MWI 41120310 Hong Kong Prepares
Fatboy Coxy
Monthly Donor
1941, Wednesday 03 December;
High up on Sandy Ridge, with the railway line running north to Lo Wo and the border checkpoint on his left, Major General Christopher Maltby was studying the ground on the other side of the Sham Chun River through his binoculars. To his right, a good mile away, a number of men dressed as farmers could be seen clearing away the scrub, providing access to the river bank, ideal for a river crossing. It confirmed what recon flights along the border had been saying, the Japanese were making preparations for an assault.
Well, be that as it may, Maltby was also making his preparations. One company of the 1st HKCR Bn, the HKCR armd car squadron, the Bren gun carriers of the Royal Scots and the HKCR field engineer company were all in the New Territories, at various strategic points, preparing demolitions, strong points, ambush sites, and readying for a fighting retreat.
The Royal Scots, and the rest of the 1st HKCR Bn had occupied the Gin Drinkers Line for the last couple of weeks, making good some of the damage suffered to the fortifications which had been neglected for the last couple of years. Nevertheless, a lot of barbed wire was missing, trenches needed digging out, while machine guns were being installed and sighted. Supporting them was the two troops of four 4.5-inch howitzers, which apart from a few 18-pounders and 2-pounder AT guns, were the only mobile artillery in the garrison.
This all sounded good, but in reality, the troops were stretched painfully thin, three battalions would be a minimum, and both the two battalions were reduced, the 1st HKCR, with a company in the New Territories, and the Royal Scots were a poor version of the 1200 strong unit which had arrived in January 1938, transfers, due to promotions away, cadre for new units and medically unfit had seen that number drop to slightly less than 800. This was further reduced due to malaria, much of the ground they occupied was badly infested, and the high sick levels were added to by VD and alcohol abuse and numbers siphoned off to other garrison duties, leaving just over 500 on the line.
Because of all of this, Maltby had decided long ago that he didn’t have anywhere enough troops to effectively defend the Gin Drinkers line, so this would merely gain time, attrite the attacking force, the main defence of the garrison being the waters surrounding the island fortress. With that in mind, ever since Lord Gort had placed them on a second degree of readiness on Monday, Maltby had been withdrawing food stores, supplies and equipment over to the Island, much of it being stored in underground stores in Stanley Fort and around Victoria. To avoid raising any concerns among the local populace, the majority of this was being done at night.
Furthermore, with the passing out of another 700 odd Chinese from the training platoons on Monday, he’d stopped the recruitment of a new draft, those newly trained would integrate within existing units, while the 700 odd that had completed their initial six weeks training, were being used mainly as labour, the majority employed on the transfer of the supplies to the island. This had released a few trainers, many of whom would also join existing units as Officers and NCOs, while a few would now hope to return to their parent units in Singapore and Malaya. All told, since the recruiting initiative had started late last year, over 4,500 Chinese had joined the various military units within the Colony.
However, with the moving to second stage readiness, the weekend warriors of the HKVDC, along with a number for the Royal Navy, and the volunteers for other services, could be called to the colours, really imprinting a message of impending war on the colony. They had all previously completed weekend training events, some had even participated in full week exercises, but now this was the real show, a momentous occasion that brought a range of feelings from impending doom, to outright over confidence, although for most it was a swelling of pride, a ‘we’re all in it together’ attitude and a determination to see it through. Most of these had posts on the Island, filling out the artillery and machine gun units, as well as the support services.
Also busy were the individuals engaged in the dark arts, the SOE trained agents that had arrived back from Singapore in early November, along with some other locally trained men. Some were already moving undercover, blending in with the civilian population, activating networks, and strengthen links with the Triads. Others were working in the New Territories, establishing catchments of arms, food and supplies and the odd radio in safe remote locations, ready to operate behind enemy lines. While a few others obtained and prepared a few small launches and Chinese junks for smuggling roles.
The Royal Navy was also preparing for the worse, with a similar transfer of stores and equipment out of the Kowloon dockyards and Stonecutters Island stores, mostly going to the Naval base at Aberdeen. All dockyards were frantically scrambling to get what ships they could, sea worthy, while all merchant ships were being advised to sail as soon as possible for safer waters. 18 would sail today, with another 24 expected to sail tomorrow. Now there was a scramble for berths, as many men decided to evacuated their wives and children, despite previous announcements of seeing it out together. Back on Sandy Ridge, Maltby grunted an acceptance, he’d seen enough here, it was time to visit the troops on the Gin Drinkers line.
High up on Sandy Ridge, with the railway line running north to Lo Wo and the border checkpoint on his left, Major General Christopher Maltby was studying the ground on the other side of the Sham Chun River through his binoculars. To his right, a good mile away, a number of men dressed as farmers could be seen clearing away the scrub, providing access to the river bank, ideal for a river crossing. It confirmed what recon flights along the border had been saying, the Japanese were making preparations for an assault.
Well, be that as it may, Maltby was also making his preparations. One company of the 1st HKCR Bn, the HKCR armd car squadron, the Bren gun carriers of the Royal Scots and the HKCR field engineer company were all in the New Territories, at various strategic points, preparing demolitions, strong points, ambush sites, and readying for a fighting retreat.
The Royal Scots, and the rest of the 1st HKCR Bn had occupied the Gin Drinkers Line for the last couple of weeks, making good some of the damage suffered to the fortifications which had been neglected for the last couple of years. Nevertheless, a lot of barbed wire was missing, trenches needed digging out, while machine guns were being installed and sighted. Supporting them was the two troops of four 4.5-inch howitzers, which apart from a few 18-pounders and 2-pounder AT guns, were the only mobile artillery in the garrison.
This all sounded good, but in reality, the troops were stretched painfully thin, three battalions would be a minimum, and both the two battalions were reduced, the 1st HKCR, with a company in the New Territories, and the Royal Scots were a poor version of the 1200 strong unit which had arrived in January 1938, transfers, due to promotions away, cadre for new units and medically unfit had seen that number drop to slightly less than 800. This was further reduced due to malaria, much of the ground they occupied was badly infested, and the high sick levels were added to by VD and alcohol abuse and numbers siphoned off to other garrison duties, leaving just over 500 on the line.
Because of all of this, Maltby had decided long ago that he didn’t have anywhere enough troops to effectively defend the Gin Drinkers line, so this would merely gain time, attrite the attacking force, the main defence of the garrison being the waters surrounding the island fortress. With that in mind, ever since Lord Gort had placed them on a second degree of readiness on Monday, Maltby had been withdrawing food stores, supplies and equipment over to the Island, much of it being stored in underground stores in Stanley Fort and around Victoria. To avoid raising any concerns among the local populace, the majority of this was being done at night.
Furthermore, with the passing out of another 700 odd Chinese from the training platoons on Monday, he’d stopped the recruitment of a new draft, those newly trained would integrate within existing units, while the 700 odd that had completed their initial six weeks training, were being used mainly as labour, the majority employed on the transfer of the supplies to the island. This had released a few trainers, many of whom would also join existing units as Officers and NCOs, while a few would now hope to return to their parent units in Singapore and Malaya. All told, since the recruiting initiative had started late last year, over 4,500 Chinese had joined the various military units within the Colony.
However, with the moving to second stage readiness, the weekend warriors of the HKVDC, along with a number for the Royal Navy, and the volunteers for other services, could be called to the colours, really imprinting a message of impending war on the colony. They had all previously completed weekend training events, some had even participated in full week exercises, but now this was the real show, a momentous occasion that brought a range of feelings from impending doom, to outright over confidence, although for most it was a swelling of pride, a ‘we’re all in it together’ attitude and a determination to see it through. Most of these had posts on the Island, filling out the artillery and machine gun units, as well as the support services.
Also busy were the individuals engaged in the dark arts, the SOE trained agents that had arrived back from Singapore in early November, along with some other locally trained men. Some were already moving undercover, blending in with the civilian population, activating networks, and strengthen links with the Triads. Others were working in the New Territories, establishing catchments of arms, food and supplies and the odd radio in safe remote locations, ready to operate behind enemy lines. While a few others obtained and prepared a few small launches and Chinese junks for smuggling roles.
The Royal Navy was also preparing for the worse, with a similar transfer of stores and equipment out of the Kowloon dockyards and Stonecutters Island stores, mostly going to the Naval base at Aberdeen. All dockyards were frantically scrambling to get what ships they could, sea worthy, while all merchant ships were being advised to sail as soon as possible for safer waters. 18 would sail today, with another 24 expected to sail tomorrow. Now there was a scramble for berths, as many men decided to evacuated their wives and children, despite previous announcements of seeing it out together. Back on Sandy Ridge, Maltby grunted an acceptance, he’d seen enough here, it was time to visit the troops on the Gin Drinkers line.
