1957-8: Andrew Suddaby's photos

Many thanks for Andrew's photos. They bring back many fond memories of HK. And of course a big thank-you to David, too.

Did Andrew Suddaby know Neil Collins at this time. I was aged 10 in 1954 and 'Uncle Neil' was befriended by my parents around this time.

Hello, 1954 was a bit before my time.  I was only at R.A.F. Little Sai Wan between October 1957 and September 1958.  The camp's population would have been about 500 young men but it was constantly changing as we arrived from and returned to the U.K.  However, there was a lad called 'Tex' Collins (I never knew his first name) who was billeted in a room a few doors from mine on the top floor of Gibson Wing.  I do not have any photographs of him but I recall that he was much smaller than me and had straight dark hair. Hope that helps. Andrew

Thanks so much for sharing these.

Thanks to Andrew for those wonderful photos!  I have had a great time looking at them as they are of the Hong Kong I knew... We retired to UK in 1959, so it was like looking into my past.   How uncluttered HK was then, all levels of the Peak were not covered with high rise flats;  Chung Chau Island was a quiet beach;  rickshaws were still available.  The coloured photos of the Tiger Balm place are beautiful.

Barbara

Thank  you Barbara.  I was never sure whether my old photographs were worth uploading onto David's website, so it's good to hear that they are giving pleasure to some people.  I am currently working my way through those that I took in 1981 went I took my wife to show her how exotic Hong Kong was - and I think that we arrived just in time before it all changed for ever. Andrew

Hello Barbara, I've just realised that you're the lady who features every now and again on Tony Banham's website and that you were interned at Stanley.  Ron Murray, an ex colleague of mine in Carlisle, was interned there with his father and two (?) brothers.  In 1941 he would have been seven or eight ears old..  They lived in a garage of, I believe, Bungalow C - the one next to the one that was bombed later in the war.  When I took my wife in 1981 we managed to find it and I took photographs for him.  He said it hadn't changed a bit!  Ron died a few years ago, following several years of illness, that was probably due to the poor diet you all had to endure.  However, I saw on Tony's website (February, 2015) that Ron had made a return trip in 1995, and, if I'm not mistaken, you're standing next to him in a photograph. It's a small world!  Each year between 2000 and 2007 I went back for a week in November or December to explore the battlefields using Tony's and Tim Ko's books as my guides - as well as to indulge in my own bit of nostalgia around Litle Sai Wan (Sui Sai Wan) and other once familiar places.  In 2007, I took a group of about 30 people and guided them around the places that we had known in the 1950s,as well as giving them a potted history and 'tour' of some of the battlesites.  One of the babies born at Stanley was another colleague in Carlise - Alan Weir.  My very best wishes, Andrew

Hi Andrew,

Barbara is a regular contributor here too - you can read her latest article from last month at http://gwulo.com/node/28070, and at the bottom of that page there are links to her other articles.

I've made a page for Ron (http://gwulo.com/node/28877) to add him to the list of Stanley internees. We already have a page for Alan (http://gwulo.com/node/11336), and to round things off nicely he is mentioned in Barbara's diary: http://gwulo.com/node/11336/backlinks

Regards, David

Received by email:

Many Thanks for posting Andrew Suddabys pictures. I lived in the New Territories aged 7, 1959 and they brought back a lot of Memories. I still have my Shek Kong School badge from the time. I enjoy all the newsletters.

Tricia Davies Nee Fryer 

Hello Andrew,

The colour picture of Queen Vitoria Street showing the Central Market on the left is a perfect tool for creating  a "Now and Then" shot of the same street. The facade of the Central Market Building has not changed a bit over 60 years which is really rare in the ever changing Hong Kong. 

Tai Wong , Mississauga,Canada

I worked at Battys Belfry (Belvedere) from April to December 1958, so presumably came

across Andrew, although in a different intake. we were Linguists and were stationed at

Little Sai Wan1 Many thanks for the memories Andrew.

Alistair Miller

Hi Alistair,

I was at Little Sai Wan between October 1957 and September 1958 but didn't work at Battys.  However, our memories of those days  must be broadly the same, so I'm pleased that you have enjoyed seeing my photographs from 1958.  Even some of the 1981 and 1987 photographs might rekindle memories.  I shall soon be uploading some that I took in November 1987 when  I made a special trip out to Hong Kong especially to have a look round the old camp before it was demolished, so keep looking!

Best wishes. Andrew