5.2 Battle for Hong Kong

British Force Commander negotiating terms of surrender with the Japanese at the Peninsula Hotel.

The growth of militarism in Japan from the late 19th century created the hostile atmosphere in which the ambition to conquer China was conceived.

The first move was the annexation of Manchuria in 1931, followed by full-scale war in 19377. Beijing, Shanghai and Nanjing fell one after another, and the Japanese conquerors committed appalling atrocities in Nanjing, massacring 300,000 civilians.

In 1938 Guangzhou fell into Japanese hands, and Hong Kong came under direct threat. Hong Kong's defences at the time comprised only four battalions and some auxiliary artillerymen, plus the locally-raised Hong Kong Volunteer Defence Corps.

To reinforce these meager forces, two Canadian battalions of 2,000 men arrived at Hong Kong in late 1941.

Credit : History Museum of HK.