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

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Decoding the Enigma of the Fall of the Shing Mun Redoubt Using Line of Sight Analysis publication) Muir A (1961), The First of Foot: the History of the Royal Scots, William Blackwood and Sons, Edinburgh. Osborn M (2008), Pillboxes of Britain and Ireland, Tempus Publishing, Chaldford. Pearson AW (2002), Allied Military Model Making during World War II, Cartography and Geographic Information Science, 29: 3, 227-241. Phang LT (1998), Sites Reflect Diverse History, The Straits Times. Rose EPF, Ginns WM and Renouf, JT (2002), Fortification of Island Terrain: Second World War German Military Engineering on the Channel Island of Jersey, a Classic Area of British Geology in Fields of Battle: Terrain in Military History, eds. by Doyle, Peter and Bennett, Mathew R., Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, Netherlands, 265-309. Smith V (1996), War and its Tourist Attractions, Tourism, Crime and International Security Issues, Pizam, A. and Mansfeld, Y. (Eds.), John Wiley and Sons, Chichester, 91-114. Stewart E (2005), Hong Kong Volunteers in Battle, Blacksmiths Books, Hong Kong. Thrower SL (1985), Hong Kong Country Parks, Government Printer, Hong Kong. Waters D and McEvan A (2005), Colin McEvan’s Diary: the Battle for Hong Kong and Escape into China, Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society Hong Kong Branch, 45, 41-115. SBE 42
“Pillbox 3 did not open fire!” Mapping the Arcs of Fire of Pillboxes at Jardine’s Lookout and Wong Nai Chung Gap Lawrence W.C. Lai*, Ken S.T. Ching**, Tim Ko*** and Y.K. Tan**** ABSTRACT This technical note explains why Pillbox No 3 at Wong Nai Chung Gap was not operating during the contest for Wong Nai Chung Gap on 19 December 1941. The explanation is based on digital analysis of data obtained by post war aerial photos, survey maps and field surveys. This is the first professional mapping exercise for the battlefield of Wong Nai Chung Gap. Some interesting discoveries in field surveys confirm the authenticity of features depicted in a Japanese portrait of the Gap. MOTIVATION On 19 December 2011, it will be the 70th anniversary of the decisive battle of Jardines Lookout-Wong Nai Chung Gap in which the lives of many defenders – British, Canadian, Indian and the Hong Kong Volunteers Defence Corp (HKVDC), as well as the enemy – were lost. “The defenders lost 160 out of 230 men engaged. Of nine officers, six were killed and two wounded” (Stewart 2005: 30). Brigadier J.K. Lawson, from Canada, of the West Brigade and his HQ staff were all killed in action at the doorsteps of the Brigade HQ near the Gap. The loss of Wong Nai Chung Gap signified the severance of the East Brigade from the West Brigade and the beginning of the final collapse of British resistance on Hong Kong Island. In eliminating this position, the invaders nevertheless suffered at least five times as many casualties as the defenders, or “more than 800 men”, according to Colonel Shoji (Stewart 2005: 30). During the occupation, the Japanese military authority erected a monument in honour of Lawson outside the Brigade HQ. This testified to the recognition of the bravery of the defenders, as the Japanese Army had a great distaste for cowardice. The battleground, as shown in Figures 1 and 2, was on various parts of the hill called Jardines Lookout (JLO) 1 located to the east of Mount Nicholson with the northern embankment of Wong Nai Chung Reservoir, on which Stanley Gap Road (renamed Tai Tam Reservoir Road after the war) ran, as its southern boundary. Three pillboxes (PBs) are shown. PB1 and PB2 faced Mount Nicholson, on the lower slopes of which PB3 is located overlooking Wong Nai Chung Gap. (A police station once stood on the knoll, “Police Station Knoll”, in this area, now occupied by a private house No.1 Repulse Bay Road). PB1 is above a catchwater, which drains into Wong Nai Chung Reservoir, whereas PB2 is below it. Below PB2 is Sir Cecil’s Ride (which we shall call “the Ride”), which is annotated as “Clementi Ride” (Sir Cecil’s Ride) in the sketches. (Sir Cecil Clementi was Governor of Hong Kong from 1925 to 1930.) All three pillboxes were built of reinforced concrete with loopholes equipped with Vickers MG gun mounts. PB1 and PB2 have four loopholes whereas has PB3 three (see Lai et al 2008). * Professor, Department of Real Estate and Construction, Faculty of Architecture, University of Hong Kong Email: wclai@hku.hk ** 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 *** Hong Kong Historian Email: kotimkeung@netvigator.com **** Research Assistant, Department of Real Estate and Construction, Faculty of Architecture, University of Hong Kong Email: tanyk@netvigator.com 1 The hill owed its name to its early use as a lookout for the British firm Jardines which, like all shipping companies, wanted the earliest warning of the impending arrival of its own or rival company ships. Jardines Lookout, immediately uphill from Jardine’s East Point company buildings, commands a view of the western approaches. SBE 43
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