Japanese planes bombed Kai Tak Aerodrome on the morning of 8 December 1941 soon after the attack on Pearl Harbour. The suddenness of the attack caught the Royal Air Force in Hong Kong unprepared and its air defences were destroyed.
Having gained control of the air, the Japanese sent their troops across the Shenzhen River, and they marched unimpeded through the New Territories.
At the Shing Mun Redoubt was lost, and the defences along Gin Drinkers Line collapsed. The relentless Japanese advance gave the British commanding officer Major-General Maltby no alternative but to order a retreat to Hong Kong Island.
In the next several days the Governor, Sir Mark Young, twice rejected Japanese demands for Hong Kong's surrender.
Credit : History Museum of HK.
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