British Forces Overseas Hong Kong consisted of the elements of the British Army, Royal Navy and Royal Air Force. Much of the British military left Hong Kong prior to the handover in 1997.

Manpower

• Most of the members of the British Forces in Hong Kong were from Britain, but there were locally enlisted personnel (LEP) that served as reservists.

British Army

A variety of units spent various durations of time in Hong Kong during British rule:

Royal Armoured Corps/Cavalry

• Royal Tank Regiment

Foot Guards/Line Infantry

• 1st Battalion, Scots Guards
• 1st Battalion, Irish Guards
• 2nd Battalion, The Royal Scots (The Royal Regiment )
• Royal Lincolnshire Regiment
• Shropshire Light Infantry
• 1st Battalion, The Duke of Wellington's Regiment (West Riding))
• The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders (Princess Louise's)
• Royal Gurkha Rifles
• 2nd King Edward VII's Own Gurkha Rifles
• 6th Queen Elizabeth's Own Gurkha Rifles
• 7th Duke of Edinburgh's Own Gurkha Rifles
• 10th Princess Mary's Own Gurkha Rifles)

• 28th Regiment late 1870s
• 74th Highlanders 1878

Others

• 17th Gurkha Signal Regiment
• 248 Gurkha Signal Squadron
• 22nd Fortress Company (Royal Engineers)
• Hong Kong Volunteer Defence Force (No.2 Company of the Hong Kong Volunteer Defence Corps) 1854-1995
• No 3 Royal Marines Raiding Squadron ?-1988
• Royal Electrical (27th Heavy Anti-aircraft Regiment)
• Mechanical Engineers (27th Heavy Anti-aircraft Regiment)
• Royal Hong Kong Volunteers (Royal Hong Kong Regiment)
• Gurkha Transport Regiment
• Chinese Torpedo Whalers
• 27th Heavy Anti-Aircraft Regiment
• R.E.M.E. Workshop (Shamshuipo)
• Government House Guard (C Company)

British Army installations:

• Stanley Fort (Hong Kong Island) 1841 - later served as Stanley Prison and WWII Japanese War Prison
• Gin Drinker's Line 1930s
• Flagstaff House 1978 - former British Forces HQ and known as Headquarters House 1846-1932 and built for Major General George Charles D'Aguilar ; now known as Museum of Teaware
• North Barracks 1840s-1887 - to the RN 1887-1959 and Hong Kong Government 1959-
• (Queen) Victoria Barracks 1846-1963 - parada grounds now site of Pacific Place , JW Marriott Hotel, Shangrila Hotel and Hong Kong Park; the Barracks was converted to The Visual Arts Centre (Hong Kong Museum of Art)
• Murray Barracks 1846-1982 - moved from Central to Stanley, now known as Murray House
• Lyemun or Lei Yue Mun Barracks 1840s - coast defence and now Museum of Coastal Defence
• Wellington Barracks 1840s-1946 - to the RN as HMS Tamar 1946-1960s (demolished and replaced with HMS Tamar/Prince of Wales Building)
• Perowne Barracks (Tuen Mun) - now Tuen Mun Immigration

Service Training School

• Osborne Barracks (Kowloon) 1945 - named for Canadian and Winnipeg Grenadiers Jack Osborne VC who died defending Hong Kong in 1941

Royal Navy

The Royal Navy was stationed in Hong Kong from the beginning and for the most part was located in Hong Kong Island at HMS Tamar. The Prince of Wales Building was added later in the 1970s. Prior to the handover, the naval base was moved to Stonecutters Island next to the Government docks.

Squadrons in Hong Kong:

• China Squadron 1844-1941, 1945-1992
• Far East Fleet/HK Sqdn 1969-1971
• Dragon Squadron 1971-1992
• 3 Raiding Royal Marines
• Hong Kong Royal Naval Volunteer Reserves 1967-1996 - merge with RNR 1971
• British Regular - Garrison and Fleet
• LEP 1905-1996
• Side Girls Party 1933-1997
• Dragon Squadron
• 120th Minesweeping Squadron 1958-1966 - transfer to Singapore
• 6th Mine Countermeasure Squadron 1969-1997
• 6th Patrol Craft Squadron 1970-1997
• Operations and Training Base 1934-1997
• 3 Commando Brigade Royal Marines
• 47 Royal Marines
• British Pacific Fleet 1840s-1948 - to Singapore as Far East Station
• HK Flotilla 1840s-1941, 1948-1992
• China Station - 4th Submarine Flotilla, Yangtse Flotilla, West River Flotilla, 8th Destroyer Flotilla
• 5th Cruiser Squadron
• 1st Escort Flotilla
• 4th Frigate Flotilla ?-1952
• Frigate Squadron 1952-1976
• Light Cruiser Squadron

Naval Facilities

A list of facilities used or built by the RN in Hong Kong:

• Prince of Wales Building 1978-1997 - known Central Barracks of the PLA

• Lamont and Hope Drydocks
• Aberdeen Docks - destroyed
• Dry Dock 1902-1959
• Taikoo Dockyards - Hong Kong United Dockyards
• Royal Navy Dockyards, Admiralty 1859-1902
• Royal Navy Dockyards 1902-1959
• RN Coal storage yard, Stonecutters Island 1861-1959
• RN Coal storage yard and Kowloon Naval Dockyards 1901-1959

• Sai Wan Barracks 1844-1846
• Wellington Barracks 1946-1978 - as HMS Tamar (demolished)
• North Barracks 1850s-1856, 1887-1959 - from the Army and to HK Government 1959
• Victoria Barracks

• Redoubt and Lei Yue Mun Fortifications 1885-1887
• Lei Yue Mun Fort 1887-1987
• Reverse, Central, West and Pass Batteries 1880s

• Brennan Torpedo station 1890 - Lei Yue Mun

• Royal Naval Hospital, Wan Chai - now Ruttonjee Sanatorium
• Seaman's Hospital 1843-1873 - replaced by Royal Naval Hospital
• RMS Queen Mary 1945-1946 - as a hosptial
• War Memorial Hospital (Matilda) 1946-1959
• British Military Hospital 1959-1995
• Island Grop Practice 1995-1997 - replace BMH

• HMS Charolotte and HMS Victor Emmanuel - Receiving Ships
• Tidal Basin 1902-1959
• Boat Basin 1902-1959
• HM Victualling Yards 1859-1946

A list of facilities used or built by the RN in Hong Kong:

• Lamont and Hope Drydocks
• Aberdeen Docks
• Royal Naval Hospital, Wan Chai - now Ruttonjee Sanatorium
• Seaman's Hosptial 1843-1873 - replaced by Royal Naval Hospital
• HMS Charolotte and HMS Victor Emmanuel - Receiving Ships
• HMS Tamar - Receiving ship 1897-1941
• HMS Nabcatcher - Kai Tak 1945-1946
• HMS Flycatcher - Kai Tak 1947
• HMS Minden 1841-mid 1840s - hospital ship
• HMS Alligator 1840s-1873 - hospital ship
• HMS Melville 1860s-1873 - hospital ship (East Indies Sqdn)
• HMS Audaicous 1840s - Receiving Ship

Royal Air Force

The Royal Air Force was the smallest contigent of the British Forces and was mainly based at RAF Sek Kong in the New Territories. The rotary wing elements left RAF Sek Kong for RAF Kai Tak and remained there until the handover. As well, Sek Kong served as a Vietnamese refugee camp for most of the 1980s.

RAF Units in Hong Kong:

• 114th (Hong Kong) RAF Squadron
• 28 AC Squadron 1978-1996 (RAF Sek Kong) - using Wessex HC2
• 28 AC Squadron 1968-1978 (RAF Kai Tak) - using Wessex HC2
• 22 Squadron
• ASF (Catering Squadron)
• GEF (Ground Radio)
• Medical Supply Squadron
• 847 Squadron 1970 (RAF Kai Tak)
• 846 Squadron 1963-1964 (RAF Kai Tak)
• Royal Hong Kong Auxilliary Air Force 1970-1993 - handed over to GFS
• Hong Kong Volunteer Defence Corps - Air Arm 1930-1949
• Hong Kong Auxilliary Air Force 1949-1970 - see RHKAAF
• 367 Wireless Unit
• 368 Wireless Unit
• Composite Signals Unit

RAF Stations:

• RAF North Point (Hong Kong)
• RAF Little Sai Wan
• RAF Sek Kong - (VHSK) served as Vietnamese Detention Centre 1980s
• RAF Kai Tak - (VHKT) later as Kai Tak International Airport

RAF Operations Facilities:

• Tai Po Tsai
• Cape Collinson
• Batty's Belvedere
• Kong Wei, RAF Sek Kong
• Chung Hom Kok
• Wang Fung Terrace, Tai Hang (Happy Valley)

Search and rescue operations conducted by the RAF and RN were later transferred to the Hong Kong Government Flying Services or GFS.

Other Facilities

• British Military Hospital, Kowloon

China Fleet Club

Hong Kong became an important port of call for many naval ships passing through the Far East. Besides Lan Kwai Fong, RN sailors had their own ntertainment facility called the China Fleet Club.

A timeline of the the China Fleet Club

• 1900-1903 local Hong Kong businessman and Royal Navy's China Fleet to raise funds for a Royal Naval Canteen at Naval Docks, Hong Kong
• 1929 old canteen building demolished and replaced with new building
• 1929-1934 Temporary CFC at Gloucester Road
• 1933 cornerstone laid by Admiral Sir Howard Kelly , G.B.E., K.C.B., C.M.G., M.V.O., then Commander-in-Chief, China Station; new seven-storey China Fleet Club building called "The Old Blue"
• 1941-1945 CFC serves as Japanese Naval HQ in Hong Kong during World War II
• 1945-1980 CFC re-occuppied by RN
• 1952 Coronation Annex added
• 1980-1985 CFC relocated to temporary site at Sun Hung Kai Centre
• 1985 25-storey Fleet House new home for CFC
• 1986 Plans to relocate CFC to UK begins
• 1989 Construction of China Fleet Country Club in Saltash begins
• 1991 Construction of China Fleet Country Club in Saltash completed and opens in June
• 1992 CFC in Hong Kong closes

References

• White Ensign Red Dragon by Commodore P J Melson CBE 1997
• RAF Kai Tak
• Stanley Fort
• Hong Kong
• China Fleet Club