Letters | Hong Kong’s wartime heritage sites should be valued, but are they?

Military relics constructed at Wong Nai Chung Gap during the 1941-1945 occupation, with their related memories and legends of wartime heroics, should be properly and thoroughly conserved.

Through visiting these vivid sites, one can understand and appreciate the strong resistance of many brave colonial soldiers to the marauding Japanese army in the December 1941 invasion, despite their lack of weapons and support. Although the defenders’ pillboxes led to hundreds of Japanese casualties, they were eventually overwhelmed by the rival forces. Both the durability of the construction and the concealed nature of each position, with a roof covered by earth, are living evidence of how Hong Kong was fiercely defended.

Although many former military structures from the colonial era have undergone adaptive reuse in a thoughtful and innovative manner, many surviving counterparts have somehow been forgotten by the public and left in utter neglect. Significant structures that figured prominently in the fighting at Wong Nai Chung Gap include the pillboxes, underground bunkers and an anti-aircraft position.

These tangible heritage assets on one of the city’s only battlefield trails constitute a shared sense of history and culture. These authentic visual narratives are also the most influential way to convey this knowledge to later generations.