Socony-Vacuum Oil Company in HK from 1895

HF and Elizabeth Ride (ER) New information in red. Linda Granfield left the following comment in November 2022: Hi–Re 1896 for your earliest mention of the Vacuum Oil Co. in Hong Kong–I found an 1895 Jurors’ List that list a fellow as an assistant at the Vacuum Oil Co, Kowloon Hotel. Same info in the Carl Smith Collection, Government Records […]

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Charles Van den Born – first powered flight in Hong Kong, Shatin, 1911

The Farmen At Shatin

HF: Tymon Mellor wrote the article, Shatin – first powered flight in Hong Kong 1911, linked below, about the first powered flight which took place at Shatin on 18th March 1911. Charles “Chic’ Eather’s website mentions Charles Van den Born and this momentous event. Charles Van den Born, the Henry Farman Company’s test pilot and instructor, had arrived on the steamer Donai. […]

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On the slow boat – Sai Wan Ho, Kwun Tong, Sam Ka Tsuen ferries – part two..

HF: I finished my first ferry crossing on the Sea Coral 8 at Kwun Tong Pier coming over in about twenty minutes from Sai Wan Ho Pier with Captain Freddy Chiu in charge of the vessel and its dozen or so passengers. All photos are mine taken on the 25th September 2014. I used a camera, remember them? So they […]

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Sek Kong Airfield

Sek Kong Airfield Early 1950s

Tymon Mellor: Originally known as the Pat Heung Aerodrome, work on the Sek Kong airfield commenced in 1935 with the construction of a road to the planned airfield. However, very little work was undertaken until 1950 when the British Government established a new defence strategy for Hong Kong requiring the mobilisation of an expanded military support. However, for some the […]

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World War Two -1945 BAAG report on occupied Hong Kong – tramway service + tickets

Elizabeth Ride has sent a British Army Aid Group (BAAG) report from 1st March 1945, An Outline of Conditions in Occupied Hong Kong which was compiled in early 1945 for use by the Civil Affairs Committee which was to take on the rehabilitation of HK after the planned allied invasion. HF: The report is lengthy so I am going to divide it […]

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Flying boats before Kai Tak runway opened – SCMP article

Miss Macao Detail Flying Boat Touches Down In Macau China Mail Chic Eather

  ‘Scheduled seaplane services were a vital fixture in Victoria Harbour for more than two decades starting from the 1930s, and some of the floatplanes flying between Hong Kong and Macau had a special mission – shuttling gold between the two colonies. James Ng, an expert on Hong Kong’s aviation history and a member of the Hong Kong Collectors Society, […]

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On the slow boat – Sai Wan Ho, Kwun Tong, Sam Ka Tsuen ferries – part three…

Hugh Farmer:  On the 25th September 2014 I took the ferry from Sai Wan Ho to Kwun Tong, walked from there passing through the industrial area  of Yau Tong and caught the ferry back to Sai Wan Ho from Sam Ka Tsuen ferry pier. I took pictures of the piers, ferries, crew and passengers…of the slow boats… a tribute to […]

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