The Royal Royal Hong Hong Kong Kong Regiment Regiment (The Volunteers)(The Volunteers) Association Association Journals DATE: FEBRUARY 2021 VOLUME 1, ISSUE 3 Speech from the Board Gary TO (Vice Chairman) On 27th November 2020 – (Hong Kong) The COVID-19 epidemic continued to Special points spread in Hong Kong. According to sources from the Centre for Heath Protec- of interest: tion, there were about 92 new confirmed cases reported as of 27 Nov that was the same date of our V.A. AGM Meeting. This was the single-day highest num- Hike for Hospice ber recorded during the 4th wave of epidemic. However, we might avoid creat- 2020 will be post- ing another Dance Clusters ｢跳舞群組」 or ｢RHKR(V)週年大會群組」. In poned to March connection with this, we did comply with more or less on statutory requirements 2021 by Companies Registry to hold the meeting in some tacti- cal arrangement and avoid potentially spreading virus to Form up Invest- our V.A. old buddies or into our community. Taking this ment Team for rise opportunity, I would sincerely like to express thanks to up our finance in our Hon. President, Ron TAYLOR, PAU Sir, the Secre- tary SIN, the Treasurer Mr. LEE, CHENG Sir, Eric LO, progress. Clubhouse Manageress Ms. Bronie Mok, and all Direc- tors for their help in providing valuable and accuracy advices to manage ad hoc issues before the AGM meet- ing. In short, we will move forward hand in hand serving the future of our V.A. together. Millions thanks to all of you!! Inside this issue: The Remembrance Sunday Ceremony 2 held on 8th November 2020 The Canadian Commemorative Ceremony 2 held on 6th December 2020 The Ceremony on the 13th December 3 2020 to Commemorate the Nanjing Massacre National Memorial Day Oxfam Trailwalker 2020 (JAN 2021) 3 Club-House Squadron Gathering Director Meeting CANCELLED Manageress Hillside Badge Maintenance Works was 4 A 1st Thursday 1st Monday completed on 29th November 2020 Miss Bronie, Mok B 2nd Tuesday The Volunteers’ Challenge Cup (to be 4 Club House Manageress C 3rd Friday Cancelled) Duty shift from 15:00 to D 1st Tuesday Books: The Arthur May Story 5 19:00 on Tuesday, Thurs- day and Friday. HG 2nd Thursday Hong Kong Adventure Corps 5 HQ 2nd Friday Sponsoring of the framing of British mili- 6 J 1st Friday tary ID tag and the Japanese Flag OURNALS J VOLUME 1, ISSUE 3 Page 2 The Remembrance Sunday Ceremony held on 8th November 2020 The Remembrance Sunday Ceremony was held at The Cenotaph on 8th No- vember 2020 (Sunday). Owing to COVID‑19 pandemic, the number of participants for this event were lim- ited to twenty only, no representative was allow to attend on behalf of the Association. A two-minute silence was held at 11am to remember the people who had died in wars. Remembrance Sunday is also marked each year, this will falls on the second Sunday in November. Many people chose to wear a poppy in November for Remembrance Day to show their respects to the people who devoted their lives in the First World War and the conflicts that followed. What does the red poppy mean? The red poppy is the most famous symbol used to commemorate those who sacrificed their lives in World War One and conflicts that followed. The Canadian Commemorative Ceremony held on 6th December 2020 Hong Kong was the first place Canadians fought a land battle in the Second World War. From 8 to 25 December 1941, almost 2,000 troop from Winnipeg and Quebec City — sent to Hong Kong expecting little more than guard duty — they fought bravely against the overwhelming power of an invading Japanese force. When the British colony surren- dered on Christmas Day, 290 Cana- dians here killed in the fighting. An- other 264 died over the next four years, amid the inhumane conditions of Japanese prisoner-of-war camps. VOLUME 1, ISSUE 3 Page 3 The Ceremony was held on 13th December 2020 to Commemorate the Nanjing Massacre National Memorial Day The ceremony was held on 13th December, the date on which the Nanjing Massacre took place. Senior government officials, representatives of Central People's Government organisations in Hong Kong, community dignitaries, former members of the Hong Kong Independent Battalion of the Dongjiang Column and war veterans' groups are present in the Ceremony. Mr. PAU Chi Leung (Chairman) attended this event on behalf of the Association. Oxfam Trailwalker 2020 (JAN 2021) WAS CANCELLED With the continued spread of COVID-19, Oxfam Hong Kong (OHK) , cancelled the OTW, which was scheduled to be held from 29th to 31st January 2021. There has another activity said "Virtually TOGETHER! " Period from 8 February to 7th March 2021 , The details are as per following link: https://www.oxfam.org.hk/en/join-our-events/ OTWvirtually-together VOLUME 1, ISSUE 3 Page 4 Hillside Badge Maintenance Works was completed on 29th November Owing to fading color of the hillside badge, the Association had arranged for the repainting and minor repair works. The works were carried out from 22nd to 29th November led by the Chairman PAU Chi-leung, and more than 12 members came to help. BEFORE AFTER The Volunteers’ Challenge Cup (to be cancelled ) The Volunteers’ Challenge Cup was founded on 1973, and the prize is to be present- ed by an Ex-member of The Royal Hong Kong Regiment (The Volunteers ). This year the Hong Kong Jockey Club cancel the race due to the COVID-19 epidemic. VOLUME 1, ISSUE 3 Books: The Arthur May Story Page 5 Arthur May is best remembered for his daring feat of hoisting the Union Jack on Hong Kong's Peak on 18th Au- gust 1945, three days after the Japanese surrender. A few days later he sailed to Macao in a sampan to seek approval from the British Government for Franklin Gimson, the sen- ior British subject then in Hong Kong, to take over the ad- ministration of Hong Kong from the occupying Japanese forces. How had Arthur remained out of internment for the majority of the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong and what did he do during this time? Was the hoisting of the flag instrumental in reclaiming Hong Kong for the British? Was his trip to Macao necessary? While out of internment Arthur befriended some of the Indian soldiers, who had been coerced to become guards for the occupying Japanese forces in return for better conditions for themselves. This liaison continued and expanded into a spy network after Arthur’s internment. It later as- sisted in preventing looting and disorder as British authority was re-established following the Japa- nese surrender. Arthur died in early 2000 at the age of 92. Dur- ing his latter years he talked and made notes on what he had done during the Japanese occupation. This is Arthur’s story based on contemporary records, his memory and his notes. Hong Kong Adventure Corps Since the situation of COVID-19 is still severe, the High Island Training Camp and the Hong Kong Jockey Club High Island Training Camp were also closed to the pub- lic in accordance with the requirements of the Home Af- fairs Bureau until further notice. The 25th Foundation Day Dinner 2020 is scheduled on 4th April 2021 at Crowne Plaza Hong Kong Kowloon East, par- ticipant fee: HK$800 per person (after 22rd February 2021, $850.) Charity Golf Tournament 2021 is scheduled on 29th October 2021, participant fee: HK$12,000 per team, HK$3,000 for individual. Sponsoring of the framing of British military ID tag and the VOLUME 1, ISSUE 3 Japanese Flag Page 6 甲/A 乙/B 丙/C 上述物品，乃香港義勇防衛軍（HKVDC）在二戰後交由皇家香港軍團（義勇軍）擁有。在海防博物館成立初期，知道皇家 香港軍團（義勇軍）面臨解散，要求軍團總部將這三件物品連同其它有記念價值之軍事用品借出展覽。但該館在颱風山竹 襲港期間遭到嚴重破壞，為方便館址重修，故將各展覧物品轉移至香港歷史博物館暫時存放。現海防博物館重整展廳，將 上述三件物品送回協會收藏。 三件物品資料如下： 甲：當時英國軍人之名牌 此名牌乃屬於榮譽上校白德博士（Dr. Solomon Matthew Bard）， 官階 : 其參戰時官階為少尉。 信仰：猶太教 乙：英軍在赤柱半島之防守位置圖 由當時一位防守赤柱之義勇軍戰俘,在戰後根據其記憶劊劃出當時各英軍佈下之防守位置圖。 丙：日本國旗 當日侵華日軍，很多軍人私下携帶日本國旗進入戰場，假若未陣亡，便會在旗幟上寫下名字及一些祝福語。 協會感謝黃玉生先生，（香港少年領袖團導師,前皇家香港軍團（義勇軍）少年領袖團成員,及董事會之J連代表）慷慨資 助，將日本國旗及英國軍人之名牌用相架封存，各會員可随時到會所觀賞。 The above 3 items (A-C) were handed to the Hong Kong Regiment (The Volunteers) by the HKVDC after the World War II. At the early stage of the Hong Kong Museum of Coastal Defence, They learned that The Royal Hong Kong Reg- iment (The Volunteers) was about to disband. So they negotiated with the Regiment to borrow the above items, together with other military items of memorial value for exhibition. During Typhoon Manghkut that Museum was badly dam- aged. To facilitate its refurbishment, these items were transferred to the Hong Kong Museum of History for temporary storage. Finally, the captioned three items were returned to our Association for safe keeping.. Descriptions of the captioned items are as follows- A) Identity Tag of a British Soldier during Japanese Occupation.. These tags belonged to Hon. Colonel, Dr. Solomon Matthew Bard.. Rank : His rank during war time was Lieutenant. Religion : Jewish B) Map showing the defensive positions of British Forces in Stanley during the Battle of Hong Kong.. Sketched based on memory by a member of the Hong Kong Volunteer Defence Corps who defended Stanley and be came a prisoner of war... C) Japanese Personal Patriotic Flag with Inscription. During the invasion by the Japanese Forces, its military personnel would carry a Japanese flag with him into the battlefield. If he survived the battle, he would inscribe his name and some blessing on the flag.. The Association appreciates Mr. Wong Yuk Sang, (a serving Committee member, an instructor of The Hong Kong Ad- venture Corps & ex member of the Royal Hong Kong Regiment (The Volunteers) Junior Leaders Corps), in generously sponsoring of the framing of British military ID tag and the Japanese Flag, enabling our members to view those items whenever they are in the Clubhouse.