Gun Club Hill School, HK. July 1961.jpg

taffyroberts
Wed, 05/13/2020 - 00:06
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Gun Club Hill School, HK. July 1961.jpg

In the late 50s and early 60s our family was fortunate enough to have had the opportunity to live in HK whilst our father served there as a Petty Officer in  the Royal Navy. My three eldest brothers and two sisters arrived there in  1958 and with some additional baggage (me) we left in December 1961 to return to North Wales. My father retired from the navy in December 1965. Both parents have sadly passed but as a child I remember them talking fondly  of their time in HK. Unfortunately, I have no recollection  of my time there but at family gatherings my siblings often recount their memories of exciting times there.

Whilst in HK our family lived in  Seymour flats, Robinson Road on the island  and 136 Argyle Street, Kowloon. It was whilst in Argyle Street my oldest sister - Glenda Roberts attended Gun Club Hill School. I recently received this photograph dated July 1961 from her then aged 11 yrs old. .In the picture Glenda is sitting in the front row second on the right from the form  teacher -Mr Victor Fairhall . All these "kids" are probably in their 70s by now but my sister can  remembers some of her classmates names as follows: Were you in the same class ?

Back row L-R:

  • 1. Vicky ?
  • 2. Lynne ?
  • 3. Guy WILSON
  • 4. Alistair?
  • 5. ?
  • 6. ?
  • 7. David  ?
  • 8. ?
  • 9. Laurence ?
  • 10. ?

Front row L-R:

  • 1.Graham ?
  • 2. Nadine ?
  • 3. ?
  • 4. ?
  • 5. Form Teacher Mr Victor Fairhall.
  • 6. Frances ?
  • 7. Glenda ROBERTS
  • 8.? ...good swimmer !!
  • 9. ?
Date picture taken
1 Jul 1961
Tags
Gun Club Hill school
group photo
Author(s)
taffyroberts
Gallery
1960s Hong Kong
Shows place(s)
Gun Club Hill School [????- ]

Comments

I am in that photo & my name is Guy & my surname is WILSON. I think she was also in my class in 1959-60, teacher Mr Simpson. I have the class photo for that year and the annual prize giving 1961 showing Glenda. I will try to upload a couple of photos to the site.

Glenda is in at least one of them. Hope she has good memories of her time at Gun Club School. I joined the Army & served in Hong Kong from 1982 -1984. I worked in Gun Club barracks next to the school. One of my daughters was born in the Hong Kong military hospital. You are right about our age, I am 70.

Hi Guy,

Thanks for sharing the pics, great snapshots of moments in time. Its also fantastic that the Gwulo site is here to save and display them for posterity. My sister is standing directly behind Mr Simpson in the class pic and I think its her in profile on the left of the prize giving pic.I could not see her in the nativity scenes but we have some pictures of a fantastic kids christmas party somewhere which I think were taken at the fleet club. If the lockdown continues here in the UK no doubt we will dig up some more old "kodak memories" and post them.

Cheers

If you search for

"William Sargent" Hong Kong

then you find plenty on the only such that I know of. He's pretty much a life-long Hong Konger, but I think he's too young to have been at school in the 1960s. He's one of our snake catchers that the police call on, amongst other things. I can't remember his father's name, but he's a very approachable bloke so I guess he would be happy to help if it's one of his family members that you're looking for. A search immediately throws up his Facebook page. (Not sure if it's allowed to link such personal info here.)

Hello Paul Christensen

Thanks for responding. I think he is a different William Sargent. My friend's father was stationed in Kowloon around 1960-61. His mother was a Singaporean Malay. He has a younger brother Steven or Stephen.

regards,

David L

Hi Guy,

Thank you so much for getting back to me. The friends I mentioned lived in Kowloon around 1958 - 1962 when their parents were stationed in Hong Kong territory. They were about ages 5 - 12 the most, either went to Whitfield Junior or Gun Club Hill. They took me once to a swimming pool at Gun Club.  You have such terrific memories of the names, friends and places in Hong Kong after all these years; we're old men now!

kind regards,

David L

Hello David,

                     Yes I have been very lucky. I travelled out to Hong Kong with my parents & brother & sister by troopship, Nevasa, in 1959, stopping at all the places on the way where British troops were based or we were still welcome. I did not realise that Whitfield barracks had a junior school. We used to go to that barracks for the medical centre. We left Hong Kong in 1962 & returned to UK on the same ship. It felt like a cruise ship.

   I returned to HK in early 1982 as I was in the Army & posted there. My wife & 2 children were with me. We lived in Osborne Barracks, off Waterloo Road. We left HK in late 1984 with a third child, born in BMH Hong Kong. My wife had been an Army Nurse & had been to HK for 1 year in 1973.

We have been back to Hong Kong twice for holidays in recent years. It has changed a lot over those 60 years.

Best wishes, Guy

 

Hello Guy,

-great to have heard from you again. Wow, you must have very fond memories of Hong Kong, so do I. My family and I lived on Waterloo Road back at the beginning of  '60. I visited Hong Kong for the first time in 1997 after my family left in 1963. Even then, a lot had been changed and I cannot imagine now!

very cordially,

David