World War II Database

Contributor: C. Peter Chen

ww2dbaseIn 1841, the United Kingdom leased Hong Kong Island, Kowloon Peninsula, and surrounding land from China. Over the following 100 years, Hong Kong grew into a busy port city and became one of the symbols of British power in the Far East. Hong Kong was considered to be politically important; aside from being British territory, it was also important for the British to be present to remind China that the British stood near in support of China in the Second Sino-Japanese War, albeit indirectly. Nevertheless, British military leaders understood that it was not strategically important, thus at the eve of the Japanese invasion, the territory was only lightly defended with British, Indian, and Chinese troops. The garrison had 29 coastal guns, all deployed on Hong Kong Island, and was supported by a small naval contingent consisted of one destroyer, eight torpedo boats, and four gunboats. In Nov 1941, two Canadian infantry division arrived to reinforce the garrison, bolstering the strength to 15,000 men.

ww2dbaseJust before the start of the Pacific War, 52,000-strong Japanese 38th Division under the command of Takashi Sakai gathered just north of the border. Inaccurate British intelligence reported that only 20,000 men were present, thus providing the garrison a false sense of security.

ww2dbaseThe Invasion

ww2dbaseAt 0800 on 8 Dec 1941, eight hours after the Pearl Harbor attack, the Japanese troops poured across the border, engaging the British and Commonwealth troops dug in along the Gin Drinker's Line immediately behind the border. British Major General Christopher Michael Maltby lost the few aircraft he had under his command, therefore had a difficult campaign early on as he had no control of the air while his troops were out-numbered. During the night of 9 Dec, Japanese troops mounted a massed attack on the western portion of the defensive line, and the Gin Drinkers' Line collapsed by 10 Dec. On 11 Dec, as Japanese troops advanced southward along the Kowloon Peninsula, Maltby ordered the evacuation of all troops to Hong Kong Island. On 13 Dec the Rajputs of the British Indian Army, the last of the British troops on the mainland, fell back onto Hong Kong Island.

ww2dbaseAfter a failed call for surrender on 13 Dec, the Japanese again demanded surrender on 15 Dec. After receiving the rejection, Japanese artillery and aircraft conducted an intense bombardment on Hong Kong Island on 15 Dec. On 17 Dec, yet another demand for surrender was issued, but was again rejected. A light Japanese force crossed the Lye Mun Pass and landed on Hong Kong in the evening of 18 Dec, and a stronger beachhead was established by the next morning. On 19 Dec, the Japanese troops overran the key Wong Nai Chong Gap in the center of the island, thus dividing the British defense in half. By 20 Dec, the Japanese held control of the western half of the island. It was then that the worst of the atrocities began. At the Salesian Mission on the Chai Wan Road, the Japanese massacred nuns and members of the medical staff there after they had surrendered. As the Japanese captured the reservoir, the British garrison's water supply situation grew desperate quickly. On 24 Dec, Japanese soldiers entered the British field hospital at St. Stephen's College and tortured and killed over 60 injured soldiers, nurses, and doctors.

ww2dbaseIn the afternoon of 25 Dec 1941, later named "Black Christmas", Governor General of Hong Kong Sir Mark Aitchison Young surrendered at the third floor of the Peninsula Hong Kong hotel. In the 18-day battle, Japan suffered 2,754 casualties and the British 11,848. Rensuke Isogai was named the Japanese military governor of Hong Kong. Japanese atrocities remain rampant despite the end of fighting. Many women, including nuns, were reported raped and some killed. Some British officials were forced to dig their own graves before being executed. Ramon Muniz Lavelle, Argentinian commercial attaché to Tokyo, was in Hong Kong shortly after the initial battle; he documented incidences where British soldiers were bayoneted while they laid helplessly in their beds at the Stanley Hospital. He also reported witnessing British women, with their hands tied behind their backs, repeatedly raped by Japanese soldiers.

ww2dbaseEpilogue

ww2dbaseThe local Chinese waged a guerrilla war against Japanese occupation under the banner of two groups, Gangjiu and Dongjiang. Resistance continued until the day British rule was re-established in Hong Kong on 15 Aug 1945.

Battle of Hong Kong Interactive Map

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Battle of Hong Kong Timeline

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