Former King's Park Refugee Camp [1938-????]

Submitted by moddsey on Tue, 10/04/2016 - 04:22
Current condition
Demolished / No longer exists
Date completed
(Month is approximate.)

Three acres of recreation ground in the western area of King's Park bounded by Danger Hill on the north, Gascoigne Road on the south, a nullah on the east and the South Kowloon Magistracy on the west have been utilized by the Government for a refugee camp site. The camp will comprise 24 wooden huts with 18 of them to be used as sleeping quarters. HK Telegraph 14 November 1938 refers:

Photos that show this Place

Comments

Some more information about the camp from the 1938 PWD Annual Report:

212. Refugee Camp, North Point:—To accommodate destitute refugees from the war zone in the neighbouring provinces of China a number of camps were erected. The camp at North Point consisted of twenty-six huts, 123'x 18', of timber construction with concrete floors, except the kitchen which has brick walls, together with drainage, channels, water and fire services, roads and a boundary fence. Accommodation was provided for 1,512 persons in twenty-one sleeping huts, one dining hut, one kitchen with store and office, two sanitary blocks containing latrines and ablution accommodation for males and females and including a wash house, one hut containing a baggage room, creche, and quarters for the camp Overseer, and a small hut for watchmen. The contract for the huts was let to Messrs. Cheong Hing Co. on 30th September and the work was satisfactorily completed on 2Sth November. In addition, a hut of similar construction was erected at the expense of the Emergency Refugee Council in connection with welfare work.

The work of surfacing portion of Kam Hong Road and Marble Road to provide access to the camp was carried out under the maintenance contract. Three sewer and one storm water drain connections were made to the existing drainage in Marble Road and King’s Road. 998 feet of 6" cast iron water main were laid in Marble Road. Inside water service piping, and 187 electric lights, and eleven light and power sockets were installed.

[...]

217.    Refugee Camp, King's Park:—This work was of a similar nature to that carried out at the North Point Camp as described in paragraph 212 of this report. It consisted of the erection of twenty-four huts with accommodation for 1,368 persons. The contract was let to Messrs. Cheong Hing Co. on. 30th September and the work was satisfactorily completed on 28th November. In addition, a hut was erected at the expense of the Emergency Refugee Council in connection with welfare work.

A water supply was given to the camp. This involved the laying of 697 feet of 4" wrought iron main and 15 feet of 4" spun iron main. Four underground fire hydrants were connected to the mains. The inside water service and 169 electric light points and nine light and power wall sockets were installed.

Expenditure      $105,286.09

And a photo of the North Point Camp, which had the same type of huts:

1939 North Point Refugee Camp
1939 North Point Refugee Camp, by moddsey

 

After the invasion of China by japan, a lot of refugees fled from China to Hong Kong. It was the reason the government built these refugee camps. As more and more refugees came in, the government just gave up after 1949 due to another wave of refugees caused by the civil war and let them settle themselves in squatter huts on hillsides.