British Forces Overseas Hong Kong

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British Forces Overseas Hong Kong consisted of the elements of the British Army, Royal Navy and Royal Air Force. Much of the British military left Hong Kong prior to the handover in 1997. The present article focuses mainly on the British garrison in Hong Kong in the post Second World War era. For more information concerning the British garrison during the Second World War see the Battle of Hong Kong.

Contents

[edit] Overview

Most of the members of the British Forces in Hong Kong were from Britain but there were locally enlisted personnel (LEP) who served as regular British Forces members in the Hong Kong Squadron of the Royal Navy as well as the Hong Kong Military Service Corps.

The Royal Hong Kong Regiment a military unit part of the Hong Kong Government, trained and organised along time lines of British Territorial Army and supported by British Army personnel holding key positions. These British Army personnel for their duration of service to the Royal Hong Kong Regiment are seconded to the Hong Kong Government. In the post WWII era the majority of the regiment's members have been local citizens of Chinese descent.

Before, during and shortly after the Second World War, there was normally a division of land forces maintained in Hong Kong. For most of the post-war period, however, the army garrison has been reduced to a brigade of three to four infantry battalions with support and training elements.

[edit] Responsibilities

Before 1st July 1997 the British government has the political commitment to safeguard the territory against external and internal threat. The greatest test was in 1941, when the Japanese forces invaded Hong Kong.

Internal Security was the responsibility of the Hong Kong Government, in particular the Royal Hong Kong Police. It is supported by British Forces in Hong Kong should it be called upon to do so. During the Hong Kong 1967 riots, in which 51 people were killed, the British garrison supported the Royal Hong Kong Police in quelling the disturbance. Until 1995, the safety of much of the Sino-Hong Kong border was the responsibility of the British forces and as such contributed greatly to the interdiction of illegal immigrants (II). As the preparation of the handover of Hong Kong to China in 1997, that responsibility was passed on to the Hong Kong Police.

The Royal Navy played a significant role in the support of the Royal Hong Kong Police in anti smuggling operation in Hong Kong waters, especially in the haydays of seaborne smuggling during the mid 1980's to mid 1990's.

Search and Rescue (SAR) was provided by all branches of the British Forces in Hong Kong may be called upon for aid to civil defence as well as search and rescue operations in times of emergency.

[edit] Command Structure

The Governor of Hong Kong, being a representative of the British sovereign, was the Commander-in-Chief of the British Forces in the colony. The Governor was advised by the Commander British Forces (CBF) on all military actions. During the 1980s and 1990s, the CBF was normally a career Major General or Lieutenant General from the British Army. Until 1966, the CBF was an ex-officio member of the Legislative Council. [1]

Throughout the years of British rule in Hong Kong a variety of British Army units spent various durations of time in the colony as resident units. In latter stage of the post-war period, British army units were sent to Hong Kong on a rotational basis for a period of three years. The following list contains resident units only and those which stayed in Hong Kong for short durations for re-supply or acclimatisation during the Korean War, Opium War, Boxer Rebellion and the Malayan Emergency are not included in the list.

[edit] British Army

Major units of the British Army in Hong Kong included:

  • 26th Gurkha Brigade (1948-1950)
  • 51st Infantry Brigade (disbanded 1976)
  • 48th Gurkha Infantry Brigade (1957-1976; renamed Gurkha Field Force 1976-97; returned to old title 1987-ca.1992)

[edit] Royal Armoured Corps/Cavalry

[edit] Foot Guards/Line Infantry

The drama series Spearhead and Soldier Soldier both featured fictional infantry regiments. Both saw service during the durations of each series in Hong Kong:

[edit] Royal Artillery

  • 25 Field Regiment (1947-55)
  • 14 Field Regiment (1949-51; 52-56; 60-62)
  • 23 Field Regiment (1949-52)
  • 34 Light Anti-Air Regiment (1949-52; 61-63)
  • 27 Anti-Tank Battery (1949-58)
  • 58 Medium Regiment (1949-52)
  • 27 Heavy Anti-Air Regiment (1949-57)
  • 173 Locating Battery (1950-57)
  • 15 Observation Battery (1950-51)
  • 32 Regiment (1951-52; 58-61)
  • 45 Field Regiment (1951-53; 58-61)
  • 72 Light Anti-Air Regiment 1952-55)
  • 20 Field Regiment (1952-55)
  • 42 Field Regiment (1952-56)
  • 15 Medium Regiment (1955-57)
  • 74 Light Anti-Air Regiment (1955-58)
  • 19 Field Regiment (1956-57)
  • 49 Field Regiment (1957-61)
  • 5 Field Regiment (1958-61)
  • 4 Field Regiment (1961-64)
  • 49 Light Regiment (1964-1966)
  • 18 Light Regiment (1966-69)
  • 25 Light Regiment (1969-71)
  • 47 Light Regiment (1971-73)
  • 3 Light Regiment Royal Horse Artillery (1973-75)
  • 20 Light Regiment (1975-76)

[edit] Others

[edit] Installations

A list of British Army installations in Hong Kong:

[edit] Royal Navy

The Royal Navy was stationed in Hong Kong right from the beginning of the establishment of Hong Kong as a British Colony. For the most part the Royal Naval base was located in Hong Kong Island at HMS Tamar. The Prince of Wales Building was added later in the 1970s. Prior to the handover, the naval base was moved to Stonecutters Island next to the Government docks.

RN Squadrons in Hong Kong:

  • China Squadron 1844-1941, 1945-1992
  • Far East Fleet/HK Sqdn 1969-1971
  • Dragon Squadron 1971-1992
  • 3 Raiding Squadron Royal Marines
  • Hong Kong Royal Naval Volunteer Reserves 1967-1996 - merge with RNR 1971
  • British Regular - Garrison and Fleet
  • LEP 1905-1996
  • Side Girls Party 1933-1997
  • Dragon Squadron
  • 120th Minesweeping Squadron 1958-1966 - transfer to Singapore
  • 6th Mine Countermeasure Squadron 1969-1997
  • 6th Patrol Craft Squadron 1970-1997
  • Operations and Training Base 1934-1997
  • 3 Commando Brigade Royal Marines
  • 47 Royal Marines
  • British Pacific Fleet 1840s-1948 - to Singapore as Far East Station
  • HK Flotilla 1840s-1941, 1948-1992
  • China Station - 4th Submarine Flotilla, Yangtse Flotilla, West River Flotilla, 8th Destroyer Flotilla
  • 5th Cruiser Squadron
  • 1st Escort Flotilla
  • 4th Frigate Flotilla ?-1952
  • Frigate Squadron 1952-1976
  • Light Cruiser Squadron

A list of naval facilities used or built by the RN in Hong Kong:

  • Lamont and Hope Drydocks
  • Aberdeen Docks - destroyed
  • Dry Dock 1902-1959
  • Taikoo Dockyard - Hong Kong United Dockyards
  • Royal Navy Dockyards, Admiralty 1859-1902
  • Royal Navy Dockyards 1902-1959
  • RN Coal storage yard, Stonecutters Island 1861-1959
  • RN Coal storage yard and Kowloon Naval Dockyards 1901-1959
  • Sai Wan Barracks 1844-1846
  • Wellington Barracks 1946-1978 - as HMS Tamar (demolished)
  • North Barracks 1850s-1856, 1887-1959 - from the Army and to HK Government 1959
  • Victoria Barracks
  • Redoubt and Lei Yue Mun Fortifications 1885-1887
  • Lei Yue Mun Fort 1887-1987
  • Reverse, Central, West and Pass Batteries 1880s
  • Brennan Torpedo station 1890 - Lei Yue Mun
  • HMS Charolotte and HMS Victor Emmanuel - Receiving Ships
  • Tidal Basin 1902-1959
  • Boat Basin 1902-1959
  • HM Victualling Yards 1859-1946

A list of facilities used or built by the RN in Hong Kong:

  • Lamont and Hope Drydocks
  • Aberdeen Docks
  • Royal Naval Hospital, Wan Chai - now Ruttonjee Sanatorium
  • Seaman's Hospital 1843-1873 - replaced by Royal Naval Hospital
  • HMS Charolotte and HMS Victor Emmanuel - Receiving Ships
  • HMS Tamar - Receiving ship 1897-1941
  • HMS Nabcatcher - Kai Tak 1945-1946
  • HMS Flycatcher - Kai Tak 1947
  • HMS Minden 1841-mid 1840s - hospital ship
  • HMS Alligator 1840s-1873 - hospital ship
  • HMS Lord Melville 1860s-1873 - hospital ship (East Indies Sqdn)
  • HMS Audacious 1840s[dubious – discuss] - Receiving Ship

[edit] Royal Air Force

The Royal Air Force was the smallest contingent of the British Forces was stationed in both Kai Tak Airport as well as the airbase in the New Territories known as Sek Kong. Later when the Royal Air Force withdrew from Kai Tak Airport, Sek Kong airbase remained the only RAF base in Hong Kong. In the late 1970s the Royal Air Force moved to an all rotary wing force, in the 1980s the Royal Air Force largely withdrew from Sek Kong and transferred to Kai Tak airport as Sek Kong was to become a temporary refugee camp to house the large number of arriving Vietnamese refugees.

In addition, the Hong Kong Government also maintains an "airforce". This airforce as per the land unit of RHKR (V), is an arm of the Hong Kong Government, supported by RAF personnel seconded to serve in the Hong Kong Auxiliary Air Force.

Royal Hong Kong Auxiliary Air Force 1970-1993 - handed over to GFS

  • Hong Kong Volunteer Defence Corps - Air Arm 1930-1949
  • Hong Kong Auxiliary Air Force 1949-1970 - see RHKAAF

A list of RAF Units in Hong Kong:

  • 114th (Hong Kong) RAF Squadron
  • 28 AC Squadron 1978-1996 (RAF Sek Kong) - using Wessex HC2
  • 28 AC Squadron 1968-1978, 1996-1997 (RAF Kai Tak) - using Wessex HC2
  • 22 Squadron
  • ASF (Catering Squadron)
  • GEF (Ground Radio)
  • Medical Supply Squadron
  • 847 Squadron 1970 (RAF Kai Tak)
  • 846 Squadron 1963-1964 (RAF Kai Tak)
  • 367 Wireless Unit
  • 368 Wireless Unit
  • 444 Signals Unit (Stanley Fort), 1971 to 1977

Sources indicate that No 444 Signals Unit (SU) formed officially within No 90 (Signals) Group, RAF Strike Command with effect from 16 August 1971 and was established as a lodger unit at Stanley Fort, Hong Kong. The primary role of No 444 SU was to act as a ground station for the Skynet satellite communications system, responsibility for operating the Skynet system having been vested in the RAF in the late 1960s under the Rationalisation of Inter Services Telecommunications (RISTACOM) agreement. It would appear that the equipment operated by No 444 SU had been located previously at RAF Bahrain (HMS Jufair).

On 1 May 1972 No 90 (Signals) Group was transferred from Strike Command to Maintenance Command and as a consequence No 444 SU became a Maintenance Command unit on this date. On 31 August 1973 both No 90 (Signals) Group and Maintenance Command were disbanded, to be replaced on the following day by the new RAF Support Command. All of the units and locations previously controlled by the disbanded formations were transferred to Support Command with effect from 1 September 1973, and No 444 therefore became a Support Command unit. This was to prove short-lived, however, for on 1 November 1973 No 444 SU and the unit responsible for maintaining the Skynet ground station at RAF Gan - No 6 SU - were both transferred to the command of the Air Officer Commanding in Chief Near East Air Force (NEAF). At this time No 444 SU and No 6 SU formed part of the Defence Communications Network (DCN) and the DCN elements of both units came under the functional control of the Controller DCN, Ministry of Defence.

On 1 August 1975 administrative and engineering responsibility for all of the units comprising RAF Hong Kong, including No 444 SU, were transferred from NEAF to Strike Command - functional control of these units being retained by the Vice Chief of the Air Staff via Commander RAF Hong Kong. Subsequently, with the disbandment of HQ NEAF on 31 March 1976 control of RAF Hong Kong and its component units were transferred in total to Strike Command. On 28 March 1976 RAF Gan closed and No 6 SU disbanded formally on the same date, the latter's satellite communications equipment being transferred to No 444 SU.

Official sources indicate that No 444 SU disbanded at some point 'during the last quarter of 1977'

  • Composite Signals Unit

A list of RAF Stations in Hong Kong:

A list of RAF Operations Facilities:

  • Tai Po Tsai
  • Cape Collinson
  • Batty's Belvedere
  • Kong Wei, RAF Sek Kong
  • Chung Hom Kok
  • Wang Fung Terrace, Tai Hang (Happy Valley)

Search and rescue operations conducted by the RAF and Royal Navy were later transferred to the Government Flying Service (GFS).

[edit] Other Facilities

  • British Military Hospital, Kowloon
  • Medical centres at Victoria Barracks, Lyemun Barracks, Stanley Fort, Whitfield Barracks, Sham Shui Po, Choy Hung, MRS Sek Kong and Lo Wu.
  • British Forces Broadcasting Service
  • Navy, Army and Air Force Institutes (NAAFI)
  • Blackdown Barracks, Hong Kong (彩虹軍營) - near Kai Tak; now parking lot
  • Mount Austin Barracks - near Peak Tram terminus at Victoria Peak
  • Royal Hong Kong Regimental Headquarters near Happy Valley - demolished 1995

[edit] China Fleet Club

Hong Kong became an important port of call for many naval ships passing through the Far East. Besides Lan Kwai Fong, Royal Navy sailors had their own entertainment facility called the China Fleet Club.

A timeline of the China Fleet Club:

  • 1900-1903 local Hong Kong businessman and Royal Navy's China Fleet to raise funds for a Royal Naval Canteen at Naval Docks, Hong Kong
  • 1929 old canteen building demolished and replaced with new building
  • 1929-1934 Temporary CFC at Gloucester Road
  • 1933 cornerstone laid by Admiral Sir Howard Kelly, G.B.E., K.C.B., C.M.G., M.V.O., then Commander-in-Chief, China Station; new seven-storey China Fleet Club building called "The Old Blue"
  • 1941-1945 CFC serves as Japanese Naval HQ in Hong Kong during World War II
  • 1945-1980 CFC re-occupied by RN
  • 1952 Coronation Annex added
  • 1980-1985 CFC relocated to temporary site at Sun Hung Kai Centre
  • 1985 25-storey Fleet House new home for CFC
  • 1986 Plans to relocate CFC to UK begins
  • 1989 Construction of China Fleet Country Club in Saltash begins
  • 1991 Construction of China Fleet Country Club in Saltash completed and opens in June
  • 1992 CFC in Hong Kong closes

[edit] References

  • Alderson, G.L.D. History of Royal Air Force Kai Tak. Hong Kong: Royal Air Force Kai Tak, 1972.
  • Bruce, Philip. Second to None. Hong Kong: Oxford University Press, 1991.
  • Gregorian, Raffi. The British Army, the Gurkhas and Cold War strategy in the Far East, 1947-1954. New York : Palgrave, 2002.
  • Ko, Tim-keung, et al. ed. Serving Hong Kong: The Hong Kong Volunteers. Hong Kong: Hong Kong Museum of Coastal Defence, 2004.
  • Melson, P.J. White Ensign Red Dragon: The History of the Royal Navy in Hong Kong 1841-1997. Hong Kong: Edinburgh Financial Publishing, 1997.
  • Oxley, D.H. Victoria Barracks, 1842-1979. Hong Kong: British Forces Hong Kong, 1979.
  • Richardson, Sam S. The Royal Marines and Hong Kong, 1840-1997. Portsmouth: Royal Marines Historical Society, 1997.
  • Rollo, Denis. The Guns & Gunners of Hong Kong. Hong Kong: The Gunners' Roll of Hong Kong, 1991.

[edit] External links

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