Lt. Col. M.H. Logan connected to KCR, Logan and Amps, Palmer & Turner…

IDJ has sent the following newspaper article which was published in the Hong Kong Sunday Herald in a 1930s long series entitled Hong Kong Personalities.

Hong Kong Personalities

LT.COL. M.H. Logan

This is the sixty-fourth of the exclusive series of sketches of leading Colony residents by Mr. A.S. Konya, the talented Hungarian artist.

Our Personality this week is Lieut.-Colonel Malcolm Hunter Logan, O.B.E., M.C., M. Inst. C.E., F.S.I., head of the firm of Logan and Amps, Chartered Civil Engineers, who have been entirely responsible for the construction of the new Hong Kong Bank building.

Colonel Logan, who was born in London in 1876, received his education at Radley, where he was a contemporary of Sir William Hornell and Sir Reginald Stubbs, and at the Royal Indian Engineering College, Cooper’s Hill. Passing out he was sent to India in 1897, where he was engaged upon the construction of the Assam-Bengal Railway. Obtaining leave on the outbreak of the Boer War, he sailed for South Africa, where he joined the famous irregulars, Lumsden’s Horse, and fought with them throughout the war. Returning to India, he completed his work on the Assam-Bengal Railway, the heaviest piece of construction work ever carried out in India, and then went on to similar work on the Punjab Railway.

Coming to Hong Kong in 1906 as Senior District Engineer on the Kowloon-Canton Railway, he was in charge of the Beacon Hill tunnel and the 18 miles of construction from there to the frontier. On the completion of this work in 1911 he was offered a partnership in the firm of Palmer and Turner, Hong Kong, which he accepted, remaining with them till 1933, except for the period of the War. Joining up with the R.E. in France till he was invalided home in 1917. He was through much of the heavy fighting the early part of the war in the Ypres Salient and on the Somme front, principally between Maricourt and Trones Wood gaining the M.C. He commanded a Company of Royal Engineers, and also served as Assistant Director of Light Railways, graded as Asst. Q.M.G., first with the 5th Army and afterwards with the 1st Army. It is interesting to note that Mr. L.W. Amps – his present partner, served as a subaltern under him on the Somme, where he was severely wounded.

Granted the rank of Lieutenant Colonel on demobilisation in 1919 he returned to Shanghai as senior partner of Messrs Palmer and Turner and during the next few years was busily engaged on the reconstruction and improvement of the city, the firm being architects for the new Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank, the Yokohama Specie Bank and many other great buildings.

In 1927 Col. Logan, in co-operation with Mr. N.L. Sparks , undertook the preparation of accommodation for the Defence Force for the protection of the Settlement, consisting of some 25,000 men, providing them with a fully equipped camp in record time, for which he received the thanks of the Army Council and the Government of India and received the honour of the O.B.E.

In 1930 he returned to Hong Kong in charge of the local office of the firm, which was responsible for the new Jockey Club Stables, amongst other works. It was at this time that the first talk took place regarding the new local Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank building and, owing to the poor quality of construction work and building organisation existing at the time, he was asked to undertake the erection of the building on different lines. For this purpose he formed a construction unit, resigned from the firm of Palmer and Turner and inaugurated the firm of Logan and Amps, who have been from the outset consulting engineers and construction managers of the building, with what result can be seen today. The entire programme has been carried out under a time and progress schedule, without the employment of any general contractor, managed and administered directly by Messrs. Logan and Amps and supervised by expert foremen, every man employed being an experienced tradesman. In this building they have established a record for speed, no building anywhere outside of America, of such complexity and magnitude having been erected in the time.

Colonel Logan, in his younger days, was prominent in both football and rowing. He played rugger for Scotland against France in 1897, and also for Cooper’s Hill, the London Scottish and Liverpool, while he was Captain of the Cooper’s Hill Rowing Club and rowed at Henley in 1897 and was also a member of the first crew of the Thames Rowing Club. He has also played a considerable amount of polo. Today his principal recreations are shooting and fishing.

Source: Hong Kong Sunday Herald 20th October 1935

This article was first posted on 6th March 2022.

Related Indhhk articles from the Hong Kong Sunday Herald series:

1. S. H. Dodwell, Managing Director of Dodwell and Company Ltd
2. Lawrence Kadoorie, connected to CLP, Peak Tramways, HK Engineering & Construction, HK Brewers & Distillers, Kowloon Docks…
3. Wong Kwong-tin, manager of the Kai Tak Company, Managing Director of the Kai Tak Motor Bus Company…
4. Reginald David Walker, Manager and Chief Engineer, Kowloon-Canton Railway, 1930s