Transcript Kai Tak 1935

Kai Tak Airport in the war years
1941-1946
Kai Tak before the war
Kai Tak 1930 (left)
The airport was constructed
on reclaimed land. The
Royal Army Force established
its headquarters there.
Kai Tak 1930 (right)
There was no actual
runway in the beginning.
Airplanes landed on the
grassfield only.
Kai Tak before the war (cont’d)
Kai Tak 1935
In 1941…
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Kai Tak served as the military base for the
Royal Army Force in Hong Kong.
Anti-craft gun emplacements and pill boxes
were built around the airfield.
Other than the civil runway, the airfield was
covered with obstacles to prohibit enemy
landings.
Air raid shelters were installed along the main
road.
Only one airline in 1941…
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Only one airline - China National Aviation
Company (CNAC) - was still using the
runway at the time.
Q: Can you guess who the passengers on
CNAC were?
A: Rich refugees flying from China to HK!
Japanese air raid attack!
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At 7am on 8 Dec 1941, Kai Tak received
warning of a Japanese attack.
At 8 am, 12 bombers and 36 fighters of the
Japanese Air Force flew to the Kai Tak
aerodrome.
The fighters flew to the runway and fired at
the barrack blocks, causing the planes to
burst into flames.
Japanese air raid attack (cont’d)
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The bombers bombed the civil side of the
airport.
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When the air raid ended, the CNAC
director ordered his men to push the 3
remaining planes, camouflage them with
mud & straw, and transport CNAC staff &
their families into China.
Japanese air raid attack (cont’d)
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The planes departed near night time &
returned 3 hours later, refuelled by hand
pump. Throughout the night, many CNAC
staff and their families were saved.
By 10 Dec, when Kai Tak was abandoned,
275 people had been transported to safety
by CNAC!
All of Kai Tak’s operations had stopped by
then.
On Christmas Day, 1941, Hong
Kong surrendered to the Japanese.
Kai Tak occupied by the Japanese
Q: Army engineers and the Public Works Dept
dragged concrete pipes across the runway. Why?
A: To stop the Japanese from using the runway!
But Japanese military engineers repaired the
airfield quickly.
Expansion of Kai Tak
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In May 1942, the Japanese began
expanding Kai Tak from a 180-acre field to
a 380-acre field.
The original east-west runway was
extended and a new runway, running
north-south, was built.
Expansion of Kai Tak (cont’d)
Brown-green
area represents
the extension
made by the
Japanese.
Expansion of Kai Tak (cont’d)
Q: Who do you think built the runways?
A: Prisoners-of-war!
Q: Why were the runways poorly constructed?
A: Because the POWs sabotaged their work.
Land for Expansion
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In expanding Kai Tak, Sung Emperor’s
Terrace (宋王臺), a hill about 45 metres
high with some small “sacred” rocks at its
peak, had to removed.
The Japanese, knowing that the rocks were
“sacred”, hired 50 monks to perform an
exorcism in the area before removing the
Terrace.
Removal of 宋王臺
The largest rocks were engraved with “宋王臺”
before they were removed. They were later
placed in a park outside the airport.
Impact of Kai Tak Expansion
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Many residential areas had to be
demolished due to the airport expansion,
including Kowloon City, Sheung Sha Po,
and Sha Po villages.
A committee was formed at the Kowloon
District office to value the property to be
demolished.
Compensation for landowners
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The committee agreed that $4.2M military
yen plus 20 catties of rice per person was
enough compensation for landowners
whose houses would be destroyed.
On 25 Dec 1941, 1 Military Yen=HKD2.00
On 24 July 1942, 1 Military Yen=HKD4.00
Unfair compensation?
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The Japanese Government thought the
compensation was too much and cut it
down to $1.4M military yen only!
From May 1942 - May 1943, landowners
collected compensation. For those that did
not come to collect, the Japanese paid a
sum of $100,000 Military Yen to the HK
Government as compensation.
No compensation?!?
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No payment was made for land on which
there were no buildings, since the land was
considered to belong to the British Govt.
No payment was made to farmland.
Leaseholders were given two months’
notice to gather their crops before
evacuating.
Homeless people
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The Japanese put up new villages in places
such as Kowloon Tong and Ku Tung Chuen
in response to the appeal of many homeless
families.
At first the Japanese gave them food and
seeds, but later stopped. Many people died
as they were unable to earn their living by
farming.
Kai Tak 1945
By 1945, both runways
were complete, in use,
and heavily protected
by anti-aircraft guns.
2nd runway, running northsouth, completed in 1945
1st runway, running
east-west, completed in 1939
This is the Hong Kong
Landing Chart for 1945.
Japanese surrender
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On 15 August 1945, the Japanese finally
surrendered.
By then, the Kai Tak airfield had become
much bigger, but the buildings on the airfield
had been blown up & communication lines
cut.
Recommencement of Kai Tak
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Commercial flights to Kai Tak resumed in Sep
1945.
In 1946, civil operations recommenced also.
This is the second
runway built by
prisoners-of-war.
Civil Aviation Department
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Established on 1 May 1946 to regulate civil
aviation and Kai Tak operations
Kai Tak 1947
Kai Tak Airport served HK for 73
years before closing down in 1998.
The End