Wartime: Hong Kong in the Second World War

Work in progress: this page summarises the resources on Gwulo that cover this period.

• Before the fighting - preparing to defend Hong Kong
  • The Historic Military Buildings in Hong Kong page lists many of the artillery batteries and other military buildings that were built around Hong Kong in the decades leading up to the war. Around 1940, many pillboxes were built to supplement the larger batteries.
  • As war seemed ever more likely, preparations were made to protect the civilian population. The government built air raid shelters around the city -  either ARP tunnels if the land was hilly, or pen shelters if the land was flat. Outside the city, shelter areas and food stores were set up to house and feed refugees from the city.
  • Out in the waters around Hong Kong, minefields were created to prevent enemy ships from reaching Victoria Harbour.
• December 8 - 25, 1941: The fight for Hong Kong
  • You can follow events as described by the people who lived through them. Read their diary entries from December 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25.
• 1941-1945: The Japanese occupation of Hong Kong
  • Stanley Camp was where civilians, mostly western, were interned.
  • The POW Camps housed the prisoners of war.
  • British Army Aid Group (BAAG)
    • Throughout the the war the BAAG provided unique intelligence - military, political and economic - about conditions in both Hongkong and China;  they also gave medical and humanitarian assistance to civilians and military alike, and eventually were able to play a part in the restoration of legal rule in Hongkong. 
  • The collection of wartime diaries record experiences through this time. They can be searched for entries on a given date, or delivered as a daily email message with diary entries from today's date.
• Japanese surrender
  • TO-DO
• Post-war
  • War crimes trials
  • TO-DO: Reconstruction

This video uses photos from the 1930s-1950s to show how the war changed Hong Kong.