different design, characterised by individual air vents on the roof, and vertical “steps” in the sides of the loopholes. These “steps” were a result of experience gained in the war in Europe, where it was found that smooth sided loopholes, as previously used in HK designs, deflected bullets and shrapnel into the loophole openings.

Attempts were made to camouflage the PB’s on beaches, using stones and rocks attached to the exterior faces, and at least one is known to have been painted to resemble adjacent beach huts. PB’s and LL’s were surrounded by fences and barbed wire entanglements.

PB crews were considered expendable. "INSTRUCTIONS FOR CLOSE DEFENCE OF BEACHES HONG KONG" states, in part:

There will be no withdrawing from M.G. Pillbox. By remaining in action even if completely surrounded a delay will be imposed on the enemy during which it may be possible to launch a counter attack and drive them back into the sea.

Lyon Lights

The Lyon Light was a small (20" diameter) carbon light projector (searchlight) used to illuminate the area of water in front of the defences. The light had a maximum range of 1,000 yards under favourable atmospheric conditions, reducing in poor conditions, for example, mist. It had its own self-contained generating set, powered by a Briggs and Stratton petrol engine, producing 12V power for the light. 

The lights formed an important part of the beach defence. They generally had their own small concrete shelter, positioned to the side and behind the PB, so as not to blind the PB crew. A path connecting the two often had a protective wall on the sea side. (This can still be seen at PB/LL 30).

The shelter contained the light, mounted on a concrete shelf, behind steel shutters which opened out and down when the light was being used. The engine was mounted on other concrete shelves at the back, with holes through the wall for its air intake and exhaust, and there were two stretcher beds which folded up against the wall. An airshaft and duct on the roof formed a ventilation system through an outlet above the light. Construction cost of a concrete shelter was £60.

Lyon Light 16 can be seen on along the coastal path between
Deep Water Bay and Repulse Bay.

The view inside Lyon Light 4, showing the steel shutters that would fold out and down when the light was in use.

The LL was manned by two personnel from the PB crew. Communication between the PB and LL Shelter was by a speaking tube connecting the two.  Colour coded arcs were painted around the shutter opening, corresponding with the same colours in front of the PB loopholes. This ensured that, through a series of whistle blasts initiated by the PB Commander, the light would be pointing in the same direction as the guns.

In some flat areas it was not possible to get the light to a higher position, other than by building the shelter on top of the Pillbox. There are several known positions where this was done, and probably others, but the only remaining example is PB 33a. Along the built-up area of Central, space precluded the construction of separate shelters, and lights were installed in adjacent buildings.

Several LL Shelters have been identified on post war aerial photographs on the mainland, but no sites or remains have been found. No written records appear to exist.

The lights were considered such an important part of beach defence at night that written instructions at the time bore the ominous note that, once the light had been exposed (illuminated), it should remain illuminated until the landing was defeated or the light was destroyed.

Beach Defence Units

The "Infantry Beach Defence Unit" was the official title of the combination of a Beach Pillbox, and its associated Lyon Light.

Depending on the length of the beach, there may be more than one unit (e.g. Repulse Bay beach had three, 17,18 and 19). Each unit was surrounded by barbed wire.

References:

Notes:

• Because the LL and PB were so close, in many cases the same coordinates have been used for both.
• This is best information available I have at present (2014). Further information or corrections will be appreciated.

Thanks to Rob for sharing the results of many hours of research and field trips. If you can add any photos or information about Hong Kong's pillboxes, please get in touch.

An early photo this week - we're off on a family vacation tomorrow, so I won't be here at the weekend to send it out.

If you can add anything about its "who / what / when / where", please can you let us know in the comments below? I look forward to reading them when we get back next week.

Regards, David

Where: Not a hard one to locate - we're looking across Salisbury Road towards the Peninsula Hotel. What's not so clear is where the photographer took the photo from. He was certainly high up, level with the third or fourth floor of the hotel.

Here's another view of the area, taken from Signal Hill around 1935:

There aren't any buildings between the Peninsula and the sea. Did he climb up onto the <!--break-->roof of the station platforms?

Who: There aren't many people to be seen - certainly very different from TST today. We can see a few people taking a stroll along Salisbury Road, but the busiest area is over to the left:

A couple of rickshaws have just turned into Hankow Road, likely carrying passengers from the Star Ferry. Then down in the foregound is a larger vehicle, possibly a horse & cart.

What: The building on the left is the old YMCA:

It's since been replaced by a new YMCA at the same location.

The Peninsula is still the same building, but with some major changes.

View Larger Map

The original fountain was much more modest than today's. There was also more of an open-air feel to the old hotel - a large, open balcony on the first floor, and also more balconies running down the end of each wing.

Across the street from the Peninsula is this:

A drinking fountain perhaps?

Looking along Nathan Road, there's this structure on the roof of the hotel:

Does anyone know what it is used for? It reminds me of Darth Vader!

Then across Middle Road is a house set back from Nathan Road with what seems an impossible luxury today, its own garden...

When: This photo is another from the soldier's album of postcards bought in 1945. In 1945, the Peninsula still wore the camouflage paint-job that the Japanese had given it, so this photo must have been taken pre-war.

The big buildings don't help much - the YMCA opened in 1925 [1], and the Peninsula opened to the public in 1928, though it was completed earlier [2].

The building under scaffolding on the far right of the photo might be a better clue. It was a guest-house that changed owners and name many times times: Airlie House, Chardhaven, Baron's Court, <Name unknown during Japanese occupation>, and Star Hotel. I've previously estimated it was finished in 1932 [3], and as it has scaffolding up in this photo, I'll go with that.

Corrections welcome!

Regards, David

References:

1. YMCA, TST (First generation): http://gwulo.com/node/5595
2. The Peninsula: http://gwulo.com/node/2476
3. Construction date for Airlie House: http://gwulo.com/node/7439#comment-16018