PingShan Aerodrome (Proposed) [????- ]

Hi there,

Try this Chinese link.  They have a map overlay showing the approximate area.  The are also references to past Legislative Council reference.  I believe Wiki (maybe the Chinese version of it) also have some entries of the same subject somewhere.

My 2 cents,

T

I've out a marker on the map roughly in the Ping Shan area.

See the photos of the RAF Ping Shan radar facility to see there was lots of empty space there.

Regards, David

The construction of this aerodrome was started in great haste in 1945 and up to 3000 people were involved in the site formation work which included new quarries. It was being built by the RAF's Aerodrome Construction Wing. The RAF had declared that Kai Tak was far too dangerous for postwar modern aircraft. However, before a runway could even be laid the project was halted by the refusal of BOAC which had influence over its use to actually use it, and increasing troubles from the numerous villages that were having to be cleared off the site. The villagers appealed to the Nationalist Government who brought pressure to bear on the HK government. By 1947 the excitement was over and everyone had gone home. The aerodrome forgotten about and Kai Tak carried on until 1998. Remnents of the quarries could still be seen in the area in recent years. 

The abandonment of Ping Shan Aerodrome was raised in Legco on 19th July 1946 and reasons given stated  here

At the time,  the correct decsion was made not to build the aerodrome at Ping Shan.  Particularly when one considers not only the high costs of buidling an aerodrome far away from the city centre but also the alignment of any proposed runway being so close to an uneasy border. 

For record,  the Ping Shan Aerodrome scheme was abandoned in March 1946 following the report of the joint commission of the Air Ministry and the Ministry of Civil Aviation that "the site was unsuitable for an airfield of international character."

IDJ has written a longer article:

When Hong Kong was liberated in September 1945, one of the military groups diverted to assist restoring the city’s electricity, gas and water utilities and railway was the Royal Air Force’s No. 5358 Airfield Construction Wing that was part of Shield Force. This fleet of Royal Navy Cruisers and Aircraft Carriers plus their support ships were transporting 3000 airman and all the equipment and machinery needed to construct airfields on islands close to Japan where American troops were slowly defeating the Japanese. Lancaster bombers were to follow to bomb the Japanese mainland from these airfields, although the American Army Air Force had already been doing this very effectively from bases in China and the Pacific Islands.

However before the RAF could start their task ... read more