2023 Album
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2015 Album
After leaving Hong Kong in 2014 I was fortunate enough to still be employed on a Hong Kong project and would fly in for a week every month or so. This would turn out to be my last visit for some time.
2014 Album
The Goodbye Tour
With my stay in Hong Kong coming to an end I took a final look at some of the places that I'd seen, but never took photos of.
Not realising that I would be coming back in 2020, this album doesn't have some of the photos that I took as there is a second goodbye in the 2024 album.
2013 Album
In 2013 I had developed my interest in the history of Hong Kong and uncovered more of the forgotten Battle of Hong Kong in 1941. My intention was to explore the area where the Japanese had landed on the 18th December, 10 days after crossing the China - Hong Kong border. North Point and Aldrich Bay saw the intial landings from which the Japanese quickly fanned out to rapidly push inland.
Old buildings in Hong Kong are a rarity and after stumbling upon the old Yacht Club headquarters on Electric Road I had a look inside, and doing some more research I learned that this was built in 1908 and was positioned on the waterfront (not surprisingly). It very quickly found itself on the front line on December 18th, 1941.
After fighting through the New Territories and breaching the main defensive line at the Shing Mun Redoubt, the British evacuated the mainland allowing the Japanese to take up positions and to soften up the island for invasion. This stretch of shoreline was pulverised by artillery, destroying the Pill Boxes one by one with some very accurate fire, probably resulting from pre-war espionage to identify the strongpoints. The shoreline was defended by the 5/7th Rajputs an Indian Army regiment that had previously been on the Gin Drinkers line positioned to the east of the Shing Mun Redoubt. C, D and B Coy were destroyed by overwhelming Japanese forces. Some of the survivors made their way to the Power Station, hence the name of the road. The Power Station was defended by elements of the HKVDC (Hong Kong Volunteer Defence Corp) until the following day.
Walking from here to Central, the old Causeway Bay typhoon shelter is now Victoria Park and holds the statue of Queen Victoria that previously occupied Central on the once beautiful waterfront until removed by the Japanese in World War 2. It was taken to be melted down but fortunately survived and was brought back to Hong Kong. The statue was relocated to Victoria Park in 1957.
2012 Album
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