Re: Hong Kong
Pt 2
The GOC Hong Kong, had under his command approximately 14,000. This included naval and air force personnel, the Canadians, as well as non-combatants. The military force was comprised of two coast regiments, one anti-aircraft regiment of the Royal Artillery, a regiment of Hong Kong and Singapore Royal Artillery, two engineer companies, one battalion of British Infantry (the 2nd Battalion, Royal Scots), one British machine-gun battalion (the 1st Battalion Middlesex Regiment), and two Indian infantry battalions (the 5/7 Rajput Regiment and the 2/14 Punjab Regiment). The Hong Kong Volunteer Defence Corps included units of artillery, infantry, and other arms.
The original defence plans for the Colony called for the main defence to be on the island with one infantry battalion deployed on the mainland for demolition duties and for delaying purposes.
The arrival of the two battalions from Canada enabled General Maltby to employ three battalions on the mainland. These battalions would man the Gin Drinkers’ Line, and 18 kilometre line stretching across rugged hill country and pocked by trenches and pillboxes. The position was intended to protect Kowloon, the harbour, and the northern part of Hong Kong Island.
The Mainland Brigade, commanded by Brigadier C. Wallis, was composed of the Royal Scots and the two Indian battalions. The Canadian signal section was allotted to this brigade. The Island Brigade, under Brigadier Lawson, consisted of the two Canadian battalions and the Middlesex Regiment. The Canadian units were facing the sea, with beach defence their primary role; the Middlesex were to hold the system of pillboxes around the island.
There was no significant air or naval defence. The Kai Tak RAF base on Hong Kong had only five planes. An earlier request for a fighter squadron had been rejected, and the nearest fully-operational RAF base was in Malaya, nearly 22,000 kilometres away. All major navel vessels had been withdrawn, and only one destroyer Thracian, several gunboats, and a flotilla of motor torpedo boats remained.
Between November 16 and December 7th (Dec 6th in Hawaii), the Canadians concentrated on intensive training. The life of the colony seemed normal. Reports of Japanese troops massing to the north of the Chinese border were considered to be false alarms, or exaggerations. The next day the Japanese attacked Hong Kong. (continued below)
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