Kennedy Town PB 1, Kennedy Town [1940- ]

Hi there,

From the Pillbox map in Tony Banham's book only coastal Pillboxes had numbers.  It does not look like a coastal pillbox so it is very likely that this particular did not have a pillbox number, just like the three in the vicinity of the Aberdeen Reservoirs.  One near the upper main dam, the other two along Lady Clementi's Ride.

From your marked place it looked like a pillbox guarding the Mount David Battery on th South East flank.  I remember once I use my 18X zoom lens to gaze over Mount Davis from Hong Kong Trail stage one and found a forward dressing station (the one with those wavie edges on the top) not too far away from your location.  It's further up the slope closer to the top.

Best Regards,

T

Thanks for letting us know about this one. I've walked along the road opposite the cemetery at least once a fortnight for many years, and never realised it was there!

On the same day we visited the bunker at Tai Tam Gap, Rob Weir showed me another four pillboxes I'd never noticed before, so I've obviously been walking around with my eyes closed!

Rob has written an interesting introduction to Hong Kong Pillboxes, where he explains that apart from the pillboxes around the coast of HK Island...

For support, more PB's were to be built across the ridge line behind what is now Central, to defend the main gaps which gave access north/south. These became known as "the Line of Gaps" PB's.

Read Rob's article here.

Comments from Rob about this pillbox:

Interesting photo's of the cemetery PB. Last time I saw it, it was difficult to find because of vegetation. The works in the vicinity definitely weren't there. Probably says a bit for how long ago. Like some other, particularly AOP sites, this PB has evidence of the floor being penetrated, with a tunnel/cave beneath. The concrete blocks below the loopholes also showed signs of modification to become bed bases, presumably by squatters.

To answer your question, I don't know of any particular numbers. They were referred to as the Kennedy Town Gap PB's. There were three originally, the others being on the uphill side of Pok Fu Lam Road. One disappeared when the road was widened, but the other was still there last time I checked, and is above the catchwater on the Kennedy Town side of Queen Mary hospital.

Hi there,

This new information really makes me look forward to Joe Yip's new book in July.

Best Regards,

T

Yes, listing the other pillboxes is on the to-do list.

You can find them listed on Rob's article mentioned above. It will be a great help if you can add Places for any that we don't already have. (Please check the map first to avoid duplicates).

Regards, David

Hi Lawrence,

Good to hear from you. I joined the RAS too late to see your article about Mr Gomes, but I enjoyed your summary of coastal pillboxes in last year's journal.

Please do you know if there was any identification number for this pillbox?

Re: "Fr. Moran saw PBs along Victoria Road". I don't think this pillbox would have been easily seen from Victoria Road. Wouldn't one of the coastal PBs be more likely? eg #72, or one of the pillboxes #1..#8?

Regards, David

Here's the outside of the pillbox:

A bit further up the slope is the entrance.

There is something about the entrance that's unusual. On both side-walls before the doorway you can see the ends of what looks like was a concrete beam across the gap. I don't remember seeing anything like that before.

Here's a video taken inside the pillbox. You know in Indiana Jones movies there's a moment when there's a rustling noise, shortly followed by hordes of rats / insects / etc? We had a moment like that, albeit on a smaller scale!

It is confirmed by the HKIS report ( http://www.hkis.org.hk/hkis/general/journal/SBEvol21b.pdf ) that the modifications were made for Japanese MGs       Model 11 or 96 LMGs 

Clean and well preserved. The MG hole/cave is interesting.

Current photos:

Kennedy Town PB 1_front

Kennedy Town PB 1 lateral

Kennedy Town PB 1 Top

Kennedy Town PB 1 entrance