18 Dec 1941, Major John Monro MC RA diary of the Battle of Hong Kong

We have been very heavily shelled by the enemy for the past two days.  As the newspaper says “An artillery duel has been raging”.  The Jap heavy mortar is a damned good weapon.  It appears to be about 6” in calibre, throws a large sized brick and has a range of about 4000 yards.  It is particularly annoying to us with its very high trajectory, even higher than a How’s and a small propellant charge which gives little flash; it can be used from positions in the streets and behind the houses of Kowloon and is quite impossible to locate.  They have brought up a high velocity gun which they are using with tremendous effect against the pillboxes on the N.E. shore.  They bring it up to a street entrance near the water front, fire a few rounds over open sights which completely smash up the pillbox and withdraw before we have time to get onto them.

However today we have done much the same thing.  There were a number of ships still un-sunk in the Eastern part of the harbour.  I believe they were Russian and as they belong to an ally I suppose we felt we couldn’t destroy them at the time the rest of the shipping in the harbour was sunk.  Now as possible jumping off points for Japanese raids they are a menace, and must be sunk.  Kendall has sunk one, he went out at night in a small boat and (his SOE Colin McEwan) stuck a “limpet” to its stern port.  A very gutsy action.  John Vinter set the other on fire and left it sinking.  He took a 60 Pdr with the few remaining rounds of its ammunition that we have down to North Point.  At dawn he manhandled it up into a street entrance and loosed off 40 rounds at point blank range.

We have had another false alarm of a Jap landing.  The volunteer battery at Pakshawan thought they were swimming across and using rafts.  Everything in the neighbourhood opened up.  Half the trouble is that the troops whenever they see this red tracer they think that it is a red verey light.  Still there is no need for all this firing at nothing in particular.

Today the Japs managed to knockout both the B.D. guns at Braemar.  I suppose we should really have withdrawn them by day.  Movement was bound to give away the position where the Japs have such good close observation.

Stanley have had a number of prematures with land ammunition.  The I.O.O. has been out and as a result of his examination 70 rounds of land service ammunition have been condemned.  This means that we will very soon have to use anti-ship ammunition against land targets.

The Navy sent over a launch to Green Island to bring back the Sapper Personnel who work the A.A. light.  Unfortunately the gunners working the C.D. lights thought they ought to go too, so they have smashed the lights and the engine room and evacuated the place.  These were most important lights.  The only ones that could bear round towards the north.

Ted Hunt has been doing very well at R.A. East.  He has got a 3.7 How up on Sai Wan Redoubt to try and deal with the enemy guns and troops on Devil’s Peak.  Sai Wan has had the hell of a pasting today.  The A.P.C. oil tanks at North Point have been hit and are now in flames.  An enormous cloud of black smoke darkens the whole atmosphere (people go about with a worried, scared look on their faces).  It reminds me of pictures I have seen of the last day at the end of the world.