The 5th Anti-Aircraft (AA) Battery of the Hong Kong Volunteer Defence Corps (HKVDC) was established in 1939.
•Parent Unit: Hong Kong Volunteer Defence Corps (HKVDC), which evolved from the earlier Hong Kong Defence Corps.
•Commanding Officer: Captain Lawrence ("Lolly") Goldman.
•Second-in-Command: 2nd Lieutenant Arthur Cecil I. ("Aki") Bowker.
•Timeframe: Formed in the late 1930s (around 1939 as part of local conscription and anti-aircraft preparations).
•Location: Stationed at the Sai Wan Hill / Sai Wan Fort position on Hong Kong Island.
•Equipment: Manned two 3-inch anti-aircraft guns.
•Fate: Fought during the Battle of Hong Kong and was tragically overrun and massacred by invading Japanese forces on December 18, 1941
Type
Armed services
Status
Inactive
Date organisation created
(Day, Month, & Year are approximate.)
Date organisation closed
Photos of this organisation:
(see more)Photos of this organisation:
1930s
1941
1940s
Has member(s)
Comments
HKVDC 5th (AA) Battery - 2 Officers 65 Men
Bakar, A. Gunner 4571 K Dec 18
Baker, Laurence Cecil Gunner 3542 NP K 12.8.42 [184]
Bannister, Edgar Wallace Sergeant 3834 U Dec 18
Bosanquet, David Iver [185] Gunner NP (1)(33)(90)(106) Es
Bowker, Arthur Cecil I. 2nd Lieutenant - NP (102) BRH K 2.10.42
Broadbridge, William E. Gunner 2235 K Dec 18
Chan U Chan Gunner 4134 K Dec 18
Chan Yam Kwong [186] Gunner (24)(28)(42)(52)(93)
Cheung Wing Yee Gunner 4840 K Dec 18
Chow, George Bombardier NP (102) Es
Clegg, Eric Lionel Gunner 3486 NP (XD5)
Cotton, Joseph Albert Gunner NP
Dudman, William F. [187] BQMS 4069 (102) (XD5) Died 1977
Dupuy, James Thomas BSM 3650 NP
Eng Wah Sum Gunner NP
Fincher, Ernest Francis Bombardier 4225 (56)(87)(102)[188] K Dec 18
Fong, Stanley Gunner NP
Ho, Algernon Gunner 4239 (22) K Dec 18
Hoy Poy, Bruce Harry A. Gunner NP
Humfrey, Lorn Hamilton Bombardier 4312 NP (XD5)
Kwok Wing Ching Gunner 4317 K Dec 18
Lao Hsin Nain Lance Bdr. 4505 K Dec 18
Lee, Albert Tinker Lance Bdr. NP
Leung Fook Wing Gunner 4186 K Dec 18
Litton, John Letablere Gunner DR/63 K Dec 18
Morgan, Leonard Geoff. Gunner DR122 NP (XD5)
Ozorio, Manuel Heleodoro [189] Gunner 4198 K Dec 18
Paterson, Ernest Manuel Gunner 4861 (22) K Dec 18
Pearne, John Reginald A. Gunner DR13 NP (XD5)
Poon Kwong Kuen Gunner 4188 K Dec 18
Reed, Francis Oswald Gunner 2798 K Dec 18
Reed, Robert Cyril Lance Bdr. DR4 [190] NP
Rouban, Michael John Lance Bdr. DR/52 K Dec 22
Rumyee, Daniel Gunner NP
Stokes, George Donald Gunner 4798 K Dec 18
Stone, William Gunner DR/9 K Dec 18
Tandy, Edward J. ‘Tully’ [191] Gunner 4797 NP (22) (106) (Innoshima) (XD3)
Tansley, William Arthur [193]
Tsang Ka Pen Gunner 4198 K Dec 18
Tsang Tak Hing Lance Bdr. (90) U 1.43 [194] BAAG
Tsang Yiu Sang , Joseph Gunner (90) BAAG
Tse Wai Man Gunner 5172 U Dec 21
Tso Hin Chi, Martin Bombardier (24)(28)(42)(52)(93)
Ulrich, Albert Gunner 4614 K Dec 18
Ulrich, Peter [195] Gunner DR/72 (22) K Dec 18
Wilkinson, Joseph NelsonGunner DR/31 K Dec 18
Wong Kwai Yan Gunner NP
Wong, William Lance Bdr. BAAG
Zimmern, Andrew Lance Bdr. 4268 K Dec 18
The Sai Wan Fort prisoner-of-war massacre 18Dec41
The exact number of 5th Anti-Aircraft Artillery Company soldiers who participated in the battle on December 18 was unknown.
This unit was stationed at the Sai Wan Anti-Aircraft Battery, located behind the Lei Yue Mun Fortress (which was then an ammunition depot), the Pak Sha Wan Battery, and the Lei Yue Mun Barracks; therefore, it was not on the front line.
On the night of December 18-19, after the 2nd Battalion of the 229th Regiment of the Japanese Army landed on Hong Kong Island, a portion of them broke through the Indian and Canadian army lines from the Ah Kung Ngan area, advancing directly towards the Lei Yue Mun Barracks and the Sai Wan Battery, capturing several soldiers of the 5th Anti-Aircraft Artillery Company.
According to survivors's testimony at the War Crimes Tribunal after the war, the captured Defence Force artillerymen were trapped in the ammunition depot for several hours before being forced to emerge one by one and then bayoneted to death by the Japanese.
The incident resulted in at least 26 deaths, including several graduates of the University of Hong Kong. After the war, Colonel Ryosaburo Tanaka, commander of the 229th Regiment, was charged and sentenced to ten years in prison.
List of men in 5th AA battery listed as killed by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (Total 27)
Sgt 3834 Edgar Wallace Bannister, 28
Gnr 4571 A Bakar
Gnr 2235 William Edward Broadbridge, 34
Gnr 4134 Chan U Chan
Gnr 4840 Cheung Wing Yee
Bdr 4225 Ernest Francis Fincher
Gnr 4239 Algernon Ho, 21
Gnr 4317 Kwok Wing Chung,
Gnr 4186 Leung Fook Wing, 26
Gnr DR/53 John Letablere Litton, 38
L Bdr 4505 Lau Hsin Nin
Gnr 4198 Manuel Heliodoro Ozorio, 24
Gnr 4861 Ernest Manuel Paterson, 18
Gnr 4188 Poon Kwong Kuen,
Gnr 2798 Francis Oswald Reed, 28
Gnr 4798 George Donald Stokes, 31
Gnr DR/9 William E. Stone
Gnr 4189 Tsang Ka Pen
Gnr 4614 Albert Ulrich, 24
Gnr DR/72 Peter H. A. Ulrich, 25
Gnr DR/31 Joseph Nelson Wilkinson
L Bdr 4268 Andrew Zimmern
7th AA Battery, Royal Artillery, who were temporarily assigned to the unit.
L Bdr George Bennett, 26
Sgt Reginald Edmund Coughlan
L Bdr Kenneth Henry Macdonald
Gnr William Rhoden
Gnr George Robert Ward
The Lei Yue Mun (Lyemun) ammunition depot
The Lei Yue Mun (Lyemun) ammunition depot was part of a major 19th-century British military fortification complex built around in the 40s, was captured by Japanese forces on the night of December 18, 1941
Japanese troops locked 29 captured Allied defenders inside an ammunition magazine and bayoneted them to death later that night.
War Crime Case No. WO235/1030
Accused: Major General Tanaka Ryosaburo
Court: Military Court for the Trial of War Criminals No. 5
Specific incidents were highlighted:
1. Lei Yue Mun and Sai Wan Fort at Sau Ki Wan: Bayoneting captured soldiers.
2. Salesian Mission (medical post): Butchering male military and civilian personnel. Women were taken away.
3. Pryce Incident at Island Road (Lei Yue Mun): Two Canadian soldiers were made to work all day then bayoneted.
4. Murder of a wounded Hong Kong Singapore Artillery officer and the bayoneting of other captured soldiers.
5. Eucliffe at Repulse Bay: A number of soldiers who had surrendered were executed.
6. Wong Nei Chung Gap to Repulse Bay: Murder of personnel at various places.
7. Post Repulse Bay: The killing of 3 officers on Shou Shan Hill; the bayoneting of the remnants of a grenadier company at Little Hong Kong.
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