Date picture taken (to nearest decade for older photos):
1948
The first jet powered aircraft to reach Hong Kong and possibly China is believed to be a Royal Air Force de Havilland Vampire fighter flown up from Singapore in January 1949.
Unfortunately, the pilot missed Hong Kong and overshot. With a lack of fuel, he was forced to land on a beach at Bias Bay in Chinese territory. <Read more ...>
This extract from my Grandfather's memoirs covers his last posting with the RAF before being demobbed.
Rangoon was as deadly as ever but I was bucked by the thought of the Hong Kong posting. I waltzed into Postings as usual and there was my favourite Flight Sergeant, at his desk with his mug of char at his elbow. "Ah, you're back," said he, "have a cup of char." I parked myself and accepted his offer whilst the formalities of the posting were outlined. <Read more ...>
I'm so pleased to have found this group! I come from Vancouver (which is practically a colony of Hong Kong), and I'm so excited to be planning my first visit to the island in November of this year. My grandfather was a pre-war mountaineer who joined the RAF in late 1941. He spent the next few years flying over Burma, plus 2 seasons running fitness and survival training to RAF pilots in Kashmir. Following the war, he delayed his return home to England in order to see a bit of the world, and volunteered for a 6-month posting to Hong Kong. <Read more ...>
