Hong Kong Pan Am Clippers
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Hello,
This is my first posting and if my enquiry has already been addressed elsewhere, please forgive me. Very happy to have found this site.
Upon having read many books and articles about the Hong Kong Clipper, pre- 1941, I don't recall having read about how the clipper was approached and eventually boarded. So, my question(s):
First: I assume that, if living on the island, the Star Ferry was taken to Kowloon. From that point in Kowloon, just how did the traveler and all their luggage get to the Kai Tak Airport? Upon arrival, where did the passenger wait for the clipper to be boarded? Was there a passenger terminal?
Second: How did the passengers get from the waiting area to the clipper? Most of the pictures I have seen of the clippers in other parts of the world, appear to have been moored in the harbor. One was a photograph of the clipper on land ... having pulled up on a ramp of some sort. I don't recall seeing such a ramp at the Kai Tak Airport, but then, so many of the pictures from that time are not very clear.
Your assistance in this matter would be most appreciated.
Best regards,
Charles
(aka Golo)
Clipper
Not sure if these will help or not, but Harrison Forman has a set of photos titled 'Chongqing (China), evacuee families from Hong Kong'. It shows passengers getting off a clipper and into a boat. BUT, I'm not sure where the photos were taken.
The title says 'Chongqing (China)', but I'm not aware of clippers flying there. On the other hand the shot of the sea doesn't show any recognisable landmarks for Hong Kong. I wonder if the photos were taken somewhere on the journey back to the US, and the correct title for the photos should be 'Evacuees from Chongqing and Hong Kong'.
There's a mention here of a clipper in the sea off Kai Tak, fuelled up and ready to leave, so passengers would have boarded via boat: I was in Hong Kong. Pearl Harbor was on December 7. But in Hong Kong it was the nighttime on the 8th. On the morning of the 8th I was still in bed. I saw a formation of fighter planes start coming down. I thought they were practicing. From my bed I could see the Pan American Clipper in the water. I saw the tail of the DC-2 in front of the hangar. All of a sudden I saw water spraying up. They were machine-gunning that Clipper. But the Clipper had been waiting to go to Manila, so it had a lot of gas in its tank, and it caught fire right away. I don’t know if they actually dropped a bomb on the Clipper or not, I didn’t see. But I saw the DC-2’s tail start to burn, and I saw the Clipper burn first.
Re: Hong Kong Pan Am Clippers
Pre-1941 Kai Tak, the civilian side of the airfied had its own seaplane terminal for waiting passengers, seaplane jetty and ramp.
Arriving passengers would be conveyed by tender to the jetty (pontoon) and then walk to the marine terminal for customs and immigration clearance. They would either wait for their own transport or be taken by coach to the Peninsula Hotel or Kowloon Star Ferry.
Departing passengers would either make their own way to Kai Tak or use the coach facilities at the Peninsula. After clearing customs and immigration, luggage would then be stowed on board the aircraft. Passengers would then board the seaplane at the jetty after the arrival of the flight crew.
Information on Pan Am Flying Boat operations can be viewed on this website: http://www.panam.org/default1.asp under memoirs : Recollections of Dinner Key (Miami).
Photo of the slipway (ramp) from the 1930s can be viewed at http://gwulo.com/node/1833
The photo below shows the Hong Kong Clipper moored alongside the jetty at Kai Tak in October 1941 prior to its demise. This S-42 Flying Boat, registration NC-16735 was divebombed by Japanese fighters on December 8, 1941.
Re: Clipper
The plane in the photos from Chongqing (China), evacuee families from Hong Kong' is the larger Boeing-314 Flying Boat that was used on the run between Hong Kong and Manila and across the Pacific. I have not seen or heard of them being operated into China from Kai Tak.
As I understand from the newspapers in 1940, the evacuation of Americans from Hong Kong was to the Philippines and later back to the States. I really doubt the photos were taken in Chongqing and question why would the evacuees return to a war zone in China? Perhaps the photos were taken in Manila Bay instead.
Hong Kong Pan Am Clipper
Thank you for your quick reply to my posting. The two links, to Forman's photos and the Moon Fun Chin web page, are just what I was looking for. His account of the Clipper being shelled by the Japanese was very closely collaborated by the American photojournalist Gwen Dew in her book. How that woman remembered the name of every person she ever met in Hong Kong and the minute details of the siege and subsequent internment at Stanley still amazes me. A shame that her photographs and film did not survive the occupation. In addition to Forman's it would have been an invaluable visual historical record during that time.
Again, I very much appreciate your reply.
Regards,
Charles
Hong Kong Pan Am Clipper
moddsey ...
Thank you for posting the photos and the Pan Am link. In looking at this photo I have to wonder if flying was a fair-weather operation. If raining, these passengers would have been somewhat damp, if not soaked, before boarding. Perhaps an awning of some sort was provided on the tenders. Or, flyers in those days were a much more hearty breed than today's modern traveler.
The photo of Kai Tak clearly shows the means, along with your explanation, just how Hong Kong passengers got on and off the Clippers. You have been most helpful and I very much appreciate your taking the time to reply.
Regards,
Charles
Getting to Kai Tak Airport in 1938
A small reference is made here about getting to Kai Tak Airport in 1938 and later onto Chongqing:
An American in China 1936-1939: http://www.willysthomas.net/Peninsula.htm
Getting to Manila and Singapore by Pan Am Flying Boat
A Pan Am/CNAC advert from December 9, 1941. The day after Hong Kong was attacked.
Manila and Singapore by Pan Am
moddsey ... Thank you for the additional information. The "Pen" link was useful as was the schedule and ticket price information for Pan Am to Manila and Singapore. The price for a return ticket to these two cities was an eye opener when compared against the price of a new American car in 1941. Of course, the cost/travel time ratio for businessmen, politicians and journalists would have been seen to be justified … especially if paid for by business/taxpayer funds. However, the return for a Pacific crossing must have been astronomical by any reckoning.
Charles
Clipper memories from Hank Marsman
I'm currently reading 'I escaped from Hong Kong' by Jan Henrik 'Hank' Marsman, mentioned previously by IDJ. It ties in to several of the threads we've been talking about.
He was born in the Netherlands, but by 1941 had become a citizen of the Philippines: 'I had reached the prime of life with large business interests in the Far East - gold mines, an insurance company, a trucking corporation, a construction company, and companies directing other trading operations. I made my headquarters in Manila.'
He was obviously a regular flyer on the clippers, even turning it into a verb: 'After [moving my family to the USA in 1930], I clippered to and from the Far East to attend to business interests.'
His last clipper journeys showed remarkable bad, and good, luck. First the bad luck - choosing to visit Manila then Hong Kong in December 1941 meant he was stranded here when the Japanese invaded.
The good luck came on the Dec 8th, the day war broke out and the clipper at Kai Tak was bombed by the Japanese. Apparently the usual departure time had been brought forward one hour, with all passengers being informed of the new arrangements. All except him:
Somehow the Hong Kong Hotel clerk failed to call me. When I finally was awakened, amid a lot of confused accusation among the clerks, I was told that the bus was being held for me across the harbour, that I'd miss the plane unless I raced to catch it.
I was the target for some disapproving glances and passing remarks from my fellow passengers when I hustled into the bus, just as the driver was about to pull out, after an hour's delay because of my tardiness.
They were told to get off the bus, and noticed planes circling over Kai Tak, and smoke rising over that area.
Just the same, I decided to go down to the lobby [of the Peninsula Hotel] and chase a little information. I didn't have to chase far. The clipper crew from the airport base at Kaitek Dock [sic] burst into the lobby at that moment. Words tumbled over one another as they told how thirty-five Japanese dive bombers had set their plane ablaze. The only on eon the big Sikorsky flying-boat at the time had been the steward, a Manila mestizo boy whom I knew from frequent trips. He'd dived overboard and swum into a drain at the waterline, so eliding the Japs. He was still trembling violently, scarcely able to talk.
On our return to Hong Kong side, the passengers all decided we ought to chip in on a life pension for the clerk who failed to wake me on time. We probably owed our lives to his inefficiency, since otherwise we would have been in the clipper and about to take off at the moment the Japs dive-bombed. The clipper had been destroyed.
Later he spent several days in the Repulse Bay Hotel during the Japanese invasion of Hong Kong, time that later became known as the 'siege' of the hotel. He met Gwen Dew there. After the British surrender, they civilians from the Repulse Bay Hotel were initially interned at the Kowloon Hotel, a 'six-story structure, a second-rate hotel, carefully looted of most things of value'. He was one of five in a room, together with Gwen Dew, Dick Wilson. Dr. Arlington, and a Mrs Martin. Then in February 1942, as the book suggests, he was able to escape from Hong Kong.
Why was he in Hong Kong at all at this time? He gives three reasons:
So his company was responsible for digging the ARP tunnels we've written about. I think I remember reading they were employed based on their experience of mining in the Philippines, where they'd set a record for speed of excavation.
I've borrowed the book from the RAS library, but I see there are also second-hand copies available on Amazon.
For more on Clipper history
For more on Clipper history try. There are two pages.
http://www.historynet.com/martin-m-130-flying-boat-china-clippers-trans-pacific-flights.htm
Re: American Evacuees
From July 1940.
Marsman Hong Kong China Ltd.
Marsman Hong Kong China Ltd was responsible for the buidling of air raid tunnels and shelters on Hong Kong Island which commenced in July 1940. The Company was taken to task over their construction at the ARP enquiry (Mimi Lau saga) that was convened in September 1941.
Hong Kong Pan Am Clipper
mrb and moddsey
Thank you both for furnishing valuable information about the Hong Kong Pan Am Clipper. Your generosity in taking the time to reply to my inquiry is most appreciated.
Please excuse my being late in expressing my gratitude. I hope, with your permission, to be able to draw upon your expertise if I should have another point regarding old Hong Kong.
Best regards,
Charles
re: Hong Kong Pan Am Clipper
Charles, no problem.
The best way to say thank you is to share some of your own knowledge of Hong Kong's history. Feel free to leave comments or posts in the forum as you discover new things.
Regards, MrB
Pan Am Hong Kong Clipper
mrb
Thank you for your invitation to post on the forum.
I think I must explain my connection to Hong Kong. I have never been to Hong Kong and it seems, regrettably, that I will never will. Consequently, I will have to be an “armchair” traveler and historian who must depend upon old and recently published texts and the kindness of strangers.
My interest in Hong Kong came about from a most unlikely situation. I deal baccarat … and have for the past 20 years … in a major casino in Nevada, USA. The game has always been very popular with the Chinese, especially those from Hong Kong. Their saying my name, Charles, was often said, “Char less” or “Charlie,” both of which I would often cringe. One night, one of the regular players called me “Golo.” Before the evening was over, everyone at the table was calling me Golo. They explained the name meant “tall man.” Naturally, the next day at work I had to ask some fellow Chinese dealers what “Golo” really meant. The translation was the same. From that point on, my “Chinese” name, however ridiculous, became permanent. It went further than I could have guessed or really wanted. The regular players decided to reject my actual place of origin, California, as it didn‘t seem appropriate. It was soon agreed upon by vote, during a lull in the game, that my new home would have to be, of course, Hong Kong.
Since all dealers wear a nametag, I had mine changed to “Golo” placed over “Hong Kong.” Whenever new Chinese players entered the game, they would look at my nametag from time to time with a look of disbelief, turn to the regular players and engage in hushed discussion. Of course, I soon learned that the regular players were telling the new players that I was indeed from Hong Kong. Born and raised! The new players, looking even more disbelieving, would ask if this was true. I would look, helplessly, to the regular players for help, but their expression told me to not deny their story. Of course, I could not answer pointed questions having anything to do about time when living in Hong Kong. Of necessity, this was the beginning of my crash course in the geography, topography, cities and towns, climate, customs and history of Hong Kong. After a few months, I soon learned that I was beginning to know more about all these subjects than those actually born in Hong Kong. Thin ice was becoming firm ground.
As time went on, many of the old regular players, for one reason or another, dropped away from playing at the casino. Those players that were once new were now the “old” regular players and since their having never been told that my birthplace was a fabrication, they remained quite pleased to perpetuate the my story to subsequent newer players. This continues even to this day. Actually, by this time I was almost convinced of it myself. I felt I had become a character in an old black and white movie. Even my fellow dealers, supervisors and managers by this time were calling me Golo. Some even began to believe that there was most likely some truth to the tale.
One question I was always asked was, “When when you born?” This, at first, posed a problem. I was actually born in February, 1941. But the original players thought I would be too young to remember too much detail about my life being in Hong Kong during the occupation. They suggested, again by vote, that I give the year 1938. That year was soon to become actual fact. Subsequently, my study of Hong Kong from 1938 to 1946 became intense. There was, alas, little information about those years except for the sweeping generalizations of the Japanese attack and eventual occupation of the island. Very little more about the POW camps and the civilian internment camps. Other areas in the Pacific War years were given much more attention. It became imperative that I was going to need details of the times if I was going to be nearly five years old when Hong Kong surrendered and then eight years old when I left. It was necessary to know more than the “dry” facts. The details had to come from different sources.
That is when I first found the book “I Was a Prisoner of the Japs” by Gwen Dew, 1943. The book, being written and published just after her repatriation from Stanley to the US, was an eye opener. I was then obsessed with finding every publication I could from “first person accounts” both civilian and military. I must have near two dozen books by now. And, even then, there would be some detail left untold. Hence, upon reading about the attack on Kai Tak, I was left wondering about how passengers got on and off the Pan Am Clippers at that airport. There was no detailed information that I could find. That is, until I found this wonderful site and, upon reading the postings in this forum, a very knowledgeable community when it came to Hong Kong’s early history.
I suspect I will, from time to time, have some more questions that are absent from the narratives in all the books I have on hand. With the wealth of information you and your fellow posters have by actually being in Hong Kong, I hope you will look upon my curious questions with a favorable eye. If I can post a response to some question asked on this forum that may be helpful, I will certainly do so. However, as I have mentioned, admittedly at some length, most of my information would come from sources already well known by this community.
Regards,
Charles
re: Pan Am Hong Kong Clipper
Charles, I'm always interested to hear what sparks off an interest in Hong Kong's history. You certainly have one of the more unusual tales to tell - thanks for letting us know.
The local expert on that period of Hong Kong history is Tony Banham. If you scroll to the bottom of this page, he has a detailed bibliography which might give you some new titles to look at. And if you have found any good books not listed there, please let us know.
Regards, MrB
Demise of the Hong Kong Clipper
Further info http://www.everythingpanam.com/images/1941%20death%20of%20Hong%20Kong%20Clipper.jpg
re: Demise of the Hong Kong Clipper
That's an interesting clip. I wonder which magazine or newspaper it came from? It looks like there was also a write-up of the CNAC evacuation flights elsewhere in the same publication.
Demise of the Hong Kong Clipper
The pictures and article are from the Pan American Airways "House" magazine titled New Horizons. There are some interesting articles in various issues published in 1941 and 1942 on the run up to the surrender of HK and the aftermath as it affected the Pan American and CNAC employees.
regards
IDJ
re: Demise of the Hong Kong Clipper
Thanks to IDJ for sending in these two sets of clippings from the New Horizons Magazine. They give more detail on the Japanese attack, and the subsequent evacuations by the CNAC planes.
Jan 1942:
Feb 1942: