Hebe Jebes Issue Sep to Oct 2013 Sep 2013 | Page 48

Features

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On 8 December 1941, Japanese fighter planes
launched a surprise attack on Kai Tak Airport
while Japanese troops crossed from Shenzhen
and invaded Hong Kong. The then Governor, Sir
Mark Young, surrendered on 25 December, and Hong Kong
entered a dark period lasting three years and eight months.
However, both before and during the Japanese occupation
of Hong Kong, a local guerrilla force, namely the Hong Kong
Independent Battalion of the Dongjiang Column, actively and
persistently under took anti-Japanese campaigns and made a
great contribution to the war effor t.
When faced with the Japanese attack, many volunteers came
forth to par ticipate in anti-Japanese activities. The 3rd and 5th
Companies of the Guangdong People’s Anti-Japanese Guerrilla
Force, the precursor to the Dongjiang Column, were sent to
Hong Kong and launched guerrilla attacks against the Japanese in
the New Territories and Kowloon. At the same time, the guerrilla
forces called for local volunteers to help defend the country.
On 3 February 1942, the Hong Kong Independent Battalion
of the Guangdong People’s Anti-Japanese Guerrilla Force, which
included many volunteers and young intellectuals, declared its
establishment in the chapel at Wong Mo Ying Sai Kung—now
Rosary Mission Church. Tsoi Kwok-leung became captain of the
Battalion, leading the near 1,000-strong force. On 2 December
1943, the Central Committee of the Communist Party formally
proclaimed the founding of the Dongjiang Column of the
Guangdong People’s Anti-Japanese Guerrilla Force. Tseng Sang
was made Commander and Lin Ping (Yin Linping) became Political
Commissar. The Hong Kong Independent Battalion thus became
an official sub-unit of the Dongjiang Column—an armed force
that doggedly resisted the Japanese army in Hong Kong.
In addition to fighting the Japanese, the battalion also shouldered

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responsibility for rescuing important persons trapped in Hong Kong
and protected them from being captured by the Japanese. Twelve
rescue routes were involved in such operations, which eventually
delivered more than 800 people to safety outside Hong Kong.
These included He Xiangning, Liao Chengzhi, Liu Yazi, Zou Taofen,
Mao Dun, Situ Huimin, Tang Man-chiu and many more.
Allied soldiers were also rescued, such as the American pilot
Lieutenant Donald W. Kerr, who was hidden in the hills of Sai
Kung and Ma On Shan, before being led out of Hong Kong and
into ‘free China’. Additionally, the guerrillas helped the British
Army Aid Group (BAAG) and suppor ted each other by providing
intelligence information.
In commemoration, local people erected the Monuments for
Martyrs Against Japanese Militarism in Wu Kau Tang,Tai Po and Sai Kung,
paying homage to the great contribution made by the Battalion, as well
as organising remembrance ceremonies and related events. In 1998,
the former Chief Executive, Mr Tung Chee Hwa placed a Dongjiang
Column Roll of Honour in the memorial shrine at Hong Kong City
Hall for the public to pay their respects, and to recognise the battalion’s
important place in Hong Kong history. The shrine also enables the
younger generations to learn more about these soldiers, who sacrificed
their lives in defence of Hong Kong.
So this was the history of the Sai Kung area that I learnt whilst
researching Hong Kong during the war years and now, after being
asked to research the History of Hebe Haven Yacht Club, I thought
I’d check out the history behind the naming of Hiram’s Highway,
and in doing so discovered quite a few differing versions about the
builder of the road, from Hiram Potts, to K. Potts to a Lt. Potts to
a Captain Potts and even a Major Potts.
I have known of the story for many years and have even had
pictures taken by the original stone that names the road—it used
to be just where you turn off Clearwater Bay Road onto Hiram’s