Hong Kong Blockhouses | Gwulo: Old Hong Kong

Hong Kong Blockhouses

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Submitted by Iloveoldhk on Wed, 2016-06-22 15:09

Hi all. I am just posting this on the form to see if anyone has any thoughts on these structures. They seem to appear all over HK Island and often house Gov. electricity sites or 'dangerous goods.'

I am curious to the nature of theses structures and their history. Most of them do not look especially old, and do not always appear to have military style features. However, some I have seen have 'bunker style' loophole windows, a lip above the structure and some small (loop)holes near the top. 

Were they all built post war? Many seem to appear in the vacinity of military bunkers/PBS/Batteries and I guess could have been used as ammunition storage facilities. 

Such as the one here, on Shouson Hill, ( http://gwulo.com/atom/25154 ) which is very near the bottom of the Shouson Hill AA battery ramp ( http://gwulo.com/node/8332 ).

The one here, near Pok Fu Lam Reservoir has a number of small loophole windows characteristic of bunkers.

( http://gwulo.com/atom/25010 )

The Pok Fu Lam one appears reasonably refurbished/newer while those I have seen at Shouson Hill and Middle Bay appear much older. The middle bay one is not in use, and is accessible.

 

Any info would be appreciated.

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Submitted by tngan on Wed, 2016-06-22 16:52.

Hi There,

I believe those are likely vents.  From the openimgs of the one located in Shouson Hill Road, the wall is too thin to have much defensive use against ammunition.  I believe a short burst of heavy machine gun rounds could penetrate it in no time.

These structures\huts\building may simply be storage.

T

Submitted by Iloveoldhk on Wed, 2016-06-22 20:07.

Very good point about the defensive capabilities. But, were they used for storage during the Battle of Hong Kong?

Does anyone have any evidence to prove their existence at that period, or were they simply post war gov. structures?

Thanks T

Regards

Submitted by tngan on Wed, 2016-06-22 22:29.

Hi there,

I tend to believe the one in Shouson Hill Road and the one up in Pokfulam are post WWII structure.  This being their concrete surface really looked different if compared to other pre WWII defence structures.

Certainly you might need a technician and chunks of concrete of different sites in a lab in order to analyze them.

T