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Those known to have fought in Battle of Hong Kong during the Second World War 1939-1945. - Cooper William George. L/Cpl. (d.24th December 1941)
- Gordon Alexander. Cpl.
- Hughes Kenneth. Able Sea.
- Rich Jack. Sgt. (d.23rd December 1941 )
The names on this list have been submitted by relatives, friends, neighbours and others who wish to remember them, if you have any names to add or any recollections or photos of those listed,
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Want to know more about Battle of Hong Kong? There are:22 items tagged Battle of Hong Kong available in our Library
These include information on officers, regimental histories, letters, diary entries, personal accounts and information about actions during the Second World War. |
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Able Sea. Kenneth Hughes HMS Thracian My father, Kenneth Hughes served in the Royal Navy on the Tracian in Hong Kong in 1941. He was on board Christmas day when Hong Kong fell.
He was a PoW in Sham Shui Po Camp and was then transported on the Lisbon Maru when the ship was hit by friendly fire.
My father was in the water for days. He was one of the lucky survivors.
He was recaptured and sent to Japan. The camp in Japan was Osaka 1B.
He was liberated on 8th of September 1945.
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L/Cpl. William George Cooper 1st Battalion Middlesex Regiment (d.24th December 1941) My father never knew what happened to his brother, William Cooper apart from that he died in the War.
It was about 30 years ago that my family research began and in 1996 I visited the Sai Wan Bay Memorial, Hong Kong and found William's name in Column 14.
I sat there on a beautiful day with tears falling down my face because I had found him and was the first member of his family to come and pay respects.
I have no photographs of him so do not know what he looked like.
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Cpl. Alexander Gordon 2nd Btn. Royal Scots Alexander Gordone was captured by Japanese forces after the fall of Hong Kong on 25th December 1941 and imprisoned in Sham Shui Po Camp in Hong Kong. He was then transported by ship to Kobe on mainland Japan.
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Sgt. Jack Rich 1st Btn. A Coy. Middlesex Regiment (d.23rd December 1941 )   Sergeant Jack Rich was my uncle. He was the son of Jewish immigrants and born Ovaser Ricklovitch, he was a tailor. By the time he was called up for military service Ovaser had changed his name to George Rickman, at some point George became Jack and Rickman was shortened to Rich. As Jack Rich he became an army boxing champion and as Sergeant Jack Rich he gave his life for his country in Pillbox 14 during the battle for Hong Kong.
Pillbox 14 was on the east-facing shore of Brick Hill, giving covering fire over Deep Water Bay. When the Japanese pushed west, they had to take the position to eliminate the machine guns. According to Carew (and he knew more about the Middlesex than any other regiment, so I believe it is correct), Marsh, the CO of C Coy was at Little Hong Kong (where I am giving my presentation on April 1st) and was on the phone from there to Sergeant Rich all through the battle for the position. In a straight line, it would only be half a mile away. The pillbox was finally overrun, and all inside perished. Rumours persist that they may have been captured alive and murdered. Middlesex soldiers were seen, tied up and bayoneted, in that general area, but there is no proof of who they were. Interestingly, the police force here has a legend that a few years after the war, policemen on a cross country run on Brick Hill found a skeleton crouched over a rusting Vickers machine gun in a gully nearby.
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