RAF Ping Shan radar facility [c.1950-c.1957]

Submitted by David on Fri, 06/15/2012 - 12:16
Current condition
Demolished / No longer exists
Date completed
(Day, Month, & Year are approximate.)
Date closed / demolished
(Day, Month, & Year are approximate.)

The RAF had a radar site here in the 1950s.

I've just put the marker roughly where Ping Shan is - if you know where the radar site was located please leave a comment below and I'll update the marker. [Update 2024 - the marker position should be accurate now, see comments below.]

I'm also interested to know the years the site was in use. (Current dates are our best guess based on comments below)

Soon after WW2 there was a plan to build a new airfield here (see http://gwulo.com/node/13265). I'm not sure if the Radar Station was built on part of the old airfield site or not, though it seems likely.

Regards, David

Photos that show this Place

Comments

I've set the date the site closed to mid-1957, based on this message from Derry Martin:

I was looking back my diaries and the last time I did a duty at Ping Shan was on 23rd May 1957 and from then on it appears to have been secured by Chinese watchmen so I think it's fair to assume that the facility was being 'run down' from then on. When I visited Sek Kong in 1987, the C O of 28Sqdn. was greatly enlightened that Ping Shan had been a watching station and could then understand the role of the Vampire / Venom aircraft that patrolled the border with China and I think their role was to check on any activity that the radar unit picked up over the border. It was about that time that all the aircraft of 28 Sqdn was transferred to R A F  Kai Tak and the closure of Sek Kong was implemented. I was moved from Sek Kong on the 1st of October 1957 on my was home for demob.

Thanks to Derry for also sending us a couple of related photos:

Radar at Ping Shan
Radar at Ping Shan, by Derry Martin

 

Ping Shan personnel in 1956
Ping Shan personnel in 1956, by Derry Martin

 

I've updated the marker's location to what I think is the correct position on the map.

This photo shows there was an older two-storey building (A), and a newer shed- or warehouse-style building (B) on the site.

1950s RAF Ping Shan
1950s RAF Ping Shan, by moddsey

Both buildings are visible on this 1963 aerial photo of the area:

1963 aerial view of RAF Ping Shan
1963 aerial view of RAF Ping Shan, by Admin

 The open area, and I think building A, are also shown on the 1952 map: https://gwulo.com/node/12550?a=1#16~22.4442~114.0062~Map_by_GovHK-Marke…

Could this be the same place which later became Kong Shan. That also was a listening post and as a driver for Little Sai Wan we would have to pick up and deliver various communications.

I knew it was Kong something but I guess my brain went back to army days when were stationed at Kong Shan (one of the Macintosh forts) up on the border. Thanks for clearing that up.