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For the movie, see The Battle of Hong Kong (film).

The Battle of Hong Kong took place during the Pacific campaign of World War II. It began on December 8, 1941 and ended on Christmas Day with Hong Kong, at the time a British colony, under the control of Imperial Japan.

Background

Britain first began to consider Japan a threat in 1922 with the ending of the Anglo-Japanese Alliance. This risk increased with the expansion of the Sino-Japanese War. On October 21 1938 the Japanese occupied Canton and Hong Kong was effectively surrounded. Various British Defence studies had already concluded that Hong Kong would be impossible to defend in the event of a Japanese attack but in the mid-1930s work had begun on new defences including the Gin Drinkers' Line. By 1940, the British had determined to reduce the garrison to a symbolic scale only. However, Air Chief Marshal Sir Robert Brooke-Popham, the Commander-in-Chief of the British Far East Command argued that limited reinforcements could allow the garrison to delay a Japanese attack, gaining time elsewhere.

Overview of the Battle

The Japanese attack began shortly after 8 am on December 8, 1941 (Hong Kong local time), less than eight hours after the Attack on Pearl Harbor. British, Canadian and Indian forces, commanded by Major-General Maltby supported by the Hong Kong Volunteer Defence Forces, resisted the Japanese invasion by the 38th Division, commanded by Lieutenant General Sakai Takashi, but were outnumbered two to one and lacked their opponents' recent combat experience.

The Japanese achieved air superiority on the first day of battle as two of the 3 Vickers Vildebeest torpedo-reconnaissance aircraft and the two Supermarine Walrus amphibious planes of the RAF Station, which were the only military planes at Hong Kong's Kai Tak Airport, were destroyed by 12 Japanese bombers. The attack also destroyed several civil aircraft including all but two of the aircraft used by the Air Unit of the Hong Kong Volunteer Defence Corp. The RAF and Air Unit personnel from then fought on as ground troops. British naval vessels were ordered to leave Hong Kong for Singapore.

The Commonwealth forces decided against holding the Sham Chun River, which was quickly forded by the Japanese using temporary bridges, and instead established three battalions in the Gin Drinkers' Line across the hills. These defences were rapidly breached at the Shing Mun Redoubt early on December 10, 1941. The evacuation from Kowloon started on December 11, 1941 under aerial bombardment and artillery barrage. As far as possible military and harbour facilities were demolished before the withdrawal. By December 13, the Rajputs, the last Commonwealth troops on the mainland, had retreated to Hong Kong Island.

Maltby organised the defence of the island, splitting it between an East Brigade and a West Brigade. On December 15 the Japanese began systematic bombardment of the island's North shore. Two demands for surrender were made on December 13, and December 17. When these were rejected, Japanese forces crossed the harbour on the evening of December 18 and landed on the island's North-East. They suffered only light casualties. That night, approximately 20 gunners were massacred at the Sai Wan Battery after they had surrendered.

On December 19 fierce fighting continued on Hong Kong Island but the Japanese annihilated the headquarters of East Brigade and could not be forced from the Wong Ne Chong Gap that secured the passage between downtown and the secluded southern parts of the island. Again there was a massacre of prisoners, this time of medical staff, in the Salesian Mission on Chai Wan Road. From December 20 the island became split in two with the Commonwealth forces still holding out around the Stanley peninsula and in the West of the island. At the same time water supplies started to run short as the Japanese captured the islands resevoirs.

By the afternoon of December 25 1941, it was clear that further resistance would be futile and British colonial officials headed by the Governor of Hong Kong Mark Aitchison Young surrendered in person at the Japanese headquarters on the third floor of (the hotel) The Peninsula Hong Kong. This was the first occasion on which a British Crown Colony was surrendered to an invading force. The garrison had held out for 18 days.

On the morning before the surrender, Japanese soldiers had entered the British field hospital at St. Stephen's College, torturing and killing over 60 injured soldiers, along with the medical staff.

Isogai Rensuke became the first Japanese governor of Hong Kong. This ushered in the three years and eight months of Imperial Japanese administration. Japanese soldiers also terrorised the local population by murdering many, raping an estimated 10,000 women, and looting. This day is known in Hong Kong as "Black Christmas".

War Time British Land Force Units

See also: British Forces Overseas Hong Kong
  • Infantry
  • Artillery
    • 8th Coast Regiment, Royal Artillery
    • 12th Coast Regiment
    • 5th Anti-Air Regiment

British Defensive Positions

Key sites of the defence of Hong Kong included:

Canadian Involvement

The defence of Hong Kong saw the first commitment by Canadian troops to battle during the Second World War. In Autumn 1941, the British government accepted the Canadian Government's offer, mediated by a former General Officer Commanding in Hong Kong and Canadian, Major-General A. E Hassett to send two infantry battalions (1,975 personnel) to reinforce the Hong Kong garrison. The force departed North America on October 27 and arrived November 16. They did not have their full equipment: a ship carrying all their vehicles was diverted to Manila when war began. The soldiers were still undergoing training and acclimatisation. The major Canadian units involved in the defence of Hong Kong were:

The Canadians were initially held in reserve on the Island. On December 8, Japanese aircraft destroyed a nearly-empty camp at Sham Shui Po where two men of the Royal Canadian Signals were wounded, the first Canadian casualties in the Pacific theatre, and the first Canadian army casualties in combat. On 11 December, the Winnipeg Grenadiers became the first Canadian Army unit to fight in battle in the war, with D Company acting as a rearguard during the retreat from Kowloon.

In the subsequent fight for Hong Kong island, the Canadians lost 290 personnel, 130 from the Grenadiers, including their commander, Brigadier John K. Lawson. The remaining Canadian soldiers surrendered to the Japanese on Christmas Day. A Victoria Cross was awarded posthumously to Company Sergeant Major John Robert Osborn of the Winnipeg Grenadiers, who threw himself on top of the grenade, saving the lives of the men around him. A statue of Osborn can also be found in Hong Kong Park.

Surviving Canadian servicemen from this battle formed the Hong Kong Veterans Association. They planted two maple trees in Sham Shui Po Park in memory of their comrades.

Japanese occupation

Main article: Japanese Occupation of Hong Kong

Prisoners of war were sent to:

Enemy civilians (meaning Allied nationals) were interned at the Stanley Internment Camp. Initially, there were 2400 internees although this number was reduced following some repatriations during the war. Internees who died, together with prisoners executed by the Japanese are buried in Stanley Cemetery.

The Allied dead from the campaign, including British, Canadian and Indian soldiers were eventually interred at the Sai Wan Military Cemetery on the northeastern corner of Hong Kong Island. A total of 1,528, mainly Commonwealth soldiers are buried there. There are also graves of other Allied combatants who died on Hong Kong during the War, including some Dutch sailors.

The shield in the colonial coat of arms of Hong Kong granted in 1959 featured the battlement design to commemorate the Defence of Hong Kong during World War II. The arms was in use until 1997 when it was replaced by the current regional emblem.

Although Hong Kong surrendered to the Japanese, local Chinese waged a small guerilla war in New Territories. However, because of the resistance, some villages were razed as a punishment. The guerillas fought until the end of the Japanese occupation. Western historical books on the subject have not significantly covered their actions. The resistance groups were known as the Gangjiu and Dongjiang forces.

Hong Kong was eventually retaken in 1945, following the surrender of the Japanese forces on August 15, less than a week after the United States had dropped atomic bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Notes

Estimate from Philip Snow's, The Fall of Hong Kong: Britain, China, and the Japanese Occupation (see below) via *

See also

External links and references

Battles of Canada | History of Hong Kong | Military of Hong Kong under British rule | World War II operations and battles of the East Asian Theatre

香港保衛戰

 

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the "Battle of Hong Kong".

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