Kai Tak Airport in the war years

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… 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… 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! 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.

The bombers bombed the civil side of the airport. 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)

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. Japanese air raid attack (cont’d)

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 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 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 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 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? The Japanese Government thought the compensation was too much and cut it down to $1.4M military yen only! From May 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?!? 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 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. This is the Hong Kong Landing Chart for st runway, running east-west, completed in nd runway, running north- south, completed in 1945

Japanese surrender 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 Commercial flights to Kai Tak resumed in Sep In 1946, civil operations recommenced also. This is the second runway built by prisoners-of-war.

Civil Aviation Department 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