70 years ago: Hong Kong's wartime diaries | Gwulo: Old Hong Kong

70 years ago: Hong Kong's wartime diaries

Shows diary entries from seventy-one years ago, using today's date in Hong Kong as the starting point. To see pages from earlier dates (they go back to 1 Dec 1941), choose the date below and click the 'Apply' button.

  • 18 Apr 1944, R. E. Jones Wartime diary

    Submitted by Admin on Mon, 2014-03-17 21:44
    Book / Document: 
    R. E. Jones Wartime diary
    Date(s) of events described: 
    Tue, 18 Apr 1944

    Einer schöne Tag. Mehl für brot gemahlt. Deutche stunde. Sonnbade an dem Dach. Herr Zindel besuchte. Steve ging für Musik üben. Zwer Luft du griffen?

    ((Jill's translation:

    A fine day. Ground flour for bread. German lesson. Sunbathed on the roof. Mr. Zindel visited. Steve went for music practice. Two air attacks? 

    ))

    • Log in or register to post comments

  • 18 Apr 1944, Harry Ching's wartime diary

    Submitted by Admin on Tue, 2014-04-15 14:58
    Book / Document: 
    Harry Ching's wartime diary
    Date(s) of events described: 
    Tue, 18 Apr 1944

    11 a.m. first alert long time. Little plane leading big one round but nothing more. No shooting.

  • 18 Apr 1944, Eric MacNider's wartime diary

    Submitted by Admin on Tue, 2017-04-04 15:00
    Book / Document: 
    Eric MacNider's wartime diary
    Date(s) of events described: 
    Tue, 18 Apr 1944

    Rec'd Y5.91 from Jap., as worker

  • 18 Apr 1944, WW2 Air Raids over Hong Kong & South China

    Submitted by ssuni86 on Mon, 2019-03-18 22:03
    Book / Document: 
    WW2 Air Raids over Hong Kong & South China
    Date(s) of events described: 
    Tue, 18 Apr 1944

    OBJECTIVE: Sea sweep over South China Sea

    RESULTS: Two vessels are attacked at sea by the B-24DR “Sweepy Time Gal,” but no hits are scored.  “Sweepy Time Gal” strays off course on the return flight and flies into Victoria Harbor at low altitude, where it is shot down by Japanese fighter pilots.

    TIME OVER TARGET: Precise times are unclear, but “Sweepy Time Gal” was apparently shot down during the early afternoon.

    AMERICAN UNITS AND AIRCRAFT: Two B-24s from 373rd Bomb Squadron (308th Heavy Bomb Group)

    AMERICAN PILOTS AND AIRCREW:

    • B-24DR #614: Lt. Zerba
    • B-24DR #622 (“Sweepy Time Gal”): 2nd Lt. Glen A. McConnell; 2nd Lt. Samuel Auslander; 1st Lt. Robert Carney; 2nd Lt. R.E. Moessner; Tech Sgt. Peter S. Maholick; Tech Sgt. Robert Berman; Staff Sgt. Barton W. Owens; Staff Sgt. Tony M. Spadafora; Staff Sgt. Carl Wilson Holley; Staff Sgt. John K. Orovecz; 2nd Lt. John V. Mroz; Staff Sgt. Erwin H. Posner

    ORDNANCE EXPENDED:  An unknown number of 500-pound bombs, plus .50-caliber machine-gun rounds

    JAPANESE UNITS, AIRCRAFT, AND PILOTS: Ki-44-IIs, most likely from the 85th Sentai

    AIRCRAFT LOSSES: One B-24DR (“Sweepy Time Gal”) is shot down.  Lt. McConnell and Sgt. Spadafora are taken prisoner and survive the war; ten other crewmembers are killed.  The Japanese place the salvaged wreck of the plane on display in or near Statue Square.

    SOURCES: Original mission reports and other documents in the Air Force Historical Research Agency archives at Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery, Alabama.

    Information compiled by Steven K. Bailey, author of Bold Venture: The American Bombing of Japanese-Occupied Hong Kong, 1942-1945 (Potomac Books/University of Nebraska Press, 2019).

     

    Tags: 
    air raids

Subscribe: If you'd like to receive future pages by email, just enter your email address below and click the 'subscribe' button:

Enter your email address:

Delivered by FeedBurner

Subscribe to 70 years ago: Hong Kong's wartime diaries