Sex
Male
Status
Deceased
In the late 1930s he ran the Hong Kong Riding School.
In December 1941 he was a sergeant in the HKVDC:
| Charles R H G | HKVDC | Sergeant | 458 |
He spent the Japanese occupation as a POW in Shamshuipo Camp. The picture below comes from the autograph book he kept while in camp.
If you can add any more information about Bob Charles's time in Hong Kong, please leave a comment below.
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Robert Harper G CHARLES AKA Bob
Robert Harper Charles (Bob) was born on the 21st August 1876 in Windsor Australia.
Robert Harper George Charles
[The following is the best I can do in a short time. As you can see I have merged Sandra's (in italics) and my stuff. Hope that it's useful.]
Robert Harper George Charles
No. 458 Sergeant
Hong Kong Volunteer Defence Corps
Known as Bob – RHGC was born on 21st August 1876, in Windsor, (NSW, Victoria ??), Australia to George and Jenny
From a portrait photograph of Bob, in uniform, it would appear that he was wearing medal ribbons of the British Queen’s and King’s South Africa Medal 1899-1902
He served in WW1 as a Light Horseman (This appears to be confirmed by his medal ribbons – Confirmation of award of medals not found in UK records – therefore a search of records in Australia, will hopefully identify, his service and medal entitlement)
On the manifest of the P & O ship “Nore”, which departed from London, on 13th January 1917, bound for Bombay – appears a Robert Harper George Charles an actor aged 40, accompanied by Mrs Florence Charles, an actress (23) – country of intended future permanent residence India (No reference to them yet found in Indian directories)
Bob then made his way through Asia and settled in Hong Kong where he met his wife Mary (Mary Marr? Mary Lei?) Together they were the principals of the Hong Kong Riding School. Bob would teach riding and hold events at the school. He also had an interest in race horses. I was told he was a frequent face at Happy Valley Race Club. Their family home was on Li Kwan Ave Tai Hang.
In the Comacrib Directory of China 1925, p26 “Charles, R H “Roxor”, Hong Kong (???)
In his post war confidential report on his experiences as a prisoner of war, Bob gives his address as no. 4 Li Kwan Terrace, (Tai Hang), Hong Kong. This is now known as Tai Wan Avenue – not far from the HK Jockey Club stables.
“Hong Kong Riding School-Tai Hang Road:Teleph 33833. R H Charles, manager” (Directory & Chronicle of China etc. 1941)
Not yet clear when Bob joined the HKVDC, but duties of Sgt. Maj. (sic) HKVDC are outlined on pp 169 and 170 of ‘Second to None’, regimental history by Phillip Bruce OUP 1991
Bob also wrote for a local newspaper, although I do not have any details of this. They had two daughters Greta and Mavis. His wife Mary passed away a couple of months before the Japanese invaded. Bob joined the HKVDC. During the invasion he entrusted the girls with the staff from the riding school where they hid in a cave near the riding school. When Bob managed to get back to the riding school it had been looted. He knew where the girls and staff would be hiding, found them and took the girls to the Canossian Convent on Caine Rd. They were then moved to Rosary Hill.
Bob was mobilised upon the Japanese attack on 8th December 1941 (“unallocated HKVDC”). On the defeat of Hong Kong on Christmas Day 1941, all troops surrendered (Bob at Caine Road), and on 30th December 1941 he, and most of the other ranks were interned in the Shamshuipo Camp in north western Kowloon; the Camp Leader, at one time, being Major Boone, and Block Leader Sgt. Maj. Pool. (Bob’s British Prisoner Card 3601). He is also noted as “in smuggled list under R A M C”.
Probably the oldest POW in HK.
the girls were taken to the civilian camp, St Rose of Lima in Macau.
He was known for his skill of drawing. (As seen on the cover of the La Czigane autograph book.) (This is a misunderstanding – although some of the drawings in his autograph book are unattributed, others were drawn by Bob Periera, F M Thompson, Ron Edwards, etc. and the published drawing by Marciano F Baptista).
On his prisoner of War card, compiled under the authority of the Japanese Administration, (WO 345/10), Bob’s overseas contact is given as Mrs R H Charles (wife), 12 Compson Road, Adelaide, Australia, and in HKVDC service record as - Next of Kin (“most recent”) – Florence Irene Charles of that address.
Bob was released from captivity on 5th September 1945
At the end of the war in 1945 he found his girls. He had to seek approval from the Hong Kong Governor for the issue of an exit permit for the girls to leave Macau. They returned to Australia on an aircraft carrier – HM Slinger, arriving on 25th October 1945, to Red Cross Hostel, St Mary’s, N S W. POW leave commencing on 30th October.
Bob was awarded the 1939/45 Star, Pacific Star, Defence Medal and War Medal
He lived and worked in many suburbs of Sydney but settled on the Northern Beaches. (a gardener at Mona Vale, a college at Bellevue Hill)
He passed away on the 18th June 1960, and was buried at Mona Vale (Turimeeta) Cemetery, NSW.