The Commonwealth WarGraves Commission activelycommemorates 6,500 casualtiesof the two world wars, locatedat over 20 separate locations inHong Kong. The vast majoritycan be found in two war ceme-teries situated at Sai Wan andStanley.

First World War

Japan declared war on Germany on23 August 1914 in compliance withthe Anglo-Japanese Alliance and inresponse to the threat posed by

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission(CWGC) is responsible for the commemoration ofalmost 1,700,000 members of the Commonwealthforces who gave their lives in the two world wars. Thegraves and memorials of these men and women, whocame from all parts of the Commonwealth and whowere of many faiths and of none, are found around theglobe in 153 countries.

Enquiries on the location of individual burials orcommemorations can be directed to the office belowor to the Commission’s website at www.cwgc.orgwhere there is an online searchable database.

Commonwealth War Graves Commission2 Marlow Road MaidenheadBerkshireSL6 7DXUnited KingdomTel: +44 (0) 1628 634221Fax: +44 (0) 1628 771643E-mail: aapaoffice@cwgc.org

A guide to H

ong Kong’s World W

ar Com

mem

orations

German warships on commercial shipping. On2 September the Japanese began to bombardthe leased German port of Tsingtao in north-east China. They were assisted by a force oflargely British and Indian troops and ships.

The German garrison, despite being heavilyoutnumbered, held out for over two monthsbefore finally surrendering on 7 November.With the port captured, British forces werewithdrawn and reallocated. Over 100 of thosewho lost their lives in this conflict are buriedin Hong Kong, with most of the casualtieshaving died in hospitals in Hong Kong.

THEIR NAME LIVETH FOR EVERMORE

www.cw

gc.org

Second World War

By 1941, with Japan now allied withGermany, a Japanese invasion ofHong Kong seemed imminent. HongKong’s position was perilous, closeto Japanese bases in China andFormosa (now Taiwan) but separatedfrom other British outposts in theFar East. In November 1941, 2,000Canadian soldiers arrived toreinforce the small British garrison.

The Japanese attack on Hong Kongcame just eight hours after it hadbombed Pearl Harbour. The defenceof Hong Kong was important, bothto deny the Japanese the use of theharbour there and to maintainmorale among British outposts inthe Far East. However, the invasionwas swift, with the massivelyoutnumbered defenders pushed intoa position where they had no wateror food and were unable to sleepfor fear of attack. By Christmas Daythe British governor of Hong Kongsurrendered, realising that theposition was untenable.

Hong Kong was ultimately liberatedon 16 August 1945, days after atomicbombs were dropped on theJapanese cities Hiroshima andNagasaki.

Sai Wan War Cemetery

Sai Wan War Cemetery, in the north-east ofHong Kong Island, is the largest CommonwealthWar Graves Commission cemetery in HongKong. Sai Wan features 1,505 Second World Wargraves and 12 First World War graves. After thewar, many burials were moved to Sai Wan fromFormosa (Taiwan).

At the entrance to the cemetery stands the SaiWan Memorial. This bears the names of 2,074casualties of the Second World War who died inHong Kong and whose places of burial areunknown. Additional panels on the Sai WanMemorial commemorate 144 Second World Warcasualties whose remains were cremated inaccordance with their faith, along with 72casualties of both wars whose graves in mainlandChina could not be maintained. Both thecemetery and memorial were designed by ColinSt Clair Oakes.

Stanley Military Cemetery

There are 598 Commonwealth Second WorldWar burials in Stanley Military Cemetery,situated just beyond the small fishing village ofStanley in the southern part of Hong KongIsland, on the Tai Tam Peninsula.

During the Japanese occupation, Stanley’s jailand village were used as prisoner of war andinternment camps. The cemetery, which hadbeen unused since the 1860s, was reopenedfor burials from the camp. Three First worldwar graves are also located here. The Memorialpictured above commemorates the Chinesecasualties of the World Wars.

Hong Kong’s Other War Graves

Hong Kong’s remaining war graves can befound in public cemeteries including HongKong Cemetery, a large civilian cemeteryopposite Happy Valley Racecourse, in the northof Hong Kong Island. The cemetery contains 79 First and 62 Second World WarCommonwealth burials. Nearbydenominational cemeteries containing warburials include Hong Kong (Happy Valley)Jewish Cemetery, Hong Kong (Happy Valley)Parsee Cemetery, Hong Kong MuslimCemetery and Hong Kong St. Michael’sCatholic Cemetery.

Also in the ‘Happy Valley’ area is the Hindi andSikh Cremation Memorial which stands behindthe Hindu temple and commemorates eightFirst World War casualties whose remainswere cremated according to their faith.

T H E I R N A M E L I V E T H F O R E V E R M O R E