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Battle of Hong Kong

Battle of Hong Kong
Part of the Pacific War
Battle of Hong Kong:HKbattle
Map showing how Hong Kong came under Japanese rule in December 1941.
Date 8 December 1941 - 25 December 1941
Location Hong Kong and proximity
Result Japanese victory
Combatants
British Army
Canadian Army
British Indian Army		 Imperial Japanese Army
Commanders
Mark Aitchison Young Sakai Takashi
Strength
15,000 troops 50,000 troops
Casualties
4,500 killed
8,500 POWs		 2,750 killed
1,500 wounded
Pacific campaigns 1941-42
Pearl Harbor – Thailand – Malaya – Wake – Hong Kong – Philippines – Dutch East Indies – New Guinea – Singapore – Australia – Indian Ocean – Doolittle Raid – Solomons – Coral Sea – Midway
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 8 December 1941 and ended on Christmas Day with Hong Kong, then a British colony, surrendering to the control of Imperial Japan.


Contents

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 21 October 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 Hong Kong 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 8 December 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 10 December 1941. The evacuation from Kowloon started on December 11, 1941 under aerial bombardment and artillery barrage. As much 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 15 December the Japanese began systematic bombardment of the island's North Shore. Two demands for surrender were made on 13 December and 17 December. When these were rejected, Japanese forces crossed the harbour on the evening of 18 December and landed on the island's North-East. They suffered only light casualties, although no effective command could be maintained until the dawn came. That night, approximately 20 gunners were massacred at the Sai Wan Battery after they had surrendered.

On 19 December fierce fighting continued on Hong Kong Island but the Japanese annihilated the headquarters of West 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 20 December 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 island's reservoirs.

By the afternoon of 25 December 1941, it was clear that further resistance would be futile and British colonial officials headed by the Governor of Hong Kong, Sir Mark Aitchison Young, surrendered in person at the Japanese headquarters on the third floor of the Peninsula Hong Kong hotel. 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,1 and looting. This day is known in Hong Kong as "Black Christmas".

Wartime British Land Force units

See also: British Forces Overseas Hong Kong

Battle of Hong Kong:Hkhistory

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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 27 October and arrived 16 November. 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:

In addition to this the Canadians provided a Brigade HQ. The Canadians were initially positioned on south side of the Island to counter any amphibious landing. Ironically this would mean that when the Japanese invaded the island they were the units called upon to counter attack. On 8 December, 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 subunit to fight in battle in the Second World War, with D Company acting as a rearguard during the retreat from Kowloon. Private John Grey was killed during the evacuation. It is unknown how he died but guesses have included mobs, fifth columnets, and being executed by the Japanese.

In the subsequent fight for Hong Kong island, the Canadians lost 290 personnel of which 130 were from the Grenadiers. The commander of West Brigade HQ, Brigadier John K. Lawson, was killed. 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 a grenade, saving the lives of the men around him. A statue of Osborn can also be found in Hong Kong Park. In addition to this two Distinguished Conduct medals, two Distinguished Service orders, twelve Military medals, seven Military Crosses were awarded to Canadians. As well 29 Soldiers were mentioned in dispatches.

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. Several have published very good autobiographies.It should also be noted that much historical work on Hong Kong has been by Canadians. More has probably been published by Canadians about the battle than by Indians, Japanese and British historians combined.

Japanese occupation

Battle of Hong Kong:Japanese soldiers marching along Queen's Road on Hong Kong Island in December 1941.
Enlarge
Japanese soldiers marching along Queen's Road on Hong Kong Island in December 1941.
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 soldiers, mainly Commonwealth, are buried there. There are also graves of other Allied combatants who died in 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.

Battle of Hong Kong:Dongjiang Guerillas fighting in trenches.
Enlarge
Dongjiang Guerillas fighting in trenches.

Although Hong Kong surrendered to the Japanese, the 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.

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

Notes

Note 1: Estimate from Philip Snow's, The Fall of Hong Kong: Britain, China, and the Japanese Occupation (see below) via [1]

See also

Categories


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

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