RHKR The Volunteers Association

Transcription

1 Issue No.2005/001 RHKR The Volunteers Association Celebrating 150 Years since the Foundation of the Volunteers 2004 marked a significant landmark in the History of the Volunteers as ex-volunteers in Hong Kong, the United Kingdom, Canada, the USA, Australia and New Zealand celebrated the 150th Anniversary of the establishment of the first military Volunteers in Hong Kong. The anniversary was celebrated by dinners in May in Hong Kong, Australia, Toronto and Vancouver and then in June in London however the main celebrations were in Hong Kong in November when over 60 ex-volunteers and their families returned to Hong Kong for a week of events. Those returning included two ex-honorary Colonels, Colonels Solomon Bard and Mr Harnam Grewal, two Commanding Officers, Colonels Edward Pepper and Tim Villiers and five others, along with Colonel Solomon Bard, who fought in the Battle for Hong Kong in 1941, Michael Wright, Jack Mitchell, Malcolm Swan from the UK, Ostler Thomas from Sydney and Kwok Sun-pui from Toronto. The welcoming reception was held at the Club House in the evening on Sunday 7 November, but even before that two visiting members from overseas had already taken part in the first event in the programme, namely Trailwalker. Simon Lord from the UK and James Chan from Toronto had walked (and run) as members of team 150. Oxfam had granted special permission for this team to have a different four walkers for each of the ten stages. In the event the team had 28 walkers and completed the 100km in just under 25 hours. Meanwhile many more Volunteers manned the check points and the control thus ensuring a smoothly run event. The main events started the following day with a visit to the Hillside Badge and Table Hill range. On Tuesday the Golfing Society hosted an inter branch competition while other members went on a gentle walk from Bride s Pool to Luk Keng followed by a hastily arranged lunch at the local café. Wednesday saw the unveiling of a plaque to commemorate the site of the Regiment s compound at Happy Valley and, in the evening, the race for Volunteer Cup at Shatin.

2 Mrs Maureen Villiers presented the cup to the winner s owner on behalf of the Association while members enjoyed the evening s racing from the comfort of a box. A Battlefield tour, Exercise Round Hong Kong, took place on the Thursday morning finishing at the Museum of Coastal Defence to coincide with the opening of the exhibition on the Volunteers that will continue until next May. The end of the week was the time for Adventure Corps first with a visit to their base at High Island on Friday and then on Saturday afternoon an Adventure Corps parade at the Auxiliary Police Headquarters in Kowloon Bay. The climax of the week was undoubtedly the Association s Annual Dinner at BP International House in Austin Road on the Saturday evening at which over 350 ex- Volunteers, their families and friends enjoyed first a Dragon Dance and then an excellent dinner. On Sunday those who gave their lives in the defence of Hong Kong and elsewhere were remembered at the annual Remembrance Day Service at the Cenotaph when wreaths were laid by Comd Arthur Gomes on behalf of the Prisoners of War Association, our Honorary President, Noshir Pavri, on behalf of the Association, Colonel Bard on behalf of the NSW Branch, Colonel Tim Villiers on behalf of the UK Branch, Major Colin Bellingham on behalf of the Middlesex Regiment and Jack Mitchell on behalf of the Hong Kong Defence Corps Signallers. Due to a traffic accident the curry was late in arriving at the Club House, but fortunately none was spilt thus allowing the farewell lunch to proceed as planned. Some of our visitors departed later that day while others lingered on in Hong Kong for another few days. It was an emotional week and one which will be remembered by all those who took part. A fitting memory of the gallant Ninety-Nine who came forward to Volunteer in May 1854 and start a tradition of which subsequent Volunteers were proud to follow. Ron Taylor Chairman The Volunteers Association Contribution to the Trailwalker 2004 Oxfam took over from the Gurkha Signals the organization of the annual Trailwalker after the 1997 Handover. From the very beginning of Oxfam s ownership of Trailwalker, the Volunteers Association had always been one of the most important contributors of volunteer helpers. Members of the Association understudied the British Army in their last Trailwalker (1996) and then in November 1997 commanded (in the name of coordinators) all nine check-points along the MacLehose Trail, and in addition to our many other tasks.

3 Trailwalker always take place in the second weekend of November and Oxfam is very reluctant to change this, as many Trailwalker participants have got used to this timing. Incidentally this would crash with the Remembrance Sunday. Soon after TW03 we told Oxfam of our planned 150 Anniversary activities, that both Trailwalker and Remembrance Sunday would be important parts of our celebration diary. Oxfam was most considerate and agreed to advance TW04 by one week, to start on Friday 5 November This demonstrates the important place we occupy Oxfam s mind. Thus the 150 Anniversary activities started with our participation in TW04, on Friday 5 November. This year, like the last two years, the VA s contribution comprised of :- Start Point tasks (checking out, controlling of starts around control) all squadrons, a. Check Point 1 (with one Forward Safety Team under command) HQ manpower, but under AC command b. Check Point 4 B Sqn, c. Check Point 5 HG Sqn, d. Check Point 6 C Sqn, e. Check Point 7 D Sqn, f. Check Point 8 A Sqn, g. Check Point 9 B Sqn, h. Finish Point (Command Centre) all squadrons, i. 4 sweep teams, j. 2 Action Reaction Teams, k. 1 Mobile Reserve Team, l. 1 Field Control Team, m. 1 QM party. There were Oxfam budgets (man-shifts) for each and every task. However, following the Volunteers good spirit, task commanders welcomed all who liked to help. As a result, some tasks had more members than the lean budgets. TW04, blessed with excellent weather, was a most successful event. We are very happy to help and, in the process, allowed the opportunity to work together as a team, like annual camps. Woo Sai Cheong Co-ordinator

4 A Shooting Day to mark the 150 th Anniversary of The Royal Hong Kong Regiment (The Volunteers) As one of the major events to mark the 150 th anniversary of the Royal Hong Kong Regiment (The Volunteers), local and overseas guests were invited by our Shooting Club the RHKR Sport Shooting Association to a fun-shooting session held at the Table Hill Range in the Monday afternoon of 8 November, Profile of Participants Among the 33 participants in the shooting event, there were altogether twenty five local and overseas guests. Apart from the eleven guests from Hong Kong, the remaining fourteen guests came from the United Kingdom, the States, Canada and Australia. A total of eight volunteer helpers were mobilized to serve the guests throughout all shooting activities on the range. The Shooting Activities As you know perfectly well, shooting has its own symbolic meaning and unique value to every serviceman in the military field. In memory of the 150 th anniversary of the Royal Hong Kong Regiment (The Volunteers), the RHKRSSA has particularly chosen the Regiment s standard weapon, the SLR, for conducting a series of full-bore rifle shooting for her guests to mark the occasion. It was amazing to witness that a few of our veterans could still maintain their marksmanship as before, while some others needed a little bit more time to recap their faded memories of basic shooting principles. In short, all the guests did experience a joyful and memorable session on the range by sharing with others their good old days in the Regiment, and their everlasting friendship built on the common interest in rifle shooting. A vote of Thanks The opportunity is hereby taken to convey our hearty thanks to those who had given the RHKRSSA a helping hand in making the shooting day one of the most successful events in our celebration of the Regiment s 150 th anniversary in November 2004.

5 Eric Yuen Chairman, RHKRSSA Visit to the Hillside Badge Following the Welcoming Ceremony, the whole-week tightly packed programme of the 150th Anniversary of the Founding of the Volunteers was unveiled by the visit to the Hillside Badge in the Monday morning of 8 November The visit was attended by 24 Members and their spouses mostly from overseas with transport provided by HKAC. The two 4-wheel driven HKAC Pajeros were left unused as Members preferred to walk up the hill after debussing from the HKAC Coaster bus at the foot of the hill to the Badge and back. The weather that morning was fine and sunny and everyone managed to get a good suntan. The buffet lunch was taken in the Better Ole Restaurant in Luen Wo Hui, Sheung Shui before embarking on the trip to the Table Hill Range in the same afternoon. To commemorate the disbandment of the RHKR(V), a badge, taking the form of Regimental Officer's embroidered beret badge and measuring 23m diagonally, was constructed and painted on the hill slope behind the Gallipoli Lines off Sha Tau Kok Road. The task was undertaken by all ranks of HQ Squadron, from clearance of the site to the unveiling on the night of 3 September 1995, while the Regiment was having its last Regimental Camp before the disbandment. The badge was repainted shortly before 1997, redone by HKAC in 2003 and has since been maintained by HKAC Gentle Walk in the New Territories Many Volunteers have memories of areas in the New Territories where the Regiment used to train. Many of these areas now look very different as villages have become abandoned and vegetation has grown. One of the many "favourite" areas is the north of

6 Pat Sin Leng which includes Stage 10 of the Wilson Trail and this is where Volunteers walked on Tuesday 9 November. An Adventure Corps Coaster took the party from Happy Valley to Bride s Pool. While the customary group photographs were being taken a passing motorist introduced himself and it turned out that he had been in a troop in the 15/19 Lancers commanded by Tim Villiers, one of the Volunteers getting ready for the walk. The topography was described as gentle terrain with old stone and concrete paths, streams, trees and vegetation providing good shade. The area is scenic and this was the main reason why the walk took somewhat longer than the organisers had intended. There was so much to study in the old villages at Wang Shan Keuk Ha and Sheung Tsuen and further delays occurred at Ha Tsat Muk Kui while stories of Regimental exercises were told and retold. After a detour to the Youde Memorial Pavilion, to view Starling Inlet and the surrounding area of the Luk Keng wetland mangrove, the party regrouped at Luk Keng. Although the distance walked was only about 6.5km, the DS walking time of about 2 1 / 2 hours was significantly exceeded! A further delay to the return journey resulted as participants decided that it would be a good idea to stay at the Luk Keng coffee/tea shop for lunch and give the organisers, Lau Po-chi and Louis Thomas, a vote of thanks for an excellent day. The Plaque to mark the site of the RHQ Compound Volunteers will remember, with affection, the RHQ compound at Happy Valley. They will recall that, in the 1990's, the Happy Valley Race Track was remodelled and extended to the north over the RHQ compound and the Football Club. Sports Road was also relocated to the north. The racetrack now extends over the southern portion of the RHQ compound while the remainder of the compound is now Sports Road Garden or has been used for the realigned Sports Road and highway widening. At the same time the Football Club obtained new premises to the south of the new Sports Road with their pitches inside the racetrack. With these changes there is no sign of the RHQ compound or any of the buildings within. On Wednesday 10 November Colonel Solomon Bard, in his capacity as a Member of the Hong Kong Antiquities and Monuments Board and the Senior Volunteer, unveiled a plaque in the Sports Road Garden to commemorate the fact that the "Volunteers" headquarters compound was in this area from 1951 to disbandment in The Association is indebted to the Antiquities Authority for providing the plaque. The location of the plaque is within the northern boundary of the original compound before its extension in the late 1970's, following the loss of part of the area for the construction of the Aberdeen Tunnel Approach Roads. The location for the plaque was determined to avoid "Fung Shui" issues with the racing punters and the wording on the plaque, which is in both English and Chinese, was revised several times to ensure that it was acceptable to all parties.

7 Previous Site of Headquarters Compound of The Royal Hong Kong Regiment (The Volunteers) The Headquarters Compound of the Royal Hong Kong Regiment (The Volunteers), comprising a two-storey headquarters building and a parade ground, was built in this area in The Regiment provided distinguished services to Hong Kong since its establishment in 1854 and contributed greatly to the defence of Hong Kong against the Japanese army in The Regiment was disbanded in 1995 and the Headquarters Compound was demolished in the same year. Exercise Round Hong Kong Old Volunteers might still have a lot of fond memories about Exercise Round Hong Kong. However, the exercise organised on 11 November was not in the form of military skills competition but was in a much relaxed style, the event was combining visiting to old Volunteers places, battlefields and cemeteries, shopping and lunch at Stanley Market, and finally watching the official opening of the Volunteer Exhibition at the Hong Kong Museum of Coastal Defence. There were a total of 38 members from our overseas branches, including two wartime veterans, took part in this exercise, all enjoyed a day out with the Chairman and Albert Lam. The highlight of the day was to join the official opening of the Volunteer Exhibition at MCD. After the speech given by our Honoury President, Mr Noshir Pavri, all enjoyed the food and drink provided by the Museum and took the opportunity to see our exhibition on display.

8 Visit to the Hong Kong Adventure Corps at High Island Training Camp A group of 16 former volunteers (mostly members returning from overseas countries) and spouses paid a visit to the Hong Kong Adventure Corps (HKAC), the successor of the Junior Leaders Corps of the former RHKR(V) at High Island Training Camp (HITC) on 12 November Among the group were Major (Retired) N. P. Pavri, Honorary President of the RHKRVA, Major (Retired) S. L. Lord, Honorary Vice-President and former Chairman of the RHKRVA, Colonel (Retired) Edward Pepper and Colonel (Retired) Tim Villiers, former COs of the Volunteers and WOI (Retired) Clive Pierce, the last RSM of the Volunteers. The Group was picked up by a HKAC 24-Seater coaster bus from Happy Valley and Kowloon Tong at 0930 hrs and travelled to Sai Kung via Shatin and Ma On Shan. En route to HITC, the party stopped by at Cham Chuk Wan to pay a visit to the monument in commemoration of the DongJiang River Brigade who fought the Japanese in Hong Kong during WWII and took photographs in front of the monument. Upon arrival at HITC, the group was given a short briefing on the history and latest development of HKAC since its setting up in 1995 right after the disbandment of the Volunteers by Major (Retired) P. C. Keung, now Chief Staff Officer of HKAC, over a cup of tea. After the briefing, the group had a guided tour of HITC and the HITC Annex the former Man Yee Police Post at Yuen Ng Fan which had been used on many occasions as Squadron/Troop HQ in anti-ii operations conducted by the

9 Volunteers in the 1980s and 1990s. After touring the two camps, the group then paid a visit to the East Dam of High Island Reservoir and the nearby training grounds, which had been used in exercises and weekend training by the Volunteers, to refresh their memories of volunteer life in the good old days. After the tours, and with rather empty stomach, the party enjoyed a delicious Gurkha curry lunch prepared by Major (Retired) Saran Limbu, now full time Senior Training Officer with HKAC. The visit was concluded by a simple souvenir presentation ceremony and a group photo in front of the Headquarters Block of HITC before the party departed for town at about 1500 hrs. HKAC Parade to Commemorate the 150 th Anniversary of the Founding of the RHKR(V) The Hong Kong Adventure Corps held a parade to commemorate the 150 th Anniversary of the Founding of the RHKR(V) on Saturday, 13 November 2004 afternoon. The parade was held at the Auxiliary Police Headquarters at Kowloon Bay. About 200 ex- Volunteers (including many local members and members returning from overseas countries such as the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the United State), spouses, representatives from the Sea Cadet Corps and Air Cadet Corps, cadets and families of HKAC members attended the parade. Colonel (Retired) Edward Pepper, former CO of the Volunteers took the salute in the parade. The spectators were deeply impressed by the high standard of drill movements demonstrated by the HKAC members taking part in the parade. They were also highly entertained by the performance of the Silent Drill Performance Squad as well as Flutes and Drums Band of the Corps which performed, among other tunes, the Leather Bottel. Colonel Pepper and Ms. Vivien CHAN (the Honorary Commandant and

10 Chairman of the HKAC Council) both gave a touching speech about the Volunteers and the Corps. A cocktail reception was held after the parade in the Canteen where guests had the opportunity of mixing with and chatting to the instructors and cadets of HKAC before they depart for the clamix of the week s celebration programme the Regimental Dinner to be held at the Scouts Association in Austin Road later that evening. The Association Dinner 2004 The RHKR(V) Association 150 th Anniversary Dinner was held on 13 November 2004 at B P International House. The dinner itself might not arguably be the pinnacle of events for the 150 th Anniversary series, but with an impressive turnout of 377 guests and comrades, many of them we haven t seen for years, it is no doubt one of the most remarkable moments for the week of activities. This time playing host to Volunteers from overseas, the Association is most delighted to welcome, among other guests, twelve wartime soldiers, two honorary colonels and two former COs to the occasion. After a series of presentations and speeches, the principle guest of honour, the British Consulate General Mr Stephen BRADLEY, dotted the eyes of the Dragon which later danced through the hall in virtually flying colours. Laughter and cheers that broke out every now and then while watching the slide show concurrently played along with the dinner revealed how everyone thoroughly enjoy the night.