New on Gwulo: 2021, week 49

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Submitted by David on Mon, 2021-12-13 18:00

A look at what's new on the Gwulo website...

General

I've added a long-overdue page for the Hong Kong branch of the Royal Asiatic Society. If you're interested in Hong Kong's history, check out their regular talks and annual journal
Derek remembers happy times at the St John's youth club
Memories of Sammy Shields, the dentist
Hoyin asks if anyone knows what the numbers, inside the circles at road junctions, mean on this map:

This week saw lots of news related to the 80th anniversary of the start of the Battle of Hong Kong:

Mary Monro's book, Stranger In My Heart, gives the eye witness account of her father, Major John Monro MC RA, who fought at the Battle of Hong Kong, was interned by the Japanese at Sham Shui Po and escaped 1200 miles across China to reach Chongqing. Read Mary's description of her book, and extracts from her father's diaries that cover the Battle of Hong Kong.
Edward Rhoads's book, War and Revolution in South China - The story of a transnational biracial family, 1936-1951, helps readers understand how Hong Kong's wartime experiences fit into the broader picture of events in south China. Read my review.
In this weekend's Hong Kong Heritage radio show, Annemarie Evans covered several of the events commemorating the anniversary of the battle. In one segment, Annemarie talked to me about the Wartime Diaries project here on Gwulo - it begins at 12:25 in the recording.
So far, 120 people have signed up to receive the daily Wartime Diaries emails each morning. Here are today's diary entries as an example, and here's how to subscribe and receive them as a daily email.
Another Pen Shelter has been identified, on Poplar Street in Kowloon. These were simple Air Raid Protection shelters, built around Hong Kong around 1940-41. We know of two more, but if you know of any others, please let us know.