What was the Battle of Hong Kong?

Answer 1

The Battle of Hong Kong took place from December 8, 1941 to Christmas Day of the same year. The incident was located on Hong Kong Island and Kowloon.

Hong Kong, then a British Crown Colony, was invaded by Imperial Japan. The British accepted help from the Canadian government, which sent troops to bolster British presence.

The Japanese attacked with horrible brutality, even by that day's standards. It was reported that the Japanese soldiers attacked and pillaged British field hospitals, killing and torturing wounded soldiers and medical staff, an action that was considered immoral at the time and is forbidden by United Nations in wars today.

Knowing furthur resistance was futile, the British and Canadian forces formally surrendered on December 25, a day known as "Black Christmas" in Hong Kong.

This began the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong. The Japanese terrorised the public, murdering and pillaging, for three years and eight months until British forces liberated Hong Kong in 1945 and resumed control of it as a colony.

Japanese General Takashi Sakai, who led the invasion of Hong Kong and subsequently governed it for a time, was tried as a war criminal and executed on September 30, 1946 in Nanking, China with an audience consisting mostly of Hong Kongers. It was said that the Hong Kong viewers cheered and "...practically destroyed his body after the execution before Chinese security were able to hold them back..."

A Hong Kong legend tells of the day "...when the Hiroshima bombings occured, [that] the entire populace of Hong Kong smiled and cheered...for the first time since Christmas day of 1941..."

For more information regarding the Battle of Hong Kong, click on the corresponding "Related Link" below.

For more information regarding accusations and the trial against Takashi Sakai, click on the corresponding "Related Link" below.

Answer 2

The Battle of Hong Kong was quite important, as Hong Kong was the east trading outpost of the British Empire, which enabled it to keep an eye on the communist activity in China. This meant Britain was keen to keep this outpost. When the Japanese invaded Hong Kong, it triggered the British and their commonwealth to join the war in the pacific, even though Britain was already fighting a war in Europe. Hong Kong was also a strategic point of defense for other Far East colonies, such as Singapore and Australia. If Hong Kong were to fall, Japanese forces could attack Singapore and other British outposts. So the Battle of Hong Kong was important since the British wanted to defend their colony, but if they lost it, it would open up the rest of the Far East colonies of their Empire.

Answer 3

Hong Kong