Sex
Male
Status
Deceased
Cheung Wing Yee joined HKVDC 5th AA Battery (Gunner 4317) in May 1941.
Cheung Wing Yee 張泳沂 was a native of 新會 Xinhui, Guangdong. He graduated from Hong Kong Wah Yan College and worked for HSBC.
The martyr was 26 years old. He left behind a wife, Chow, and one daughter.
Photos that show this Person
1930s
Comments
Sai Wan Fort prisoner-of-war massacre
The actual number of 5th Anti-Aircraft Artillery Company soldiers who participated in the battle of Hong Kong 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.
Records at the Commonwealth War Cemetery show that Gunner Cheung Wing Yee died on December 18, 1941, suggesting they were victims of the Sai Wan Fort prisoner-of-war massacre.
Today, the Coastal Defence Museum displays the keychain from the Sai Wan Fort ammunition depot.