Narrative: Copied from Hongkong Standard Oct 1, 1966 “After spending a night out in the open on the slopes of 3,100 foot Taimoshan, a group of 22 deaf-mute children were rescued yesterday morning and taken by helicopter to Sekkong. An official of their school said last night they had not been lost. The teacher with the party had decided it was too dangerous to continue and had gone down with six of the party to seek help. He knew where he had left the others. The party of 29 set out to climb the mountain during a picnic on Thursday. However, at one point they found loose rocks a problem and it was difficult to either keep going up or down. With six of the deaf-mute children, the teacher slowly climbed down to the foot of the hill and called in the police. This was around midnight. An 11 member RAF mountain rescue team, led by Sergeant McIntyre, Corporals Wallis & McGillivray, Junior Technician Anderson, SACs Evans, Phillips, Thomas, Gibson and Dales, and Messrs L Murray and R Herbert. They were accompanied by Fire Service Department personnel and police. Three of the firemen received slight injuries from falling stones during the search and were treated at Un Long clinic. An Alouette helicopter, piloted by Flight-Lt WTL Rigby, aided by Corporal J Ng and SAC. C.Y.A. Chow, joined in at 8:15 AM and finally brought the last three children out at 10:44 AM, after making six trips. Four of them were given treatment at Pok Oi hospital after arrival at Sekkong. One received head injuries but most of them were suffering from fatigue.”
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Comment:
Tai Mo Shan (High Misty Mountain) rescue of 30th September 1966 appreciation.
On the weekend following the rescue, a gathering took place involving the Hill-Chong Special School children and teachers and the Kai Tak Mountain Rescue Team. The school initiated the mountainside rendezvous. In recognition of being rescued a week earlier, the deaf-mute group made a token presentation to the rescue team and then sang a song in appreciation. Indeed, the occasion was a moving encounter to behold and to remember. I did not participate in the rescue but was present at the presentation and rendition meet-up. Together with the other troop members, we got into the Land Rovers to resume our journey to a planned New Territories location to participate in a scheduled training exercise. Gathering speed at a steady but determined pace and watching the proud children fade in the distance, I took a slug from my water bottle to alleviate the uneasy feeling in my throat.
Paul Terry
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The RAF Mountain Rescue Team’s diary entry for 22nd October 1966 reads, “A phone call from the officer i/c early in the morning stopped the exercise for the day. A letter had been received in Chinese from the Hill-Chong Special School. The children we rescued on 30 Sept wished to make the presentation of a pennant to the team in appreciation for saving their lives. This was done at 3pm in the Pat Heung police station.”