Pillboxes in Hong Kong

The captioned article can be viewed online from the Public Library. It tells of the failure of the German pillbox system on the battlefields in WWI from a British perspective.

On the subject of pillboxes. I have lost the reference but I did read from the newpapers from the 1920s  that the earliest pillboxes in Hong Kong were built in the NT, one on the Lo Wu side of the border, another on the Fanling to Sha Tau Kok Rd and last one in Sha Tau Kok Village.

1928 PWD Report confirms the newspaper article

At the request of the Military Authorities, the following pillboxes were erected:

a) a large pillbox near the Shum Chun River at Lo Wu halt;

b) two small pillboxes at Sha Tau Kok Police Station and

c) a large pillbox at the terminus of the road at Sha Tau Kok

The structures were completed in August 1928 and handed over to the Military Authorities.

As spoken. The original NT pillboxes.

HK Sunday Herald 23 February 1947

Another reminder of the war years will shortly disappear, the many pill-boxes which stand in various parts of the town. Yesterday's Government Gazette contained a notice for tenders for the demolition of 28 pill-boxes and similar structures at various sites on the island.

Thanks Moddsey, you nearly gave me a heart attack. Only when I re-read the date did the palpitations cease

Much of the information on the map of pillboxes shown above comes from Rob Weir.

Rob has an article in the latest issue of The HKIS journal: Surveying & Built Environment, Volume 30, describing how he learned about Hong Kong's pillboxes. He takes us back to his first discoveries, when he knew little to nothing about Hong Kong's military defences, and how he pieced together his discoveries over time. A lot of the research was done on the ground, sometimes literally!

On one occasion the ground slipped away underneath me, and I started an uncontrolled slide into a valley. Fortunately, I ended up entangled in a bush which stopped my progress. It gave me a fright, and I was yelling at myself for being so careless when I noticed Tito, the Labrador, sitting watching me. I am certain to this day that he was slowly shaking his head.

You can download a copy of the journal from www.hkis.org.hk/archive/materials/category/HKIS_SBE_Vol30_website.pdf, and you'll find Rob's article from page 107 onwards.

For reference, the following information is extracted from the 1937 Annual Report of the Public Works Department:

Item 221 - Construction of Pillboxes and Tunnels at Sites No. 53, 54 and 65 was completed on 20 September.

I'm currently working on a project for school (FIS) which revolves around the military/colonial heritage in Hong Kong; I saw some photos on the forum of how pillboxes are treated in Singapore, and I wondered is there is a chance of doing something similar in Hong Kong?

For now I have only been around pillboxes that still exist and taken some photos, to see which ones are in good condition...

I don't think our pillboxes need a Singapore-style paint job, but it would be great to have noticeboards near to the pillboxes that are easily seen by the public, explaining what is their significance.

For reference. An account here by Benjamin Proulx of the blowing-up of a beach pillbox on 22 December 1941. Exact beach location not mentioned. Proulx and his group were making their way from the Repulse Bay Hotel to Fort Stanley in darkness in the early hours of the morning.