History Notes, issue 1

Issue 1 of History Notes was compiled by the late Phillip Bruce, and published as a printed booklet in the late 1980s. It covers topics ranging from prostitutes to poems, pirates to policemen:

• BITS OF OLD CHINA - An American resident of Canton gives an account of living there in the 1800s.
• RAISING THE FLAG AGAIN - A report of raising the flags at Stanley Camp in August 1945, to celebrate the British return to Hong Kong.
• THE AMERICAN NAVY ON THE CHINA COAST - The activities of the United States in Chinese waters in the nineteenth century .
• THE ANGELS OF WANCHAI - A Hong Kong veteran describes the prostitutes in Wanchai immediately before the Second World War, and how those same women risked great danger to care for the young soldiers during the fighting and when the soldiers were put into prisoner-of-war camps.
• MY PASSAGE OUT TO SEA - A wartime poem written in Shamshuipo camp. The author did not survive the war.
• YOUNG DAVID DIED AN EARLY DEATH IN MACAU - The story of one of the men buried in a Protestant cemeteries at Macau.
• THE HONG KONG AND SINGAPORE BATTALION ROYAL ARTILLERY - Details of the HKSRA's early history.
• SHARK ENDS SERGEANT’S STORY - Sergeant Jackson survived the fighting and internment, but made the fatal decision to have one last swim in Hong Kong before leaving.
• INFORMATION WANTED - Several questions form the 1980s, hopefully answered long ago!
• 1941 CASUALTY FIGURES - The estimates given by Major General C.M. Maltby in November 1945.
• LIFE'S HELL IN THE EAST - Extracts from a 1932 guidebook for new arrivals in Hong Kong.
• WIPING OUT A PIRATE LAIR - The attack on the pirates at Kuhlan in 1854.

Many thanks to Mr Bruce's family for letting me re-publish the booklet here on Gwulo, to give it a second lease of life and introduce it to a new audience.

New on Gwulo this week... CORRECTION In last week's newsletter about baby carriers, I used the Cantonese term 'mair dai', with the Chinese characters 背带. Those are wrong - the correct characters are 孭帶. Thanks to Winnie Davies for writing in with the correction. Gwulo book update Last week I met the broker who will arrange the layout and printing of the book. I've placed my order, and the current estimate for delivery of the books is early December. People: Henry MARRIOTT (aka Kid / Harry) [1878-1942] Ian H F KERR [????-????] Merrill Steele ADY [1895-1982] Andrew asks if the person in the photo of the flag raising at Stanley in 1945 Mr James Hill, Sergeant, Hong Kong Police, A93? And where to get a high-resolution copy of the photo? Places:​ Tsan Yung Mansions [1963- ] Luso Apartments (Former Bank Flats) [1956- ] Sung Wong Toi Garden [1959- ] Maxwell's grave in the grounds of St John's Cathedral Eastern Model Supply on Nathan Road, dealer in Marklin models The origins of the wooden arch on display in the GPO Gated Tunnel on Governors Walk, below Victoria Peak Pagoda [????- ] ​Readers' questions: Does this photo titled "48, Ho Man Tin Hill Road" actually show numbers 4 to 8 instead? Keith Clark and his wife lived in Hong Kong in the 1950s. He asks if anyone remembers "the Chanteclair Restaurant on Nathan Road or the fantastic Ricky's Russian Restaurant a couple of streets back"? Answers to previous questions: More memories and photos of baby carriers. More information about USS Jason. If you can leave a comment with any more information about these, it will be gratefully received. Some of the new photos added this week:             Click to see all recently added photos.