The Battle for Hong Kong
We owe a great debt of gratitude to the men and women in that far off corner of the world and we must not forget what they gave.
We want to thank and remember all the defending forces.
This is only a brief overview and we have tried not to include the names of any units or which arm of the services they were in unless necessary.
What is important for us to convey is that all the defending forces gave their all and still fought on despite facing overwhelming odds with outdated and insufficient equipment, the knowledge that help would be unlikely and the end inevitable.
There were many acts of selfless bravery. Some are recorded and some not.
Hong Kong's Fate was Sealed
The British military in Hong Kong grossly underestimated the capabilities of the Japanese forces and downplayed assessments that the Japanese posed a serious threat as “unpatriotic and insubordinate”.
With a defending force of just over 14,000 and an attacking force of nearly 27,000, superior numbers of ships and planes, the fate of the colony was sealed.
Attack... Not If... When
An attack on Hong Kong was not so much of an if, but more of a when. As long ago as 1921 when the Anglo-Japanese Alliance ended, there were thoughts of a future invasion. British defence studies showed that Hong Kong would always be extremely hard to defend and the threat increased throughout the 1930s. Improvements to its various defences were undertaken, but when Japan occupied Canton on the 21st Oct 1938, Hong Kong was theoretically surrounded.
Withdrawal?
By 1940, Britain had decided to reduce the Hong Kong garrison to a symbolic size and so no more troops were sent. When a year later Britain was ready to withdraw completely, Canada offered their help. The garrison, occupying Hong Kong Island, Kowloon and the New Territories was increased to about 14,500, made up of British and Indian troops, including the Navy and the RAF, local colonial forces and auxiliary defence units. The idea being that this would provide a sound military deterrent against Japan and reassure the Chinese leader, Chiang Kai-shek, that the British were indeed serious about defending the colony of Hong Kong.
The Plan for Defence
The plan for the defence of Hong Kong was that the fighting in Kowloon and the New Territories was to be a delaying action, which would give the engineers enough time to destroy all of the vital infrastructure, which had been built up over the years. The Gin Drinkers Line (GDL), which was part of the improvements built in the 1930s, was expected to hold out for three weeks. This would also give all of the defenders time to withdraw to Hong Kong Island, which they could defend and prevent access to the harbour, until reinforcements arrived from Singapore, or the Philippines.
In the end, the Gin Drinkers Line delayed the attack by approximately 6 hours!
The Battle for Hong Kong Begins...
All times are local Hong Kong time
8th December 1941
- 0248
- The Japanese attacked Pearl Harbour.
- 0450
- Radio Tokyo announced “war was imminent”.
- 0500
- British engineers began blowing up bridges, which were likely invasion routes into Kowloon and the New Territories.
- 0600
- 3 Japanese regiments crossed the Sham Chun River and began their invasion.
- 0800
- The Japanese Airforce bombed Kai Tak Airport, although the airfield was still serviceable, 4 of the 5 outdated RAF aircraft were destroyed along with several civilian aircraft.
- The RAF personnel now reverted to ground troops.
- 1500
- The first significant exchanges of fire began with the Japanese forces advancing from various points.
As the day was in its last throws, the order was given for all allied units to withdraw to the Gin Drinkers Line.
9th December 1941
2 of the 3 World War One era destroyers were ordered to head to Singapore.
- 2300
- The defending force detected movement as the attack on the Gin Drinkers Line began.
10th December 1941
- 0500
- Apart from one position, the Gin Drinkers Line was lost.
- The Gin Drinkers Line had delayed the attack by approximately 6 hours!
…and so the attack and defence continued.
11th December 1941
It was decided that Kowloon and the New Territories were untenable and the defence of Hong Kong Island was the priority.
The evacuation of all the defending forces and demolition of coastal guns etc were ordered.
13th December 1941
By early morning the evacuation was complete.
The Japanese offered terms for surrender by the Allies, but these were refused and the Japanese immediately began bombarding the island with artillery fire followed by air bombardments.
By 18th December 1941
6 Japanese battalions had landed on the island.
Initially, the Japanese were held up on the beaches, but eventually they overran the defenders.
By 19th December 1941
The Japanese had begun to attack strongpoints across the island and people too.
18 prisoners taken by the Japanese at Sai Wan Battery were bayoneted to death, plus there were many reports over the next few days of atrocities carried out against both military and civilians alike.
By the 23rd December 1941
The water reservoirs were in control of the Japanese and with the pumping pipeworks damaged or destroyed, water was now running out for the defenders.
The fighting was constant and despite the defending forces continuing to do all they could, they were taking heavy losses and being overrun in many places.
24th December 1941
St. Stephen's College was captured and the Japanese killed a large number of injured soldiers, along with the medical staff.
25th of December 1941
Most of the fleet of the Royal Navy and the Hong Kong Royal Naval Reserve (HKRNR) had been scuttled or destroyed.
It was clear that any further resistance was futile and the decision to surrender was taken.
- 1530
- Hong Kong Island was formally surrendered to the Japanese.
- 2130
- 5 Motor Torpedo Boats (MTBs) and a naval launch escaped when they were ordered away, taking with them 68 service personnel and the Chinese Admiral Chan Chak.
- Until 27th December
- Some pockets of resistance, which could not be contacted, continued to fight on as long as they could.