Hong Kong Corps of Air Raid Wardens photos and badge | Gwulo: Old Hong Kong

Hong Kong Corps of Air Raid Wardens photos and badge

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Submitted by swiu on Tue, 2011-09-13 00:32

Dear friends,

I am a serving officer of the Civil Aid Service, Hong Kong , and I am writing a article on the history of CAS, as part of the CAS 60th Anniversary Commemorative Magazine . I shall be very grateful if someone would give me a hand. I need some photos of the Hong Kong Corps of Air Raid Wardens, and her badges. These pictures will be use illustrate the pre-war history of CAS.

Thank you very much for your help.

Cheers,

SW IU

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Submitted by David on Tue, 2011-09-13 16:21.

Hello SW,

There are a couple of photos I can think of:

  • This one from the Imperial War Museum collection, and
  • This one from the harrison Forman collection

Please could you send us a link to the article when it is finished? I'll be interested to read it.

Regards, David

Submitted by swiu on Tue, 2011-09-13 22:53.

Dear David,

Thank you very much. Indeed we have got hold of those pictures and they will be used once the copy right is clear.

The article is written in Chinese but it will be billingual when published..

I will see if I could post the article here in Feb 2012.

Thanks anyway.

Best wishes,

SW IU

Submitted by moddsey on Tue, 2011-09-13 23:00.

Hi SW IU,

Would you know where the IWM photo was taken?

Submitted by swiu on Tue, 2011-09-13 23:05.

Dear Moddsey,

Sorry. I don't know. But I know some old comrades of the Hong Kong ARP and I think they might recognise the place.

Will get back to you then.

Best wishes,

SW IU

Submitted by isdl on Wed, 2011-09-14 12:25.

Hi SW IU,

I am confused after reading your appeal about Air Raid Precaution warden’s photos and badges.  You wrote “Civil Aid Service 60 th anniversary”, that equates to 1952; and you also wrote “pre-war history of CAS”.  CAS was older than sixty years?

As far as I understood, Air Raid Precaution is one of the auxiliary corps raised before the Second World War, for war time services.  Whereas Civil Aid Service is raised after the war, for emergency services.

I cannot establish any connection between ARP and CAS.

Regards,
isdl

Submitted by swiu on Mon, 2011-09-19 15:12.

Dear isdl,

The British gov't became aware of the destructive effect of air raid in 1924 and started to urge the establishment of Airp Raid Precautions. The Corps of Air Raid Wardens was the organisztion that responsible for that.

For the samne reason, the HK Corps of Air Raid Wardens was formed in Hong Kong in late 1930's. The HK Corps of Air Raid Wardens was a copy of the UK Corps of Air Raid Wardens.

After WWII, in late 1940's, China has become communist and the situation in Korea was critical.  Since the North Korea was backed by communist China, and South Korea was backed by the west, the was a possibility that the two camps would confront directly. Hong KOng then would become a major target. The governor of HK, Sir Alexander Grantham thus had to prepare for the possible crisis, including air raids. The Civil Aid Service was formed in 1952 to tackle the problem. According to the former members of the HK air raid wardens, the newly formed organisation had to use another name instead of bearing the label of "air raid" so as not to provoke China and to convince China that it is not a preparation for war with China. So a mild and less warlike name,  Civil Aid Services was used . However, the training, organisation and duties were the same as HK Corps of Air Raid Wardens. In fact most members of the CAS was former air raid wardens and were tasked to lead and train the new recruits.  Military related training was stopped in mid 60's when the possibility of war subsided.

In this connection, the HK Corps of Air Raid Wardens was regarded as the ancester of Civil Aid Srevice.

Thank you for showing interest to CAS and I hope this would answer part of your question.

Thanks again.

 

Best wishes,

SW IU

 

Submitted by David on Tue, 2011-09-20 12:50.

SW, Thanks very much for the explanation.

Previously I'd read how the old Air Raid Shelters (ie the tunnels) were re-furbished for use in the 1950s by the CAS. I'd always imagined it was a change in use, but from your explanation I see it was really just getting them back into shape for their original purpose.

Regards, David

Submitted by swiu on Wed, 2011-09-21 00:42.

Dear David,

Quite right. Some shelters are still being used : some govt departments are using them .  eg, the Auxiliary Medical Service to keep medical supplies, and creatively, are leased to business to keep wine !

Cheers,

SW IU

 

Submitted by isdl on Fri, 2011-09-23 09:57.

Hi SW IU,

This does not convince me.

Who manned the tunnels from 30 Aug., 1945 to 4 Jan., 1952?

If the (then) function of CAS was to man tunnels, then why was it be established in 1952?  Mainland china fell into the hands of communist in 1949 and Korean War broke out in 1950.  Year 1952 saw a serious threat that manning of tunnels had to be formalized?

In mid-1949 Hong Kong garrison was boosted to divisional strength in the form of 40th Infantry Division, and first time ever with Royal Armoured Corps presence (3rd Royal Tank Regiment).  HMG was well prepared for a communist invasion.

You wrote ‘not to provoke china’ whereas the following happenings show the opposite:
In 1949 “against the threat posed by the approaching victorious chinese communist forces” [1]
In 1950, “the division held a parade,...,during which elements of the whole division were on parade” [2]
In 1950, “the British main worries were not an isolated attack by Peking on Hong Kong” [3]
In 1951, “Compulsory Service Ordinance was published”. [4]

References:
[1] The Tanks The History of The Royal Tank Regiment, 1945-1975; 1979; ISBN 0 85368 293 3; page 73
[2] British and Indian Armies on the China Coast 1785-1985; 1990; ISBN 0 9516065 06; page 464
[3] Hong Kong and the Cold War Anglo-American Relations 1949-1957,2004; ISBN 0 19 927370 7; page 49
[4] Second to None The Story of The Hong Kong Volunteers; 1991; ISBN 0 19 585518 3; page 288

Cheers,
isdl

Submitted by David on Fri, 2011-09-23 13:44.

SW & Isdl,

A few more odds and ends. This text comes from the UK Civil Defence Association website:

The History of Civil Defence Volunteers is divided into parts:

1935 to 1945 - from the first call for volunteers in Air Raid Precautions right through the Second World War which ended in 1945.

1948 to 1968 - from the creation of the Civil Defence Corps and Auxiliary Fire Service (in the early part of the ‘Cold War’) to the controversial decision to disband government-sponsored civil defence volunteer forces in 1968.

1968 to Today - from the cessation of government funded CD voluntary effort to the plethora of organisations which abound today, the majority of whom do not have ‘Civil Defence’ as part of their title - but nevertheless perform a much valued and respected role both to their local community and to the nation as a whole. The spirit of Civil Defence Volunteering remains!

So there are some similarities with Hong Kong, as we'd expect, including:

  • a gap in their operation between the end of WW2 and the start of the cold war
  • change of name to "Civil ..."

Isdl asked "Who manned the tunnels from 30 Aug., 1945 to 4 Jan., 1952?".

I looked through a couple of the tunnel reports. In the years immediately after the war, the main attention was checking their condition, and back-filling those that were unsafe. So no-one was manning them as far as I can tell.

Later, thoughts turned to using them again. These are the main events mentioned in the Leighton Hill tunnels report:

  • 1946: Timber supports were looted from the tunnels
  • 1949: Sections of the tunnels "supposedly" backfilled, but no written records found
  • "In June 1950, a plan of these tunnels was sent to the Department of Medical Services in connection with a proposed utilisation of the ARP tunnels in Hong Kong. During 1951 the accessible section of the tunnel network was equipped with mesh doors, grilles, latrines, electric lighting and a piped water system in readiness for its use by the Auxiliary Medical Services (AMS) as a Casualty Clearing Centre under the Medical Department's Civil Aid Scheme. The tunnel network became the responsibility of the Medical Department in 1952, and was used for First Aid Post Training and for storage."

I made a mistake in an earlier comment where I said "Previously I'd read how the old Air Raid Shelters (ie the tunnels) were re-furbished for use in the 1950s by the CAS." It was "AMS" I'd read, not "CAS".

The reports I've read talk mention using the tunnels for the AMS, but don't mention any use plans to use them as civilian air raid shelters.

Regards, David

Submitted by isdl on Sun, 2011-09-25 15:16.

Hi Daivd,

Strategically concerned, chinese communist threat was from land (as shown in 1966/67), across the border, not from the air, as chinese communist air force vitrually did not come into existence.

From Legislative Concil: ESSENTIAL SERVICES CORPS BILL, 1949

“for volunteers to be available to assist in maintaining services essential to the life of the community, such as health, water, light and fuel services.”

Cheers,
isdl

Submitted by pauline on Sun, 2011-09-25 18:56.

Hi isdl,

My late husband did tell me that during his time in HK the perceived threat of an invasion by land of chinese communist forces was very real, and that whatever they did in the Battle Box was directly linked to this. I believe that there were agents over the border in red china and that coded messages would have been received from them.  Do you know if this is recorded anywhere?  My husband never talked to me directly about this so he never revealed any secrets but you pick up bits and pieces over the years!

Regards,  Pauline.

 

Submitted by swiu on Mon, 2011-09-26 00:28.

Dear isdl,

Thank you for your information.

It is true that CAS members were trained to report  and to cordon unexploded bombs in  early years until mid 1960's. The  report form "CAS Form 2 " was used  specifically for this purpose, and they were also trained to put out fires caused by WP bombs. It might suggested that the worry about air bombing existed in 1950's.

Youn are right. There is not evidence showing that CAS were tasked to man air raid shelters after WWII.

Thanks again.

Cheers,

SW IU

Submitted by swiu on Mon, 2011-09-26 00:50.

Dear idsl,

The Section 3 of The Essential Services Corps Ordinance Schedule lists 24 essential services. The 22nd was the creation of Civil Aid Services. This item was repealed in 1997 when the CAS Ordinance was passed.  It might be a bit confusing why CAS was regarded as an essential services in Hong Kong, but if we replace it with "the creation of  an air raid precautions corps", it might help us to understand more.

Cheers,

SW IU

Submitted by swiu on Mon, 2011-09-26 01:16.

Dear isdl,

On more thing, the Chinese communist established their first aviation school in 1946 and the  communist Chinese air force was established in 11-11-1949. Planes were mostly obtained from surrendered Japanese after WWII and from surrendered ROC air force pilots, those were American made. The Soviet Union also provided a huge support to it.

Cheers,

SW IU