RAF Officers quarters & Guardroom-1936

Mon, 04/22/2019 - 22:26

This image revealls the rarely seen original building that stood in front of the RAF Officer's Mess and quarters.

It looks like the buildings usually seen in 1920s images of Kowloon around Nathan Road and residential side streets.

It appears to have been in the hands of a 'Dutchman' according to this 1937 typhoon account of an RAF officer trying to return to his quarters

"I parked the car in the hangar and ran for the Mess. By the time I reached the guard-house I was soaked through as though as if I had been in the harbour. At the top of the steps up to the Mess I was suddenly hit by the main force of the gale, I ran as hard as I could, and made no progress. I went on running and lost a little ground and had visions of being forced back inch by inch over the edge of the wall and into the Dutchman’s garden 20 feet below. With a final burst I made the shelter of the Mess in a minor lull and reached the stairs to the top floor."

Who was the Dutchman living so far out of town? 

Date picture taken
1 Sep 1937
Author(s)

Comments

As noted here , the Dutch landlord resided further east in a private house. The lot later became the St. Joseph's Anglo-Chinese School in the 1950s.

The building is on two lots NKIL (New Kowloon Inland Lots) 167 & 168. It looks like the building consisted of two semi detached residences. It seems to have survived until the mid to late 1950s when the current Kai Tak Mansion buildings were built on the site. Perhaps it was originally constructed as a home for the original Chinese developers of Kai Tak in the 1920s?