Tymon Mellor: As a key trading port for Southern China, Hong Kong harbour has always been full of boats stocking up for the next long journey. One question has always puzzled me, where did they get their fresh water? A look at the original maps of Kowloon provides an answer. The first map of Kowloon and the New Territories was […]
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Simon left a comment about Image 9 below which I have added to the script about Image 9 on 30th May 2022. HF: Geoff Douglass, the creator and administrator of the Photos of Taikoo and Kowloon Dock Families Facebook site, contacted me in May 2016. Geoff very kindly offered to be of any help to our group after I suggested we would […]
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James Chan: Whampoa is the second in a four tug series constructed by Cheoy Lee Shipyards for Hong Kong United Dockyards (HUD). The first was Taikoo which was also named after the two shipyards Hong Kong and Whampoa Dock (founded 1863) and Taikoo Dockyard (1902) which merged to form HUD. The Whampoa is a RAmparts 3000 Class Terminal Support Tug specifically designed […]
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Tymon Mellor: With the threat of a war, it was recognised that Hong Kong would be susceptible to air raids. The British Colony was a key logistics hub for Asia and the deep-water port made it ideal for marine traffic. The territory was initially subject to Japanese raids in 1941 then American lead bombing from 1942 until the conclusion of […]
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Elizabeth Ride: A selection of information reported in the BAAG Intelligence Summaries. 1. Layout. September, 1944. [From indistinct original] The sketch plan and its key have been extracted from BAAG KWIZ Report #68 dated 29th September 1944 sent in by Elizabeth Ride. During the Battle of Hongkong, December 1941. * At the outbreak of war, HMS Moth was […]
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Stephen Davies: These are the eleven lighthouses (excluding beacons and buoys) that the records show were operated by the Harbour Master before 1941. Note: The locations of Ma Wan (Kap Shui Mun) and Tungkwu/Lung Kwu Chau lighthouses are not yet shown on the map. Gap Rock lighthouse was in Chinese waters but under the aegis of, and paid for by, […]
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York Lo: Unsung Kingmakers – the low-key Song Brothers who conquered the Shanghai Bund and Victoria Harbor and backed the development of several key industries in post-War Hong Kong V.J. Song (left) and V.K. Song in Hong Kong in the 1950s (Wendy Song) Before the emergence of Chinese tycoons such as Li Ka-shing and Sir Y.K. Pao in the 1970s, […]
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Thomas Sposato has sent a link to a website which shows photos of American Marine boatyard shortly after Typhoon Wanda made landfall in Hong Kong on 1st September 1962. Wanda was the most intense tropical cyclone on record in hong Kong and caused 434 deaths and left 72,000 people homeless. Over 2,000 boats were either wrecked or damaged in the colony. All Photographs courtesy […]
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New Information in red Extracts from reports in the BAAG Intelligence Summaries sent by Elizabeth Ride. Layout. Map reference 253545 . Map “GSGS 3868, 1/20,000 HK&New Territories” BAAG Agents´ drawings. [Can a Chinese speaker add more information about these drawings?] Craig Mitchell had this one translated and has kindly sent a copy. He writes “My friends have been up to the […]
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York Lo: From No 1 on the Bund in Shanghai to Kaolin Mine in Cha Kwo Ling – the Century Old China Coast Saga of the McBains Left: The former Kaolin mine in Cha Kwo Ling; Right: The former McBain Building at No 1 on the Bund in Shanghai (now known as Asia Building) From 1903 to 1983, kaolin clay was […]
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