History buffs re-enact Battle of Hong Kong on the streets to remind city of home-grown heroes’ defence against Japanese
Too few Hongkongers are aware local volunteer troops helped defend the city against invasion in December 1941, says one of those behind ‘Living Monuments’, a series of battle re-enactments
On December 18, 1941, Hongkonger Algernon “Algy” Ho scoured the skies for enemy planes from an anti-aircraft battery in Chai Wan. Japanese troops had just taken Tsim Sha Tsui and had bombarded the northern shore of Hong Kong Island for days.
Shells soared over the water and exploded into fortifications overlooking the Lei Yue Mun channel near Shau Kei Wan, where Victoria Harbour funnels to its narrowest point. When local troops refused to surrender, the Japanese crossed the harbour, closing in on the colony’s final holdouts.
This was the Battle of Hong Kong – the 18-day standoff that ended when the British surrendered the city to Japan on Christmas Day, 1941. Hong Kong went on to endure three years and eight months of Japanese occupation.
Ho didn’t live to receive the bachelor of arts degree he had just earned from University of Hong Kong. Nor was he able to see his younger brother Stanley become the casino king of Macau. He died in action that night, and his fellow gunners who surrendered were executed by the Japanese.
