Everything tagged: HKVDC

Lieutenant Ralph James Shrigley - Hong Kong Volunteer Defence Corps. Born Scotland. Buried Hong Kong 1944.

Mr Whitley is mentioned on Tony Banham's list of members of the HKVDC:

• Whitley, Tomas Sydney Signalman 1321 (XD5)

Mr Smith is mentioned on Tony Banham's list of members of the HKVDC:

• Smith, Douglas Thomas Corporal V1982 (XD5)

John Hubert Bottomley (Jack) was born in Baildon, West Yorkshire in 1899, the oldest of four children of Fred Bottomley and Elizabeth Tyson.   As a young man Jack served in World War I and was gassed as well as receiving serious shrapnel wounds in Flanders. He was awarded the Victory Medal and the British War Medal.

After the Great War he studied engineering at Bradford Technical College (now Bradford University).  He passed the Oxbridge exams but the family could not afford to send him to Oxford or Cambridge.

He was added to the list of authorised architect in Hong Kong in 1930. See item 692 in the Government Gazette, Nov 21, 1930.

Here's his entry in the 1941 Jurors List:

Buried in Stanley Cemetery;

THOMSON, Private, JAMES MILNE, Hong Kong Volunteer Defence Corps. 24th December 1941. Age 20. Son of James Downie Thomson and Georgina Milne Thomson, of Aberdeen. 5. E. Coll. grave 3-7.

From: http://www.roll-of-honour.org.uk/Cemeteries/Stanley_Military_Cemetery/h…

Michael Yatskin

Born in Siberia Russia around 1910 . Escaped due to revolution via Harbin Shanghai then Hong Kong. Prisoner of war at Sham Shui PO prison camp for over 3 years? I have a book of sketches by Lieut  A.V. Skvorzov of life in the prison camp . I believe there is one in the museum in Hong Kong.

He was an engineer in the PWD in Hong Kong when he was head of works at Sham Shui Po in 1955 when the Li Cheng Uk tomb was discovered. His subsequent actions saved the tomb.