Surveying & Built Environment Vol. 22 Issue 1 (December 2012)

More documents

Recommendations

Info

Another distinctive pillbox was PB 419, which was also found on the Left sector. It was equally likely that PB 419 was No. 57 mentioned by Work Completed on Gin Drinker’s Line. According to the Surveying and Built Environment Vol 22, 19-36 Nov 2012 ISSN 1816-9554 figure 2: Simplified layout of PB 414 as drawn by the Japanese military engineers Japanese and recent research by Y. K. Tan, PB 419 had three embrasures and a central corridor dividing the pillbox in the middle (figure 3). 43 figure 3: Simplified layout of PB 419 as drawn by the Japanese military engineers 43 Tan Y K, Pillbox above Shing Mun Road, in Surveying and Built Environment, Vol. 21, No. 2, (Dec. 2011), 71-77. SBE 31
SBE 32 Reconstructing The Early History of the Gin Drinker’s Line from Archival Sources Except PB 414 and 419, the layout of other pillboxes closely resembled the design stipulated in the Manual of Field Engineering of the Royal Engineers (RE), issued in 1936 44 . Most of them had a width of 5.5-6m and a length of 2.5-4m and had two embrasures, such as those found at the Shing Mun Redoubt. Lawrence Lai et al. had conducted detailed research on these more standardised pillboxes, 45 with the only difference being the absence of the concrete wall within the pillboxes. As the previous RE Manual was issued in 1925, the two pillboxes illustrated above were probably “experimental pieces”. Currently, there is only circumstantial evidence to prove that they were the first British pillboxes built across the British Empire during the Interwar Period, but they certainly predated the pillboxes built on the British Isles in 1940. 46 Further research is required to discern the ways in which the Hong Kong pillboxes did or did not influence the design of their counterparts at home, or were linked to late WW1 designs, or designs being used in contemporary British India. The Changing Purpose of the Line The planned use of the Line changed over time. In the Defence Scheme of 1936, General Bartholomew saw the Line as the final position of the mainland garrison: In the event of the enemy achieving considerable successes north and west or east of the “Inner Line” – by sheer weight of numbers or by the synchronization of his thrusts – it is the Fortress Commander’s intention to delay the enemy from every direction and finally to fight the issue out to a finish in the “Inner Line” …even the smallest of foremost defended localities must fight out to the last man and the last round...troops (will be) fighting their way back steadily to the “line of the Passes,” where the final issue will be fought out to a finish. 47 Throughout the Defence Scheme, Bartholomew made no provision for the withdrawal of troops from the mainland to Hong Kong Island. The Kowloon garrison was expected to be destroyed in the attempt to impose maximum delay on the advancing enemy in order to prevent the capture of the Island. As he had deployed three out of four battalions of the garrison to Kowloon, Bartholomew was seemingly confident that the Line would enable the garrison to resist until reinforcement arrived. Nonetheless, sources suggested that he was less sanguine about the possibility of holding Hong Kong with the existing garrison. When he was replaced by Major General Arthur Grasett in 1938, he urged the War Office to deploy at least eight battalions in order to allow 44 War Office, Manual of Field Engineering, 2 vols., London: HMSO, 1933-36. Vol. 1, All Arms; Vol.2, Royal Engineers, the design is in vol.2. 45 Lai LWC (2009), 16-41. 46 Lowry B, The Gin Drinker’s Line: Its Place in the History of Twentieth Century Fortification, 61-62. 47 Hong Kong Defence Scheme (1936), Hong Kong Public Records Office, 343.01 HON, 58-59, 63.
Page 1 and 2: ISSN 1816-9554 w w w . h k i s . o
Page 3 and 4: Information All rights reserved. No
Page 5 and 6: SBE 4 Contents Editorial Articles A
Page 7 and 8: SBE 6 documents (Hong Kong Special
Page 9 and 10: SBE 8 A Note on British Blockhouses
Page 11 and 12: SBE 10 A Note on British Blockhouse
Page 13 and 14: A Note on British Blockhouses in Ho
Page 21 and 22: SBE 20 Reconstructing The Early His
Page 31: SBE 30 Reconstructing The Early His
Page 39 and 40: SBE 38 Good Property Valuation in E
Page 63 and 64: SBE 62 Modelling Gaseous Emissions
Page 75 and 76: SBE 74 direct Geo-referencing and o
Page 77 and 78: SBE 76 Direct Geo-referencing and O
Page 83 and 84:
SBE 82 Direct Geo-referencing and O
Page 85 and 86:
Page 87 and 88:
Page 89 and 90:
SBE 88 Kadoorie Hill and footnote 4
Page 91 and 92:
SBE 90 Kadoorie Hill and Footnote 4
Page 93 and 94:
SBE 92 Definitions of Land Use Term
Page 95:
SBE 94 Definitions of Land Use Term
show all

Surveying & Built Environment Vol. 22 Issue 1 (December 2012)

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?