Machine Gun Post, Tai Po [1935- ]

Submitted by Rob on Thu, 10/05/2017 - 14:25
Current condition
Unkown
Date completed

Year completed is: Approximate
Condition at last visit: Unkown
Date of last visit:
Ref: ROB-00376
Other: Position approximate, from 1939 map.

Comments

I wonder if this machine gun post is the same one used by the Japanese during the occupation. It is briefly mentioned in Chapter 9 of the "Traditions and Heritage in Tai Po" book produced by the Tai Po District Council in 2008. Text is from page 220:

Yuen Chau Chai is an island south of Tai Po, where the Japanese had set up an armed outpost to watch passing fishing boats that passed by and to investigate the goods being transported. The military police that guarded the outpost had always been infamous and were much hated by the fishermen. Also, the outpost was in the way of the guerrilla force's passage on that route, so the headquarters ordered its destruction. On the night of April 26, 1944, an armed vessel was deployed to launch the attack. The guerrilla fighters swiftly shot the captain of the military police and two officers, and captured three others. Five shotguns were seized. However, this successful attack cost a very dear price – the Japanese retaliated and brutally tortured the local communities.