1945 Ruin after the war (Queen's College)

Thanks for this. I hadn't seen a photo of the war damage before, but this certainly makes it clear why the building couldn't be re-used after the war!

Hi David,

I think you could still go and take a look at what's left of the foundation of it at the now PMQ.

Thanks & Best Regards,

T

American aircraft bombed Hong Kong repeatedly during the war, but they refrained from bombing civilian areas and restricted their efforts to Kai Tak, the dockyards, dry docks, godowns, wharves, oil-storage facilities, shipping, and other targets with military value.  I have never come across any documents suggesting that the Americans bombed the Hollywood Road area on purpose, and they would not have had much of a reason to do so in any case.  That said, the accuracy of American bombers varied considerably, and civilian areas were hit by errant bombs numerous times with heavy loss of life.  This may be what happened to QC, which looks to have been leveled by a stick of the 1,000-pound bombs routinely dropped on Hong Kong by American B-24 bombers.  That's my best guess on how the building was destroyed at this point. --Steve Bailey

On the island the major areas of war damage in civilian areas were Wanchai, between Johnstone and Queens Road. Wanchai between Monmouth Path and St Francis Street. Central around Queens College, Bridges and Shing Wong Street. While many areas of Hong Kong were damaged by bombing and the Japanese shelling in 1941, large sections of the above areas were essentially leveled by American aerial bombing. The damage in Wanchai can be explained by bomb misses on the Dockyards and military base but I have always wondered what was being targeted in Central. Not only was Queens College flattened but so was the housing block directly south between Aberdeen and Shing Wong Street as well as the area around Bridges and Wing Lee Street all the way west to Ladder Street.