Batgung

The Imperial War Museum Collections Online website has the following picture dated December 1941, and with the caption: "Air raid wardens take up position at the entrances to public shelters in Hong Kong, during an exercise in the last days before the Japanese invasion."

Can anyone identify where this photo was taken?

Regards, MrB

I don't think the photo was taken on Queen's Rd East, as it doesn't look like the area surrounding either of the two sets of tunnels along that road.

Recently I've begun to suspect that the picture was not taken near an Air-raid tunnel at all. Instead it looks more likely to be a picture of one of the 'Pen Shelters' that were also built. They were made from hollow concrete blocks, and built to be 'blast and bomb-splinter proof from 500-pound bombs falling 50 feet away'.

At the time they were built, they were reported to be suitable for conversion into market stalls and shelters for street-sleepers. I'm sure they'd have survived the war, but I wonder if there are signs of any now?

MrB

Sorry to hear your sad news. Thank you for your efforts to identify the photo.

Regards, MrB

I don't know that area well - please could you let me know which street that is on? I'm also interested to hear what makes you think it could be a match for the photo.

Thanks for writing, MrB

The Saturday 13th December 1941 issue of the South China Morning Post has two articles referring to life in the shelters. The first begins:

The Chinese population has soon come to appreciate the protection afforded by the network of air raid shelters in the Colony and hundreds have made these their temporary homes, many remaining in them even during the daytime.

Shelters in all parts of the Colony are well patronized these nights, and will be more so following the warning by the military Authorities that intermittent shelling of the island was to be expected in future by Japanese artillery on the Mainland.

Many Chinese in the Central districts, especially the mid levels, now move to the Leighton Hill tunnels in Happy Valley and the Arsenal Street tunnels, with mattresses and other bedding, shortly before dusk and return to town in the mornings.
[…]
A reporter toured one tunnel yesterday where several flights of step lead deep into the earth. [Probably the Wyndham St network? It sounds like the entry at Portal 41 near the junction of Glenealy and Wyndham St. Mrb] Hundreds of Chinese men, women, and children were spread out over its enormous length and seemed completely at home. Ventilation was good.

Children were sleeping beside their parents or playing with each other while the many babies in arms slept peacefully. Here and there a family of three or four were eating meals of saltfish and rice while others were overheard chatting about prevailing conditions and expressing confidence in Hongkong’s defences. Nowhere could a sign of undue apprehension be observed.

The second article describes another visit:

An S. C. M. Post reporter who was forced to remain in town owing to the absence of transport spent the greater part of Thursday night outdoors and in various tunnels and shelters. He relates his experiences as follows:
[...]
The tunnels in the city area were filled with people. I went in through the entrance in one street, and emerged after a long walk nearly 400 yards distant. Men, women and children - hundreds of them - were sleeping in the tunnels.

When the shells came whistling overhead, I saw a few scores of others coming along. They had decided they would be safer in the tunnels.

A member of the public telling his experiences says: I took shelter in two air raid tunnels in the course of Wednesday’s raids. On the first occasion, I was caught in a bus which stopped near Arsenal Street and, together with hundreds of others, I made my way to one of the tunnels in the vicinity.

On arrival I found a great many people already there. A.R.P. officials at the entrances shepherded the people into the tunnels with quiet efficiency, and there was not the slightest semblance of panic.

People, young and old, made themselves comfortable on the benches and with the electric lights burning brightly and no crowding , the half hour I spent in the tunnel passed quickly.

Here and there I came across Europeans. I saw a European nurse in uniform near one of the entrances, She had passed my bus in a car only a few minutes before and had stopped her car dutifully and had taken shelter when the alarm went.

On the same bench with me was a European male engrossed in a cross-word puzzle. I envied him.

While walking along the labyrinthine passages, I could feel the air currents blowing against my face. The air conditioning is good.

In the course of my wanderings, I ran across the A.R.P. official in charge of the tunnels in this section. He happened to be a friend of mine and told me that he had had no trouble at all with the shelterers, who had obeyed all the instructions given them.

Later in the day, I had occasion to visit one of the tunnels behind Leighton Hill Road. Here the conditions did not appear to be so good. Some of the people taking refuge here were crowding the entrances and whether because of this or not, the air was not so clean.

While I was there, people were coming in with camp beds, mattresses and bedding, apparently having decided to spend the night there.

Further along, however, behind Wongneichung Road, the tunnels appeared to be in better shape again. There was not the same tendency here to crowd the entrances and the ventilation was good.

In that same issue of the newspaper, they printed the official communiqué announcing that "We have successfully evacuated our troops, supplies, and essential services from Kowloon". Apart from the Devil’s Peak peninsula, this meant all the shoreline facing Hong Kong island was now available to the Japanese forces and their artillery. Bombardment from land and air would increase significantly over the following days, making the shelters all the more valuable.

This issue of the SCMP is available on microfiche in Central Library. Unfortunately this is the last entry on the microfiche. Does anyone know whether the issues for 14-25th December are available, either online or in print?

MrB

Reader moddsey writes:

The Ruins of War by Wordie and Ko on Pg 151 does confirm the posted photo are portals on Queens Rd E near to the main entrance of the former Victoria Barracks.

Thank you, MrB

I arrived in London this morning, and had some free time this afternoon to visit the Imperial War Museum (IWM). I wanted to read some of the wartime diaries they have in their archives, and found a couple that referred to life in the tunnels.

In Mrs M W Redwood's diary, her description of of the days from 7 - 25 Dec 1941 focuses on her time as a volunteer nurse in the temporary hospital in the Jockey Club. But in the Monday 7th December 1941 entry she also notes that

"at 7am a message came from A.R.P. headquarters, requesting that my daughter, who was attached to the department, should report as soon as possible for duty."

Fortunately, keeping a diary seems to have been a family habit, as the IWM lso has a copy of Miss B C Redwood's diary. She gives several mentions of her A.R.P. work:

10 Dec: Went in Battery Path Tunnel in alarm when on way to town. It was more orderly than I had expected (despite large numbers of interested rather than frightened Chinese).

11 Dec: Our office may be moving to C.S.O.tunnel.

12 Dec: Mabel has joined the V.A.D.s and sleeps down below (the hospital) in air raid shelter.

13 Dec: Mr Puckle gave me a lift to the C.S.O. tunnel. Peggy Wilson had already arrived. Our job was to keep a log of the events (mostly messages per telephone call) and also to make out identification cards for the ARP people. It was boiling hot in the tunnel, and I was glad to short-sleeved jumper.

14 Dec: Then I went up to the Tunnel. The Central Police Station was bombed badly in the afternoon. Felt the concussions even in the tunnel.

[MrB: She writes that memories of the next few days were very mixed up, but
that at the start of each day she...] "jammed on tin hat and slung respirator, and - provided there were no raids on - scrammed up Battery Path to Tunnel"

18 Dec: There were bombs in the vicinity of the C.S. Office. The concussion made our hair go up on end and wave backwards and forwards. The C.S.O. garages were burnt out and/or bombed, also the group of cars that were outside the C.S.O. A lot of Indian policemen were injured and carried into the tunnel.

5 Jan: We A.R.P. people seemed to be the first group to be interned in these little hotels on the instructions of the Japs. [MrB: She was put in the Tai Koon Hotel.]

Both ladies' diaries continue, with the bulk of the content describing their time during internment in the Stanley camp.

+ + +

The IWM records refer to several other ladies' wartime diaries:
- Mrs D Ingram. (No reference to ARP matters)
- Mrs H G Wittenbach (IWM librarian could not find the document)

MrB

The local Hong Kong War Diary website gives a link between the two previous posts, as it lists 'Redwood, Barbara C. Stenographer' among the ARP staff, and notes she was 'Secretary to Steele-Perkins'.

It has a section describing the ARP department:

The original director of Air Raid Precautions was Wing Commander A.H.S. Steele-Perkins, who left HK before the outbreak of warto become DARP India. Puckle then took over, with Bevan as his deputy.

The ARP headquarters and training school were opened in May 1940 in Morrison Hill Road (the post-war Harcourt Clinic). By mid-1941 there were something over 4,000 wardens in total, from a planned establishment of 9,600 (which would have allowed an ARP post for every 100 houses).

It also gives a list of ARP department's staff members.

Received by email:

I, too, have been interested in the IWM photo and trying to find its location. I have always held at the back of my mind two possible locations (both on HK Island):
 
A. Hennesy Rd/Canal Rd junction looking E or
 
B. Johnston Rd/Luard Rd junction looking W.
 
The reason being how the houses are faced in relation to the main road/shelters and the curvature of the road and houses in the distance.

Here's a map showing the two locations: