1. The History
The second of three reports from the Pak Sha Wan military area on the north-east coastline of Hong Kong Island. It focuses on the bunkers of the Shau Kei Wan Ammunition Depot. The depot was constructed in the late 1930s by the British Army early on during World War II, in order to combat the Japanese Invasion, suppling ordinance for the Lei Yue Mun fort to the east and the Pak Sha Wan battery to the south-east.
The 1982 aerial photo below indicates its location in relation to the former fort and batteries:
There were nine bunkers in total, grouped in three groups of three, with each group consisting of a single bunker and a pair of linked bunkers, located a short distance to the south-west. The single bunkers had an approach entrance leading to a main chamber which had an iron reinforced roof and to the left of the entrance door an escape shaft. The twin bunkers had a similar layout but had a link passage between the main stores at the back.
The bunkers were situated directly west of the Lei Yue Mun barracks (now the location for the Hong Kong Costal Defence museum) and linked by a looped road to facilitate the transportation of munitions to the four batteries at Lei Yue Mun and the battery at Pak Sha Wan. While the aforementioned batteries had munitions for immediate firing in iron-doored compartments at breach level, and magazine stores below the emplacements, they would have needed a more substantial store, a safe distance from the guns.
When Hong Kong was captured during World War II by the Japanese in December 1941, they took over all of the British Army’s facilities on the island. On the liberation of Hong Kong on 25th August, 1945, the British Army took back charge of the depot and used it over the following decades before it fell surplus to requirements, possibly at some point in the 80s.
Today, of the three clusters of bunkers, only the middle trio survive. Bunkers 1, 2 and 3 were buried under Route 4 when it was constructed. Meanwhile, Bunkers 7, 8 and 9 would have been obliterated with the construction of Tung Hei Road to the north. The remaining bunkers (4, 5 and 6) are now somewhat of an anomaly. When the Route 4 dual carriageway was constructed in 1997, it bisected the western extremities of the fort, cutting the bunkers off leaving with no feasible access route and rendering them unusable. Despite being visible from where the 2A joins Route 4, the bunkers go mainly unnoticed and appear to be part of the landscaping when the road was built.
2. The Explore
Visited with @drhowser as the final stop of exploring on this very hot HK Autumn day. Having earlier visited Pak Sha Wan barracks and battery and the barrack’s lido (see earlier report), we then headed down the side of Route 4 to a bunker that the good Doctor had previously visited. The bunker is pretty much left as it was when it was abandoned and has little signs of it being put to any sort of reuse. There was some lovely signage, an old fire extinguisher and the Meccarno-style munitions shelving. After a shufty we continued down the side of the 2A slip road. The much to our delight, we saw what looked like a second bunker set further back from the road. On closer inspection it turned out to be a pair of identical bunkers so we had a wander here too. After that, it was back into Shau Kei Wan for a well-deserved slap-up lunch and cold beer.
3. The Pictures
Entrance to the first bunker:
Looking back out:
An original fire-extinguisher:
Original signage:
And on to the main storage room with its reinforced iron roof:
Looking back to the entrance:
The escape/emergency shaft:
On to the second bunker:
To the left is the emergency exit:
The room is the same layout as the previous room:
Connecting tunnel between bunkers:
Detritus in the second room:
A gated emergency tunnel:
More shelving:
Another original fire extinguisher:
And identical signage:
And back out we go via the second bunker’s entrance:
That's all Folks!!!
The second of three reports from the Pak Sha Wan military area on the north-east coastline of Hong Kong Island. It focuses on the bunkers of the Shau Kei Wan Ammunition Depot. The depot was constructed in the late 1930s by the British Army early on during World War II, in order to combat the Japanese Invasion, suppling ordinance for the Lei Yue Mun fort to the east and the Pak Sha Wan battery to the south-east.
The 1982 aerial photo below indicates its location in relation to the former fort and batteries:
There were nine bunkers in total, grouped in three groups of three, with each group consisting of a single bunker and a pair of linked bunkers, located a short distance to the south-west. The single bunkers had an approach entrance leading to a main chamber which had an iron reinforced roof and to the left of the entrance door an escape shaft. The twin bunkers had a similar layout but had a link passage between the main stores at the back.
The bunkers were situated directly west of the Lei Yue Mun barracks (now the location for the Hong Kong Costal Defence museum) and linked by a looped road to facilitate the transportation of munitions to the four batteries at Lei Yue Mun and the battery at Pak Sha Wan. While the aforementioned batteries had munitions for immediate firing in iron-doored compartments at breach level, and magazine stores below the emplacements, they would have needed a more substantial store, a safe distance from the guns.
When Hong Kong was captured during World War II by the Japanese in December 1941, they took over all of the British Army’s facilities on the island. On the liberation of Hong Kong on 25th August, 1945, the British Army took back charge of the depot and used it over the following decades before it fell surplus to requirements, possibly at some point in the 80s.
Today, of the three clusters of bunkers, only the middle trio survive. Bunkers 1, 2 and 3 were buried under Route 4 when it was constructed. Meanwhile, Bunkers 7, 8 and 9 would have been obliterated with the construction of Tung Hei Road to the north. The remaining bunkers (4, 5 and 6) are now somewhat of an anomaly. When the Route 4 dual carriageway was constructed in 1997, it bisected the western extremities of the fort, cutting the bunkers off leaving with no feasible access route and rendering them unusable. Despite being visible from where the 2A joins Route 4, the bunkers go mainly unnoticed and appear to be part of the landscaping when the road was built.
2. The Explore
Visited with @drhowser as the final stop of exploring on this very hot HK Autumn day. Having earlier visited Pak Sha Wan barracks and battery and the barrack’s lido (see earlier report), we then headed down the side of Route 4 to a bunker that the good Doctor had previously visited. The bunker is pretty much left as it was when it was abandoned and has little signs of it being put to any sort of reuse. There was some lovely signage, an old fire extinguisher and the Meccarno-style munitions shelving. After a shufty we continued down the side of the 2A slip road. The much to our delight, we saw what looked like a second bunker set further back from the road. On closer inspection it turned out to be a pair of identical bunkers so we had a wander here too. After that, it was back into Shau Kei Wan for a well-deserved slap-up lunch and cold beer.
3. The Pictures
Entrance to the first bunker:
Looking back out:
An original fire-extinguisher:
Original signage:
And on to the main storage room with its reinforced iron roof:
Looking back to the entrance:
The escape/emergency shaft:
On to the second bunker:
To the left is the emergency exit:
The room is the same layout as the previous room:
Connecting tunnel between bunkers:
Detritus in the second room:
A gated emergency tunnel:
More shelving:
Another original fire extinguisher:
And identical signage:
And back out we go via the second bunker’s entrance:
That's all Folks!!!
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