Hill Top History

"Lt. Birkett had led 29 Canadians up Jardines Lookout; the record suggests five came down."

I wonder if the hillwalkers and runners who traverse Jardines Lookout know they take pleasure in a battlefield. The blood spilt by hundreds of young men from Britain, Canada, Hong Kong and Japan has long dried. Yet, if you bother to look, the signs of the epic struggle of December 1941 are still there.

I don’t seek to chide people enjoying our terrific country parks. And yet, it makes for a better world if you acknowledge what happened here.

Hidden in the undergrowth, collapsed trenches with rusty barbed wire mark a former defensive perimeter. Amateur historians can find the remnants of weapons, cap badges and the odd live piece of ordnance. (Don’t touch, call the 999, and the brave officers of the Hong Kong Police EOD will clear it)

The reinforced concert bunkers are more visible. Designed to protect the strategic Wong Nai Chung Gap, the signs of war damage remain in blasted walls and bullet marks. Many heroic tales speak of the confused back-and-forth battle for Wong Nai Chung Gap.

Full details of the 1941 Battle of Hong Kong are here, with interactive maps. Let’s consider one slice of the action.

Perched atop Jardines Lookout, few recognise their feet rest on a bunker where 34-year-old, Canadian Lt. George Birkett, led a spirited but doomed defence of the hilltop. Before first light on 20th December, Lt. Birkett’s platoon of 29 men from the Winnipeg Grenadiers climbed the hill under shell fire. 

The darkness, rainfall and heavy loads added to an arduous climb. Not for them, the well-defined steps used today. Instead, they took a route from Pill Box One (often referred to as JL01), above the catchment, pushing through the low scrub. Both the catchment and Pill Box are still there. The platoon lost three men in the climb, either to shells or gunfire.

Meanwhile, in the dark, columns of Japanese troops manoeuvred below along Sir Cecil’s Ride. These troops threatened to seize the gap and split Hong Kong Island. Then, as dawn came, the bunched-up Japanese came under sustained machine gun fire from Pill Box One. Hundreds died. 

At first-light, approaching the top of Jardines Lookout, Lt. Birkett’s Canadians observed Japanese troops scrambling up the north face, heading toward them. With the bunker atop the hill abandoned earlier, Lt. Birkett and Sgt. Tom Marsh set about reinforcing the position. Machine guns at the ready, and with no time to dig, the young Canadians sought any cover available. 

A fierce battle followed as the Japanese launched grenades and mortars onto the hill. Hostilities raged into the afternoon as repeated attacks came in. Finally, Birkett, brandishing a Bren gun, and with a severe leg wound, took up position on what is now the lookout platform. He continued to lay down fire, allowing some of his men to escape. Birkett died there.

If you bother to scramble down from the platform, what greets you is the front of the bunker blown in. A direct hit from a Japanese shell killed the occupants, blasting many into an adjacent entrance trench. Sgt. Marsh, thrown clear, survived the battle despite a broken arm and a bullet wound to the head.

He later escaped under cover of darkness. The Japanese soon caught him. He was held in now captured Pill Box One until the battle eased. He survived the war.

Lt. Birkett had led 29 Canadians up Jardines Lookout; the record suggests five came down.

Later, during their brutal occupation of Hong Kong, the Japanese started to dig defensive tunnels in anticipation of an invasion. Many of these tunnels are still accessible, with multi-layered chambers. But, again, most walkers fail to spot these. 

Descending Jardines Lookout on the west side, facing the quarry now occupied by the Police EOD Unit, is an extensive tunnel system. The entrance sits two feet away from the busy path, and no one notices because a few trees obscure idle eyes. Only the more alert notice the opening that leads to a large cavern. 

Designed to provide firing positions into the adjacent gap and onto Mount Butler, the tunnels remind us of the potential slaughter that the atomic bombs prevented. 

Today, Lt. Birkett rests peacefully at the Sai Wan Bay War Cemetery.

(For further reading, I'd recommend  'Battle for Hong Kong' by Philip Cracknell.)

Pill Box One Jardines Lookout

Pill Box Three, Jardines Lookout

Japanese Tunnel

Searching the tunnels.