Today is the 80th anniversary of the start of the Battle of Hong Kong.
At 8am on December 8, 1941, a Monday, Japanese troops crossed from Shenzhen into Hong Kong. The Hong Kong garrison of the Middlesex Regiment, the Royal Scots, the Punjab Regiment, the Rajput Regiment, the Winnipeg Grenadiers, the Royal Rifles of Canada and the local Hong Kong Volunteer Defence Corps, supported by the Royal Artillery and other units, were hopelessly outnumbered in the battle which followed.
Many Hong Kong Chinese and other Hong Kong residents were involved in the battle either with the armed forces or undertaking essential civilian duties. Around a third of the members of the Hong Kong Volunteer Defence Corps had Chinese ancestry and many others served in the army, primarily in the Royal Artillery and Royal Engineers.
Seventeen days later, the overwhelming strength of the Japanese forces led to the surrender past 3pm on Christmas Day and the start of three years and eight months of Hong Kong’s occupation by the Japanese. More...
