Battle of Hong Kong
Britain first thought of Japan as a threat with the ending of the Anglo-Japanese Alliance in 1921. That threat increased throughout the 1930s with the escalation of the Second Sino-Japanese War and the Japanese invasion of French Indochina. On the 21st of October 1938, the Japanese occupied Canton (Guangzhou) and Hong Kong was surrounded. British defence studies concluded that Hong Kong would be extremely hard to defend in the event of a Japanese attack. In the mid-1930s work began on improvements to defences including along the Gin Drinkers' Line. By 1940, the British determined to reduce the Hong Kong Garrison to only a symbolic size. Air Chief Marshal Sir Robert Brooke-Popham, the Commander-in-Chief of the British Far East Command argued that limited reinforcements could allow the garrison to delay a Japanese attack, gaining time elsewhere. Winston Churchill and the general staff named Hong Kong as an outpost, and decided against sending more troops. In September 1941, they reversed their decision and argued that additional reinforcements would provide a military deterrent against the Japanese and reassure Chinese leader Chiang Kai-shek that Britain was serious about defending the colony.
Strengths of all personnel mobilised at Hong Kong Garrison on the 8th of December 1941 included 14,564 British, 3,652 Local Colonial, 2,428 Indian, 2,254 Auxiliary Defence Units, 2,112 Hong Kong Volunteer Defence Corps, 1,787 Canadian, and 136 Nursing Detachment. The 5/7th Battalion, Rajput Regiment took up garrison at Hong Kong in June 1937 followed by the 2/14th Battalion, Punjab Regiment in November 1940. Indian troops were also incorporated within several overseas regiments, for example the Hong Kong Singapore Royal Artillery Regiment which had Indian (Sikh) gunners. The Hong Kong Mule Corps was staffed almost entirely by Dogras and Punjabi Muslims. Medical personnel from the Indian Medical Service tended to those injured in combat. Ex-servicemen from India serving as security guards in Hong Kong also suffered appallingly huge casualties. In late 1941, the British government accepted an offer by the Canadian Government to send a battalion of the Royal Rifles of Canada from Quebec and one of the Winnipeg Grenadiers from Manitoba and a brigade headquarters of 1,975 personnel to reinforce the Hong Kong garrison. C Force arrived on the 16th of November on board the troopship and the armed merchant cruiser. A total of 96 officers, two Auxiliary Services supervisors and 1,877 other ranks disembarked.
Defending the New Territories was the 2nd Battalion, Royal Scots in the west, the 2/14th Punjab in the center and the 5/7th Rajput in the east. At 04:45 on the 8th of December 1941 Radio Tokyo announced that war was imminent and General Maltby and Governor Young were informed. At 05:00 the engineers detonated their charges destroying bridges on likely invasion routes. The Japanese attack began at 06:00 when the IJA 230th, 229th and 228th Regiments crossed the Sham Chun River. In the west the 230th Regiment advanced towards Yuen Long, Castle Peak Bay and Tai Mo Shan. In the center, the 229th Regiment advanced from Sha Tau Kok towards Chek Nai Ping and across Tide Cove to Tai Shui Hang. In the east, the 228th Regiment crossed at Lok Ma Chau and Lo Wu and advanced towards Lam Tsuen and Needle Hill. At 08:00 the Japanese bombed Kai Tak Airport. Two of the three Vildebeest and the two Walruses were destroyed by 12 Japanese bombers. The first significant exchanges of fire were at 15:00 when the 2/14th Punjab engaged the IJA who had crossed into Laffan's Plain.
Maltby organized the defence of the island, splitting it between an East Brigade and a West Brigade. The West Brigade commanded by Brigadier John K. Lawson had its headquarters at the top of Wong Nai Chung Gap. On the morning of the 13th of December, a Japanese delegation crossed the harbour to offer terms of surrender, which were rejected. The Japanese then began an artillery bombardment of Hong Kong Island disabling one of the 9.2-inch guns on Mt Davis. On the 18th of December the Japanese bombardment of the island shoreline increased and the oil storage tanks were hit. The attack order was issued at 18:00 and at 20:00 the first wave from the 2/228th and 3/230th began paddling towards the Taikoo Dockyard and sugar refinery under cover of artillery fire. At 21:45 the 3/230th landed at North Point, followed by the 2/228th. By midnight all six IJA battalions were ashore but were held up on the beaches by barbed wire, fire from the 5/7th Rajputs and the general confusion of night operations.
By the afternoon of the 25th of December 1941, it was clear that further resistance would be futile and at 15:30 Governor Young and General Maltby surrendered in person to General Sakai at the Japanese headquarters on the third floor of the Peninsula Hotel. At Stanley, Wallis refused to surrender without a written order and this was received by him at 02:30 on the 26th. Isolated pockets held out even longer, and the Central Ordnance Munitions Depot known as Little Hong Kong surrendered on the 27th of December. This was the first occasion on which a British Crown Colony had surrendered to an invading force. The garrison had held out for 17 days. This day is known in Hong Kong as Black Christmas. Isogai Rensuke became the first Japanese governor of Hong Kong. This ushered in the three years and eight months of Imperial Japanese administration. During the over three and a half years of occupation by the Japanese, an estimated 10,000 Hong Kong civilians were executed, while many others were tortured, raped, or mutilated.
The 23rd Army's conduct in Hong Kong was characterized by brutality, numerous and widespread war crimes were reported against both Allied servicemen, nurses and civilians. An estimated 10,000 Hong Kong civilians were executed during the three years and eight months of occupation. In the morning of the 19th of December 1941, Japanese soldiers of the 2nd Battalion or 3rd Battalion, 229th Infantry Regiment murdered medical personnel and wounded soldiers who were captured at Salesian Mission. The Japanese soldiers attempted to kill all male prisoners of wars and released two female nurses. In total 16 were killed. On the 23rd of December 1941, British and Commonwealth soldiers from various units, led by Lt. Col. Robert MacPherson, attempted to surrender but were killed by Japanese soldiers of the No. 6 Company, 2nd Battalion of the 229th Infantry Regiment at the Ridge in Repulse Bay. At least 47 were killed and most of the killed prisoners of war were wounded soldiers. In the evening of the 24th of December 1941, soldiers of the 1st Battalion, 229th Regiment stormed the field hospital of St. Stephen's College, murdering the medical personnel and the wounded soldiers. Nurses were raped and then murdered.
General Takashi Sakai, who led the invasion of Hong Kong and served as governor for some time, was tried as a war criminal and executed by a firing squad in 1946. Following the fall of Hong Kong, Conservative Premier of Ontario George A. Drew accused the federal government under Liberal Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King of incompetence for sending Canadian troops that were not sufficiently trained to Hong Kong. King responded by organizing a Royal Commission into the decision to send Canadian troops. Chief Justice Lyman Duff was appointed as the commissioner, who subsequently cleared the government of any fault. In July 1946, Major General Christopher Maltby, the British commander in Hong Kong completed his final report which contradicted Duff's report. The Canadian government had the report toned down and delayed its publication until January 1948. The memorial garden at Hong Kong City Hall commemorates those who died in Hong Kong during World War II. The shield in the colonial Emblem of Hong Kong granted in 1959 featured the battlement design to commemorate the defence of Hong Kong during the Second World War.
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Common questions
When did the Battle of Hong Kong begin and end?
The Battle of Hong Kong began at 06:00 on the 8th of December 1941 when Japanese regiments crossed the Sham Chun River. The British surrender occurred by the afternoon of the 25th of December 1941, with isolated pockets holding out until the 27th of December.
Who commanded the British forces during the Battle of Hong Kong?
General Christopher Maltby served as the Commander-in-Chief of the British Far East Command defending the colony. Governor Mark Young surrendered in person to General Takashi Sakai at the Peninsula Hotel on the 25th of December 1941.
How many personnel were mobilized for the Hong Kong Garrison on the 8th of December 1941?
Strengths included 14,564 British troops, 3,652 Local Colonial personnel, 2,428 Indian soldiers, 2,254 Auxiliary Defence Units, 2,112 Hong Kong Volunteer Defence Corps members, 1,787 Canadians, and 136 Nursing Detachment staff. A total of 96 officers, two Auxiliary Services supervisors, and 1,877 other ranks disembarked from C Force on the 16th of November.
What war crimes occurred during the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong?
An estimated 10,000 Hong Kong civilians were executed during the three years and eight months of Imperial Japanese administration. Japanese soldiers murdered medical personnel and wounded soldiers at Salesian Mission on the 19th of December 1941 and St. Stephen's College on the 24th of December 1941.
When was General Takashi Sakai tried and executed as a war criminal?
General Takashi Sakai led the invasion of Hong Kong and served as governor before being tried as a war criminal. He was executed by a firing squad in 1946 following the conclusion of his trial for conduct characterized by brutality and widespread war crimes.