THE ROYAL HONG KONG REGIMENT (THE VOLUNTEERS) ASSOCIATION

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1 THE ROYAL HONG KONG REGIMENT (THE VOLUNTEERS) ASSOCIATION Message from the Chairman Ron Taylor MBE TD ED December 2011 This month was the 70th Anniversary of the darkest month in Hong Kong s history. On 8th December 1941, Japan declared war on Britain and invaded Hong Kong with an army several times stronger than that of the defenders. The initial success on the Mainland were not repeated on the Island where the Japanese were heavily mauled in a number of encounters, but their vastly superior numbers led to Hong Kong s surrender on the afternoon of Christmas Day. The Association considered that this significant anniversary should not pass without recognition of the part paid by loyal Hong Kong citizens who joined the Hong Kong Defence Corps and British Army units to help repel the invasion. From Thursday 8 December, the anniversary of the day of the invasion, until the end of December photographs of the Hong Kong Volunteer Defence Corps and events associated with the 1941 period were displayed at the Hong Kong Maritime Museum in the old Murray Building in Stanley. This was a fitting venue as the HKVDC s old headquarters was at the Murray Parade Ground in Central where Murray Building used to stand. On Friday 9th the Chairman gave a talk to the Royal Asiatic Society on the role played by the Hong Kong Volunteer Defence Corps in the Battle. The following day the Hong Kong Adventure Corps, supported by the Hong Kong Sea Cadets, Hong Kong Air Cadets and the Hong Kong 1

2 Sea School, accompanied by their bands, marched along the Avenue of the Stars with Mr Peter Choi, Chairman of the WWII Veterans, taking the salute. Mr Yiu Siu Nam, an HKVDC veteran, was accompanied by his son. Regrettably the cold weather prevented other veterans of the battle from attending the parade. On Sunday 11th, Bernard Yuen organised a charity walk, named Walk for the Forgotten Heroes, along the Wong Nai Chung Gap Trail where sign-boards explain the Battle for Hong Kong. The walk was in aid of the WWII Veterans and was followed by a light lunch in the Clubhouse where participants were able to continue the social gathering from earlier in the day. To commemorate the Battle, First Day Covers were franked by the post office and these are available for purchase through the PRI. Victory on Japan Day Ceremony The VJ Day ceremony was held on 21 st August and over 30 members attended. This year, the wreath layers were the Under Secretary, Ms Florence Hui JP, for the Home Affairs Department; the Consul-General of the United Kingdom, Mr Andrew Seaton, Mr Matt Matthews on behalf of the Consul-General of the USA; Mr Chander Khan on behalf of the Consul-General of India; the acting Consul-General of Canada, Mr Jean-Christian Brillant; Brig. Duncan Francis, the Defence Attaché, British Embassy, Beijing; Mr Tony Carol of the Hong Kong PoW Association; Mr Peter Choi, Chairman of the WW II Veterans Association; Brig (Ret d) Christopher Hammerbeck representing the Royal British Legion; Mr Willie Mok, the Chairman of the Hong Kong Ex-Servicemen Association; Mr Steve Verralls of the Gunners Roll; Mr Mark Nunns of the Royal Marines and Mr William Ching, Chairman of the Hoi Luen Society. Our director, Mr Bernard Lai, laid the wreath on behalf of the Association. The HKAC provided the sentries, pipers and bugler. The last post and reveille was well played by the bugler since he was the student of our famous Regimental bugler ex-wo2 Mr. Wong Chi Hung. The Guests and members moved to club house for a reception after the ceremony. 2

3 AGM & Association Dinner The AGM & Association Dinner was held on 2 nd September. It was a very successful one with a total of 184 members and guests participating. During the AGM, the Chairman, Mr Ron Taylor, reported the events for the past year, and two motions were passed. The first one was that we would accept the HKAC adult members as associate member with an annual subscription of $200. The second one was the annual subscription would remain unchanged. As in the previous years, the president Mr Pavri donated a gift for the lucky draw and the General Manager of the Hong Kong Kinectics Medical & Health Co. Ltd. Mr David Chan also donated a $500 cash prize. Also, we have to thank Mr. Michael Siu for the gift of a beautiful lapel pin for everyone attending the dinner. The Chung Yeung Festival Ceremony by the SAR Government 3

4 Remembrance Sunday Oxfam Trailwalker to 20 November Wong Siu Wing This year was the 30 th Anniversary of Trailwalker; the Volunteers have kept actively assisting Oxfam in this meaningful event since As usual we provide manning right from the starting point at Pak Tam Chung, Sai Kung to the finishing point at Tai Tong, Yuen Long with nine check points in between. The Volunteers maintain manning of the start and finish points, check points 1(jointly with HKAC), 8 and 9, sweep teams and action and reaction teams; this resembles an annual assembly of our old friends after disbandment. The remaining check points are manned by: Police, Fire Services, Correctional Services, ICAC and Immigration. Due to the inclement weather on 17 and 18 November, which was not suitable for flying. GFS was unable to help in transporting heavy objects to Sai Wan Shan, but it was fortunate that GFS was not called upon for any rescue action during the whole course of Trailwalker. Oxfam decided to follow the old route after its change in 2009; the Trailwalker follows the old route at Tai Mo Shan after water point 3 along the paved road down hill to CP8 and the detour from the current MacLehose Trail after CP9. Trailwalker is one of the toughest team challenges in the world. We missed the Gurkhas for the third time since the establishment of the Trailwalker in the 80s. Due to the downpour of rain on the day before, the trail was very slippery, especially between CP2 to CP4 and CP7 to CP8. This could have been the cause of the high drop out rate of walkers this year, only 3332 finished out of 4436 walkers registered at the SP, i.e. 75 % of individual walkers and 57% of full team completed the whole course of 100km. The PLA sent two teams, 4

5 joining the walk for the third time, and won the first place with a timing of 12hrs. 22mins, which is 23 mins. more than last year s record, the timing could have been affected by the muddy and slippery trail. The other team won the 7 th place as one of their team members was injured after CP8. It was extremely wet on the day before the start of the walk and hence all walkers were warned of slippery trail for the whole course and were requested to exercise extreme care during the walk. Fortunately, the weather improved on the following days. With the concerted effort of all helpers the whole operation ran smoothly and successfully. We look forward to more helping hands for years to come, especially at water point 3 up at Tai Mo Shan. It was chilly cold and wet on Friday night with high winds. New PRI Stock There are numbers of new items in the PRI now and they are of good price. Please come to the club house and select your favorable ones. 5

6 Coming events 1. Volunteers Challenge Cup Wednesday 8 February Family walk Sunday 12 February 2012 (TBC) 3. Hike For Hospice Sunday 26 February Foundation Day Dinner Friday 25 May 2012 Editor Bernard Yuen 6