I've listed some of the recent highlights below, but you can visit the What's New page at any time to see all the latest additions to the site.

General

• Recent weeks have seen the 75th anniversary of V-J Day, with Imperial Japan's surrender on 15 August 1945, followed by the official signing of the surrender document on 2 September. Some related pages:
  • Wartime diary pages on Gwulo from 16 August 1945 (the day that most of the diarists learned of the surrender) and 2 September 1945.
  • Photos of the Japanese surrender here in Hong Kong.
  • Meanwhile Bails's parents and grandparents were interned in Shanghai, and heard of the surrender there.
• Two new resources about the British Army Aid Group:
  • Elizabeth Ride's extensive archives are now available online at elizabethridearchive.com
  • Hong Kong Baptist University have published an excellent online introduction to the BAAG, making good use of online maps and photos to illustrate the story.
• Did Franklin Gimson arrive in Hong Kong on the 6th, 7th, or 8th of December, 1941?
• Only four pages left to finish typing up the 1934 Jurors List. Please can you help to type up a page?
• You can now accesss archived copies of the SCMP online for free if you have a Hong Kong Public Library card.

Places <Read more ...>

I've listed some of the recent highlights below, but you can visit the What's New page at any time to see all the latest additions to the site.

General

• Helen is looking for any information about the Kowloon Mummers, active in the 1920s
• Rachel is looking for historical photos of gardens made in wartime in Hong Kong (and Asia more generally)
• Memories of Primary Schooling in the mid/late ‘50s, and having to rush out the back door before the Education Department inspector arrived!
• Airmail services from Hong Kong in the 1930s.
• John remembers Jardine's accommodation in the 1940s-70s.
• New reports and photos of the 1874 Typhoon
• Valve indicators, those house-shaped markings painted onto some buildings' walls
• UK update: how the National Archives at Kew are managing during the pandemic
• When Hong Kong's letter boxes made an about-turn

Book news

• New review of Volume 3
  • Thanks to Veronica Pearson for her generous review of the latest Gwulo book. An excerpt: "What is so extraordinary about Bellis is the detail and knowledge that he brings to such a wide array of subjects as he decodes for us, in the most accessible ways, what we are actually looking at. There are examples on virtually every page of the book; but I have chosen one that demonstrates Bellis’ ability to draw readers into a subject even when they expect it to be boring; in my case Photograph 10—The Naval Yard. First he ..."
  • The full review will appear in the latest Journal of the RAS HK. The Journal is one of the perks of membership of the RAS HK.
  • This is the not-as-boring-as-it-looks photo of the Naval Yard ...
    
  • ... that you can read all about in Old Hong Kong Photos and The Tales They Tell, Volume 3.
• Volume 4 is moving along
  • We've really missed not being able to visit the UK to see friends and family this summer, but a sliver lining has been getting a head start on the latest book. I finished the first draft of the text last week, and that's away with Ross (MrTall if you remember Batgung) to benefit from his editing and extra polish.
    While the text is being edited I've switched attention to the book's photos, working on them in Photoshop to get them looking their best. I was really happy with the way that the printed photos look in Volume 3, so I'm aiming for as good or better in Volume 4.

Places <Read more ...>

I've listed some of the recent highlights below, but you can visit the What's New page at any time to see all the latest additions to the site.

General

• OldTimer has started posting his memories of growing up in Hong Kong in the 1950s and 60s.
• The 75th anniversary of Japan's surrender is just a few days away. Learn what people in Hong Kong thought about it at the time by reading their diaries: subscribe to daily emails with extracts from their diaries written 75 years ago.
• Details of the first Hong Kong-London through flight in 1936.
• The "BAAG stands down" letter, 31 December 1945, from Lindsay Tasman Ride
• Another mention of the sewing ladies on the streets.
• ChinaRail remembers the Lok Ma Chau lookout and the old man there who appears in so many photos:
  

  Lok Ma Chau – Hong Kong’s Most Photographed Man ?, by Chinarail

Book news

• UK readers: Gwulo's books are now available at Amazon.co.uk and are eligible for Prime shipping. (Affiliate link - It doesn't affect the price you pay, but if you order via this link Amazon will pay a small commission to Gwulo.)
  
   
• Last week's newsletter about the new book Crime, Justice and Punishment in Colonial Hong Kong had a good response. In the newsletter I thanked all the contributors who helped me searching for images. I'd also like to extend my thanks to The Hong Kong Jockey Club for sponsoring the book project, and to Hong Kong University Press for the high quality of the printed images.
  

  From the book's back cover

Places <Read more ...>