What's new and updated on the Gwulo website:
 

Organisations & People

There have been some great stories added these last two weeks:

• The epic is the almost 500-page Mum's diaries by Jon Rollins. As the name suggests, it is based on diary entries written by his mother, Phyllis Lang, in Hong Kong, Macau, and finally England, during the years 1941-46. When it starts she is aged 19, and studying at Hong Kong University, so we get a very different view of life in wartime Hong Kong than we've seen in previous diaries. If you had family members in Hong Kong at that time, you might want to start with the Index of Names to see if they are mentioned.
   
• February 1944 saw American pilot Donald Kerr shot down over Kai Tak airfield. His journal of the dogfight, parachuting to the ground, and the long escape to free China makes fascinating reading.
   
• Chandru Vaswani writes about his father, Assudamal Hashmatrai VASWANI [1899-1949]. Chandru knows his father was arrested, tortured, and imprisoned by the Japanese during WW2, and is hoping to find out more about why that happened. We've been able to add some details, but any extra information will be gratefully received.
   
• Moving post-war, Martin Reynolds has posted his mother Shirley Gillard's impressions of visits to Repulse Bay, Fanling, a Japanese circus, etc., after she came out to HK in 1956 as a young teacher with the Army School at Murray Barracks.
   
• Stuart Braga continues his series of biographies of the thirteen Braga siblings with a page for Paul BRAGA [1910-1989], businessman and fine arts collector.

Other people:

• Cornelis KOSTER (aka Cornelius) [1900-1926] - a Dutchman who died young in Hong Kong. What was his story?
   
• David LYON [????-1941] worked in Jardines, fought with the HKVDC, was killed on 25 Dec 1941.
   
• Internees in Stanley Camp:
  • Selwyn Henry LANGSTON [1889-????], merchant
• Organisations:
  • C. W. Olson & Co. [1925-c.1927]
     
  • The Hongkong Butchery Company [????-????]
     

General

• We've had a few readers send in payments of £10 for my upcoming talk in London on 5 April. I clarify that the cost of the event is £12 per person unless you are a full time student or a member of the Friends of East Asia. I've updated the Details and booking to make it clearer.

• Photos of Hong Kong's buses through the years.

• The 1890 Jurors List is now online, and ...

• ... we've started typing up the 1889 Jurors List - please join in and type up a page if you can spare 30 minutes.

• Whicker's Orient: Three HK-based episodes, shot in 1971, of Alan Whicker's popular show Whicker's World.

• The re-occupation of Hong Kong by the British in 1945, from Japanese and British viewpoints.

• The cause of those black, wavy lines on last week's photo of the rickshaw and sedan chair on Pottinger Street.

• Readers are looking for ...

  • Diaries, memoirs and letters of British women in China between 1900-1946.

  • Anyone who attended St George's School in Kowloon, 1968-71
     

Places & Streets

What's new and updated on the Gwulo website:
 

Upcoming events

• Hong Kong - Saturday, 15 February - St Stephen's College Heritage Trail Open Day 2025. I had the chance to visit this Heritage Trail several years ago, and I enjoyed it very much. The school's history is interesting in itself, but also because the school was part of the Stanley Internment Camp during WW2. The school maintains a permanent exhibition about the Camp, with many items donated by ex-internees. Details and booking.
   
• London - Saturday, 5 April - David presents the Gwulo's Farewell illustrated talk. I gave this talk to 500+ people over three sold-out evenings last summer, just before leaving Hong Kong. The Friends of East Asia have kindly invited me to give the talk again here in the UK, and they welcome guests to attend. Details and booking.

General

•  The Japanese pillbox at Diamond Hill has reappeared at a new location, after spending several years in storage.

• Several readers have investigated when the photo of Dent's Fountain spraying water was taken, and 1897 is a strong candidate.

• A useful research resource of civilian internees and some POWs in WW2 Hong Kong: National Archives UK - World War II Nominal Cards

• If you collect old photos of Hong Kong, the Brighton Belle Collectables store on eBay is well worth a visit. I've bought from them several times over the years, and have always been happy with the photos and quick delivery. Last week there was a hiccup when I received a photo that was different from the one I'd ordered. I wrote to let them know, had a reply in six minutes, the tracking number within a few hours, and the correct item arrived the next morning - excellent service!

• A new video about Admiral Chan Chak's wartime escape from Hong Kong

• Readers are looking for any information about ...

  • Elizabeth MOORE [1884-????], born in Hong Kong, she grew up there as an orphan

  • Where was the British Kowloon College located? This was the in the mid 1890s, and it was the predecessor to the Kowloon British School.

  • Who was Arnold, commemorated by a gravestone on the Deepwater Bay Golf Course?

  • What is the story behind the two statues of animals on Bowen Road near the boundary stone?

  • Looking for the missing first episode, 'Detective' of the 1970s BBC TV series 'Hong Kong Beat'

• And two readers ask for help identifying old photos.

  • The first is believed to be from 1930s Hong Kong

    

  • The second one doesn't look like Hong Kong, but could it be one of the treaty ports?

    

Organisations & People