Special issue to commemorate the 70th Anniversary of the Battle of ...

More documents

Recommendations

Info

Chinese Eyes on British Tanks: Historical Verification of a War Heritage ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The author (Figure 8) would like to thank Dr. Lynne DiStefano (former Chief Curator of Museum London, Ontario, and current Adjunct Professor of the Architectural Conservation Programme, HKU) and Ms. Katie Cummer (Programme Research Officer of the Architectural Conservation Programme, HKU) for their invaluable input to the paper. The author would also like to thank Prof. Lawrence Lai (Department of Real Estate and Construction, HKU), without whose encouragement and advice this paper would not have been possible. Administration of The Tank Corps, Internet article at www.westernfrontassociation.com, dated 22 May 2008 and updated 24 Sep. 2008. REFERENCES Campbell C (2008), Band of Brigands: The First Men in Tanks, Harper Perennial, New York. Childs DJ (1999), A Peripheral Weapon? The Production and Employment of British Tanks in the First World War, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, Westport. Eu YMR (2008), Chapter Four, In Eu Tong Sen Biography (an unpublished draft document). Fawcett B (2001), The Chinese Labour Corps in France 1917-1921, Journal of the Hong Kong Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, 40, 33-111. Fletcher D (ed.) (1994), Tanks and Trenches: First Hand Accounts of Tank Warfare in the First World War, The History Press, Stroud, Gloucestershire. Fletcher D (2001), The British Tanks 1915-19. Crowood Press, Marlborough, Wiltshire. Fletcher D, illustrated by Bryan T (2007), British Mark IV Tank, Osprey Publishing, Botley, Oxford. Littledale, Harold Aylmer (1918), With the Tanks: I. Anatomy and Habit, Atlantic Monthly, December (1918), Sourced from the website The Great War in a Different Light (www.greatwardifferent.com). Marquis-Kyle P and Walker M (1992), The Illustrated Burra Charter, Australia ICOMOS Inc., Sydney. Mitchell F (1933), Tank warfare: The Story of the Tanks in the Great War, Thomas Nelson and Sons, London. Somers L (Authur H. T. Somers-Cocks, 6th Baron Somers) (1919), War History of the Sixth Tank Battalion, N.p.: original edition privately printed, current edition printed and bound by Antony Rowe Ltd. Stern Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Albert Gerald (1919), Tanks 1914-1918: The Log-book of a Pioneer, Hodder and Stoughton, London. Western Front Association (2008), Organization and SBE 20
Decoding the Enigma of the Fall of the Shing Mun Redoubt Using Line of Sight Analysis # Lawrence W.C. Lai*, Stephen N.G. Davies**, Ken S.T. Ching*** and Castor T.Z. Wong**** Abstract This paper explains the need for, the means to, and the findings of a re-examination of the fall of the Shing Mun Redoubt lost to Japanese forces during the early phase of the Battle of Hong Kong in December 1941. The methods of the re-examination were: (a) a comparative study of public documents and books in English, Chinese and Japanese and (b) the reconstruction of the battlefield, the defence structures and arcs of fire of the pillboxes and firing trenches at the Shing Mun Redoubt using information collected by an original on-site land use survey and generated by computer GIS techniques using a Triangular Irregular Networks (TINs) model. As the first professional mapping exercise for the Shing Mun Redoubt, the findings clarify two mysteries that escaped scrutiny by both a court martial in a Japanese POW camp and a postwar Cabinet inquiry into the rapid collapse of this bastion, guarded by 2nd Battalion of the renowned Royal Scots Regiment, which triggered a premature evacuation of the Gin Drinker’s Line. The key survey findings are that the Redoubt was not of a faulty design for day time fighting, particularly as the Jubilee Dam across which the enemy advanced in complete darkness, was well-covered by the defender’s positions; that the artillery observation post, which commanded the Redoubt, was physically isolated and un-connected by tunnels or trenches to any of the five pillboxes; and that despite certain exaggerations by the victors and missing links glossed over by the defenders, the general sequence of the actual fighting for the Redoubt recorded in the official war histories of parties to the battle was authentic. # The authors would like to thank Dr. George Lam for obtaining, and Mr. Ko Tim-keung and Dr. Kumi Tashiro for help in translating Japanese materials into English. * Professor, Chartered Surveyor, Department of Real Estate & Construction (formerly surveying), University of Hong Kong Email: wclai@hku.hk B.Soc.Sc. (HKU), M.T.C.P.(Sydney), M.Soc.Sc. (HKU), LL.B.(Lond), Ph.D.(HKU); M.C.I.L.T., M.P.I.A., M.H.K.I.P., F.R.I.C.S., F.H.K.I.S. Government committee membership: Building Appeal Tribunal; Appeal Board (Town Planning Ordinance), Transport Tribunal ** CSSC Maritime Heritage Research Fellow (formerly Museum Director), Hong Kong Maritime Museum; formerly Lecturer, Department of Political Science, Faculty of Social Science, University of Hong Kong; Fellow, Centre of Asian Studies, University of Hong Kong Email: stephendavies@hkmaritimemuseum.org B.Soc.Sc. (Econ) (Wales), M.Sc. (Econ), Ph.D. (Lond) *** Chartered Land Surveyor B.Eng.(Hons) (UNSW), M.G.I.S.(HKU), FHKIS, MRICS, RPS(LS), ALS, MCIArb, MSSI(Aust.), MIS(Aust.) Email: keland@biznetvigator.com **** Chartered General Practice Surveyor B.Sc.(Surveying), MHKIS, MRICS, RPS(GP) Email: TszChoi.Wong@cbre.com.hk SBE 21
Page 1 and 2: T H E H O N G K O N G I N S T I T U
Page 3 and 4: Editorial Board Honorary Editor Gil
Page 5 and 6: Editorial These three post-war phot
Page 7 and 8:   Figure 4: Strand Palace
Page 9 and 10: Surveying and Built Environment Vol
Page 19: Surveying and Built Environment Vol
Page 43 and 44: “Pillbox 3 did not open fire!”
Page 67 and 68: INTERPRETATION BOARDS (F) F Chard N
Page 69 and 70: Location of Pillboxes and Other Str
Page 71 and 72:
Pillbox above Shing Mun Road Y.K. T
Page 73 and 74:
Surveying and Built Environment Vol
Page 75 and 76:
Page 77 and 78:
Page 79 and 80:
Page 81 and 82:
Page 83 and 84:
Page 85 and 86:
Page 87 and 88:
Page 89 and 90:
Page 91 and 92:
Page 93 and 94:
Page 95 and 96:
Australian, Canadian and Hong Kong
Page 97 and 98:
Page 99 and 100:
Page 101 and 102:
Page 103 and 104:
Page 105 and 106:
Page 107 and 108:
show all

Special issue to commemorate the 70th Anniversary of the Battle of ...

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?