What's new and updated on the Gwulo website:
 

General

• Beriberi, a vitamin deficiency disease that affected many of the POWs and internees in Hong Kong in WW2
   
• Portuguese ex-POWS visiting Macau from HK in September 1945
   
• Milk Diet in the Far East, The China Mail. 23rd April 1888
   
• Mandarin and Cantonese
   
• Memories of:
  • Working at Kai Tak in the 1960s
     
  • Working at the SCMP in the 1950s/60s
     
  • Path between Robinson Road and Conduit Road
     
  • Gloucester Building and Arcade
     
• Readers ask:
  • Is 萬利牛奶公司 the original Chinese name for Dairy Farm?
     
  • Looking for examples of Dairy Farm Co Advertisments
     
• Upcoming talks by David:
  • 27 April: A behind-the-scenes look at Gwulo’s historic Hong Kong photos collection, hosted by the Royal Asiatic Society, Hong Kong Branch. Details and tickets. The venue is the Visual Arts Centre on Kennedy Road. It has theatre-style seating and a large screen, so that everyone gets a clear view of the photos. (In case you're wondering if you've seen it before, it is a repeat of the talk I gave at Lion's Ink Bookstore last year.)
     
  • 28 May: In, on, under, and around Hong Kong's harbour, hosted by the Hong Kong Maritime Museum. Booking details to follow. This talk uses photos from my third book to look at Hong Kong's famous harbour through the eyes of the people that used it - there will be stories of swimmers, fishermen, sailors, and more.
     

In this week's guest post, long time Gwulo contributor gw shares what he's found out about the naval minefields laid in Hong Kong waters prior to the Battle of Hong Kong.

The Map

I stumbled across this map of Hong Kong’s WWII naval minefields whilst looking for something else in an old newspaper.

What's new and updated on the Gwulo website:
 

General

• Once Britain declared war on Germany in 1939, German men in Hong Kong were interned. An interesting excerpt from the Memoir of Hans Melchior describes what it was like.
   
• Food kitchens run by the Salvation Army during the fighting in 1941
   
• Illnesses in Hong Kong: Malaria, Tropical Sprue
   
• Last week's photo of earwax removal had several interesting comments with photos and more information about the travelling barbers.
   
• Photos of three wins at the Happy Valley racecourse in 1922
   
• Photos of Hong Kong from the 1860s / 70s by John Thomson
   
• A look at the development of Yau Tong Bay / Kwun Tong Tsai Wan from the 1950s until now
   
• New feature on Gwulo: save favourite photos for easy access later.
  • If you are logged in to Gwulo and visit a photo page, beneath the photo you'll see a new link: Add to favourites. Click the link to add the photo to your favourites, then at any time in future you can click My favourites to see them all. There are over 30,000 photos on Gwulo so this makes it easier to collect photos you're interested in.
    
• Memories of:
  • Working at Kai Tak in the 1960s
     
  • Working at the SCMP in the 1950s/60s
     
• Readers ask:
  • When did Dairy Farm's Shatin Roadhouse open?
     
  • Does anyone recognise the man in this 1956-7 Hong Kong photo? Possibly a policeman named Ken...
    

    

  • Looking for info about the Royal Navy supplying a warship in 1945 to transport the recently released POWs, consisting mostly of the Portuguese Volunteers, to Macau to visit their family members and loved ones who had taken refuge there.
     
  • Was this photo taken at Bluff Path, and if so then which house?
     
  • Looking for info about Hei Yuen and the unnamed house shown below, both on Lookout Link, Tai Po Kau

    • 

• Walks and talks by David in London and Hong Kong during the next few weeks:
  • Thank you to everyone who attended this week's walk and talk as part of HK Lit Fest. Both events were fully booked, and both audiences had lots of interesting questions, which is all that a speaker can wish for! (It's the first time I've presented at Soho House - we used their House Studio, which worked very well.)
     
  • London - Talk: The Stories Behind Old Hong Kong Photos - 1 April - Details & booking. Sadly we've had to cancel this, as there is a national rail strike on that day. We plan to hold the talk again on a future visit.
     
  • Hong Kong - Talk: A behind-the-scenes look at Gwulo’s historic Hong Kong photos collection - 27 April. Tickets now available. The venue is the Visual Arts Centre on Kennedy Road. It has theatre-style seating and a large screen, so that everyone gets a clear view of the photos. (In case you're wondering if you've seen it before, it is a repeat of the talk I gave at Lion's Ink Bookstore last year.)
     
• For any Apple Mac users who are reading, please could you try to visit the Gwulo website, click a few links, and let me know if you have any problems? Please also let me know which web browser you used, and if possible which version of the browser. This week two readers have reported problems accessing Gwulo via their Macs. I can access it alright from my iPad, Android phone, and PC, but I don't have a Mac to test with.