William ROGERS (aka Bill) [c.1919-1941] | Gwulo: Old Hong Kong

William ROGERS (aka Bill) [c.1919-1941]

Names
Given: 
William
Family: 
Rogers
Alias / nickname: 
Bill
Sex: 
Male
Status: 
Deceased
Birth
Date: 
c.1919-01-01 (Year, Month, Day are approximate)
Death
Date: 
c.1941-12-18 (Day is approximate)
Cause of death: 
Killed in the Battle of Hong Kong

On this Remembrance Day, let me introduce my uncle Bill Rogers, whose wedding photograph I came across recently in a fading newspaper cutting. The picture shows a tall, good-looking man, dashing in uniform as a Sapper with the Royal Engineers in Hong Kong.

In 1940, while playing soccer, Bill noticed a pretty girl on the sidelines and, after the game, ran after her and asked her out.  After a rapid courtship, Bill and Dorothy “Dolly” Newman, my mother’s sister, were married on June 22, 1940. One week later, on June 29, the Hong Kong Government issued a surprise edict that British women and children were to be evacuated immediately to escape a possible Japanese invasion. On July 1, Dolly was among 3,500 women and children who set sail for Manila.  

On December 8, 1941, Japanese troops entered Hong Kong through the New Territories. Combat engineers like Bill would have tried to impede their progress by blowing up bridges, tunnels and roads.  On December 18, the Japanese crossed the water from Kowloon to Hong Kong Island. Historian Tony Banham says Bill might have been attached to one of the searchlights on the North Shore that were overrun during the invasion. On December 19, Bill was reported by his unit as a ‘casualty return,’ meaning missing, presumed dead.  He is among the many whose bodies were never found and are commemorated at Sai Wan War Cemetery.

Dolly went on to settle in Australia and I had three joyful reunions with her from the early 1990s in Sydney, where she had remarried and lived with her son Peter and his family.  

Connections: 

Comments

Thanks Ian, another interesting story from your farmily archives!

Their wedding was on the Saturday, and I found a couple of mentions in the newspapers afterwards. On Monday 24th, the bottom of page 5 in the Daily Press noted:

TWO REGISTRY WEDDINGS

Two weddings took place before Mr. T. S. Whyte-Smith at the Registry on Saturday. The parties were Sapper William Rogers, R.E., of Wellington Barracks, and Miss Dorothy Newman of 9 Causeway Hill,  Causeway Bay, and Mr. Cheong Hok-chau, of 49 Water Street, 2nd floor, and Miss Wong Kam-yiu, of 8 Arbuthnot Road, 2nd floor.

Then the following Sunday their photo was shown in the Hong Kong Sunday Herald:

19400630 HKSH pg16 William Rogers wedding.jpg
19400630 HKSH pg16 William Rogers wedding.jpg, by Admin