Bunkers part 3 of 3

The tunnels were all cement-lined and easy to navigate, although sometimes the ceilings got so low, we had to walk bent over. In a couple of places, we had to get down on all four and crawl. Ever thirty feet or so, the British had built vertical shafts up to the surface which not only let in fresh air, but also provided natural light. But every so often the distance between light shafts was too great and we found ourselves inching our way forward on uneven ground in complete darkness.

The maze of tunnels and bunkers was rather complex and covered hundreds of meters. In order to prevent themselves from getting lost in the tunnels the British soldiers had named all the tunnels after streets in London. The names had been built in relief right into the walls when the cement was poured. The names were as clear and as easy to read as they were 75 years ago.

I was surprised by the good condition the tunnels and bunkers were in. They looked as if they were built a few months ago, not three-quarters of a century ago. Also noteworthy was the conspicuous lack of graffiti or vandalism. All these years, they have been sitting here with hundreds of hikers passing by every week and nobody had messed with them. Refreshing.

We weren't the only intrepid explorers this particular day; we encountered a few other people exploring the tunnels as well. Apparently, the local authorities knew that we wouldn’t be taking their “Do not enter” notices too seriously. Throughout the tunnels and bunkers paper signs described what we were looking at: a latrine, a field kitchen, a munitions store room.

It was time to finish our hike and we all reluctantly left our underground confines and found our way out to the path and continued on our way.

It had been a blast. My sister and my wife had enjoyed themselves. My daughters had had a ton of fun. And my niece Ellie had loved it.

See girls, stick with me. I may lead you astray, but it will always be an adventure.

And just remember in life that “Do not enter” is really more of a suggestion.

-Jack

In the late 1930s as the Japanese continued their invasion south through China, many people said there was no way the Japanese would dare invade the British colony of Hong Kong. But just to be sure, British and Chinese Hong Kongers built these strategically placed bunkers on this mountain top so they could rebuff any Japanese advances.

On December 8, 1941, the day after they bombed Pearl Harbor, the Japanese army rolled into Hong Kong. Less than a month later on Christmas day, the British surrendered Hong Kong to the Japanese. The bunkers had not served their purpose. Hong Kong remained under Japanese control until the end of World War II.

The day after our hike, I asked my students if they knew anything about the World War II bunkers up in the hills near Kowloon Reservoir. None of them had. That night, I flipped through my half dozen guide books back in the apartment to see if any of them made mention of the World War II bunkers. None of them did.