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f kai tak had only five aeroplanes two supermarine walrus amphibious aircraft and three outdated vickers vildebeest torpedo reconnaissance bombers flown and serviced by seven officers and 108 airmen an earlier request for a fighter squadron had been rejected and the nearest fully operational raf base with fighters two raaf squadrons with brewster f2a buffalo was in kota bharu malaya nearly 2 250 km 1 400 mi away other forces edit the chinese military mission to hong kong initiated in 1938 was headed by rear admiral andrew chan and his aide lieutenant commander henry hsu 34 it had the objective of coordinating chinese war aims with the british in hong kong 35 working with the british police chan organized pro british agents among the population and rooted out triad factions that were sympathetic to the japanese 34 a squad of free french under captain rodéric egal of the free french in shanghai who happened to be in hong kong when the battle broke out fought alongside the hkvdc at the north point power station they were all world war i veterans as were the local hkvdc and acquitted themselves well 36 37 38 battle edit new territories and kowloon edit map of the battle japanese artillery firing at hong kong 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 39 in front of them was a thin screen of 2 14th punjab infantry supported by four bren gun carriers and two armoured cars and engineers at sheung shui and tai po 40 at 04 45 on 8 december 1941 hong kong time roughly 2 5 hours after the attack on pearl harbor which happened at 07 49 hawaii time 41 or 02 19 hong kong time the next day because of international date line 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 42 japanese forces had been assembling north of the sham chun river since the beginning of december the japanese attack began at 06 00 when the ija 230th 229th and 228th regiments arranged from west to east 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 40 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 attack also destroyed several civil aircraft including all but two of the aircraft used by the air unit of the hong kong volunteer defence corps the raf and air unit personnel from then fought on as ground troops the pan am airways flying boat hong kong clipper was dive bombed and destroyed the japanese also bombed sham shui po barracks causing minimal damage 43 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 2 14th punjab eliminated several ija platoons at 18 30 just south of tai po and hkvdc armoured cars and bren gun carriers also successfully engaged ija forces despite these successes the 2 14th punjab withdrew towards grassy hill in the afternoon to avoid being outflanked and the ija forces advanced down the tai po road towards sha tin late that night all units were ordered to withdraw to the gin drinker s line 44 on 9 december the 2nd royal scots held in the west a reserve company of the 5 7th rajputs moved forward to smuggler s ridge the hkvdc held fo tan and the 2 14th punjab held at tide cove 44 by 13 00 the ija 228th regiment had reached needle hill and its commander colonel doi was reconnoitring the shing mun redoubt area of the gin drinker s line which he found to be unprepared for an attack despite the area being outside of his regimental boundary he developed an attack plan and began moving his men into position the redoubt was defended by a company 2nd royal scots supplemented by other units giving a total strength of three officers and 39 soldiers the defenders and the nearby d company 5 7th rajputs conducted patrols north of the redoubt and around needle hill but failed to detect the two ija battalions in the area or the 150 man attacking force which had crossed the jubilee dam and was in position just below one of the redoubt s pillboxes at 23 00 the defenders detected movement and opened fire as the ija began their attack as the japanese progressively overran the complex of trenches and tunnels many of the defenders found themselves locked in the redoubt s artillery observation post op pillbox 402 was destroyed by ija sappers at 02 30 on the 10th and the rest of the 3 228th regiment joined the assault moving through the redoubt and into the valley running into the 5 7th rajputs who were moving to support the redoubt the 5 7th rajputs forced the japanese back toward the redoubt the japanese eventually blew open the op capturing the 15 survivors artillery at stonecutter s island and mount davis pounded the redoubt until 05 00 but apart from one position which held out until the afternoon the redoubt was lost the ija had only lost a mere two soldiers in the attack 45 at 21 30 on the 9th hms thanet and hms scout were ordered to leave hong kong for singapore successfully evading the ijn blockade only one destroyer hms thracian several gunboats and a flotilla of mtbs remained 44 between 8 and 10 december eight american plus a number of chinese pilots of the china national aviation corporation cnac and their crews flew 16 sorties between kai tak airport and landing fields in nanxiong and chongqing chungking the wartime capital of the republic of china c the crew evacuated 275 people including mme sun yat sen the widow of sun yat sen and the chinese finance minister kung hsiang hsi 44 on 10 december the ija 228th regiment continued to move troops into the shing mun redoubt while sending out small patrols along the rest of the line but otherwise failed to capitalize on their success maltby saw the loss of the redoubt as a disaster that undermined the entire defensive line and the 2nd royal scots were ordered to counterattack at dawn on the 11th but their commander lieutenant colonel s white refused on the basis that it had no chance of success 55 at dawn on the 11th the ija 228th regiment attacked golden hill and was engaged by the 5 7th rajputs supported by fire from hms cicala d company 2nd royal scots counterattacked and regained the hill at midday maltby having decided that the new territories and kowloon were untenable and that the defence of hong kong island was the priority ordered the evacuation of all his forces demolition works were carried out and the 2nd royal scots and supporting forces withdrew south to sham shui po barracks and jordan pier while the 5 7th rajputs withdrew to ma yau tong where they would hold devil s peak peninsula protecting the narrow lye moon passage 56 the guns on stonecutter s island were destroyed and the base was abandoned that night 57 also on the morning of the 11th the ija landed on lamma island and were engaged by guns of jubilee battery and aberdeen battery that afternoon the japanese attempted a landing near aberdeen island ap lei chau but were driven off by machine gun fire 58 the 2 14th punjab were to join the rajputs on the ma yau tong line but during their march on the night of 11 12 december became split up with one group reaching the devil s peak area while the other descended into kai tak and marched into kowloon on the morning of the 12th where they were engaged by the ija 3 320th regiment which had infiltrated into the area the punjabis fought their way down to tsim sha tsui and were evacuated by star ferry hms tamar was scuttled in the harbour to prevent its use by the japanese on the night of the 12th the 5 7th rajputs withdrew from ma yau tong further down the devil s peak peninsula and at 04 00 on the 13th they began boarding boats to take them to hong kong island with the evacuation being completed by the morning of 13 december 1941 59 60 61 62 hong kong island edit map of the battle of hong kong island 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 a strategic passage between the north and south of the island the west brigade comprised the 2 14th punjab covering the shoreline from causeway bay to belcher s point the winnipeg grenadiers defended the southwest corner of the island and lawson s headquarters the middlesex regiment was dispersed across 72 pillboxes along the island shoreline the 2nd royal scots reinforced by the hkvdc were held in reserve at wanchai gap and the hkvdc had companies located at high west mt davis pinewood battery magazine gap jardine s lookout and aberdeen naval base the east brigade commanded by brigadier cedric wallis had its headquarters at tai tam gap the east brigade comprised the 5 7th rajputs holding pillboxes along the northeast shoreline with a company and their headquarters in the hills behind taikoo dockyard and a reserve company in tai hang the royal rifles of canada defended the island s northeast all the way around to stanley and two companies of the hkvdc were located at tai tam and pottinger gap 63 on the morning of 13 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 and hitting belcher s fort in pok fu lam on the 14th japanese artillery destroyed a 3 inch gun at mt davis on the 15th japanese artillery moved to target pillboxes and other defensive positions along the shoreline the japanese mounted six air attacks on positions on the west of the island and bomb damage forced the abandonment of pinewood battery 64 on the morning of the 17th the japanese again offered terms of surrender which were rejected that night a reconnaissance team from the ija 3 229th regiment successfully explored the taikoo area the ija had moved its forces closer to hong kong island with the 23rd army headquarters at tai po and the 38th division near kai tak 65 japanese artillery in north point on 18 december the japanese bombardment of the island shoreline increased and the oil storage tanks were hit the ija forces were organized into two assault units the west assault unit comprised the 228th and 230th regiments and would leave from the kai tak area and the east assault unit comprised the 229th regiment less 1 229th held as divisional reserve and would leave from the devil s peak area 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 as they approached the shore the boats were illuminated by searchlights and fired on by the 5 7th rajputs the boats scattered and both battalion commanders were wounded so colonel doi crossing with the second wave assumed command of the assault at 21 40 the artillery barrage moved to targets further inshore and at 21 45 the 3 230th landed at north point followed by the 2 228th at 21 38 the 2 229th landed at sai wan and the 3 229th landed at aldrich bay 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 the japanese eventually moved inshore overwhelming the rajputs bypassing or destroying the strong points as they generally headed towards the high ground maltby believing that the landing only comprised two battalions and was a diversion for a direct assault across the harbor on victoria sent minimal reinforcements to block any ija movement west towards victoria and five hkvdc armored cars to protect the east brigade headquarters 66 67 68 69 the 2 230th moved west towards victoria but was stopped by an hkvdc free french and miscellaneous force in the north point power station led by major john johnstone paterson radioing for assistance maltby sent an hkvdc armoured car and a platoon from the 1st middlesex but they were ambushed on the way and only nine men made it to the station the japanese then directed artillery fire on the station and the surviving defenders withdrew at 01 45 continuing to fight the japanese on electric road and king s road until all were killed or captured 70 in the early hours of 19 december the ija 3 229th moved uphill towards mt parker while the 2 229th moved southeast towards the lyemun fortifications the 2 229th engaged a platoon of the royal rifles sent to check on a company of the rajputs and then quickly overwhelmed the fort s garrison the 2 229th then captured sai wan battery killing six gunners from the hkvdc 5th anti aircraft battery and then proceeded to bayonet 20 prisoners with only two surviving 71 72 c company royal rifles attempted to retake the victorian era sai wan fort with two platoons but were unable to scale the walls and lost nine killed a company from the 2 229th entered the salesian mission in shau kei wan which was being used as a dressing station and they proceeded to kill all those inside however four men survived 73 74 according to captain stanley martin banfill of the royal rifles who witnessed his men being executed the leading japanese officer stated that order is all captives must die 72 the rest of the 2 229th were engaged by c company royal rifles who inflicted heavy casualties but the japanese were able to move past the canadians while also inflicting heavy losses forcing c company to withdraw and leaving only a company on mt parker at 03 00 a platoon from d company was sent to reinforce mt parker but they became lost in the dark and only arrived at 07 30 to find over 100 japanese on mt parker and a company withdrawing and so mt parker was abandoned to the japanese in addition to east brigade s infantry losses the coastal batteries at cape d aguilar and cape collinson were abandoned while several of 965 battery s guns were destroyed in error or left to the japanese 75 wallis withdrew his headquarters from tai tam gap to stanley 76 in the west brigade area lawson sent three platoons from the winnipeg grenadiers forward to block the ija advance from their landing sites deploying one platoon on each of jardine s lookout and mt butler and one forward on wong nei chung gap road meanwhile the 3 230th was advancing along sir cecil s ride on the side of jardine s lookout the 2 230th towards jardine s lookout the 2 228th advanced on the other side of jardine s lookout the 1 228th moved through quarry gap and the 3 229th advanced up tai tam reservoir road the japanese swept aside the weak infantry screens and while pillboxes inflicted ca...
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