Wings over hong kong an aviation history, 18911988 a tribute to kai tak. The hornet was a british fighter operated by the raf, and rn between 1946 and 1957. A brief visual history of hong kongs old airport, kai. Many regional history and anecdote books tell that kai tak airport was so named to commemorate ho kai and au tak, the alleged founders of the airport. Seaplanes began using victoria harbour in mar 1911. Representative air support command types at raf abingdon for queens visit at raf 50 th anniversary celebrations, 1968. Second world war content, 19451989 content, second world war content. It was formed in 1949 as part of the hong kong defence force. Kai tak airport douglas dc 4 flying boat hong kong british aeroplanes airports baggage vehicles. This pages aim is to share updates of a new fuselage. A brief history of hong kong part 1 the early days ovolo hotels. Raf kai tak in 1950 written by micheal richards i was based at raf kai tak, from dec,1950 to may 1952, as an air wireless mechanic, posted to 80 fighter squadron.
It follows neil macgregors a history of the world in 100 objects as have other. The accompanying photographs, all taken at various times between may 1953 and august 1954 show something of every day life at the airstrip. I eventually arrived at 117 after having been sent to little sai wan by mistake, in february 1959. Raf kai tak occupied the area to the north east of the main runway which runs from the north west to the south east of the map and the camp extended beyond the end of the. Old pictures, old photos, kai tak airport, hong kong architecture, histo. Raf shatin airfield aerial images the industrial history. You can support us by purchasing something through our amazonurl, thanks. I filmed this in 1976 or 1977 before we closed kai tak and moved to sek kong.
My living quarters was situated just off of the main sha tin road and i was transported daily to the airstrip with its hangar and crew rooms. There are three historical buildings within the dih site. The source code for the wiki 2 extension is being checked by. Damaged in an accident at the end of the year, requiring major. In preparation for the transfer of sovereignty from the united kingdom to the peoples republic of china, the unit was disbanded on 31 march 1993.
List of raf stations, rmaf butterworth, raf kai tak, raf gan, shek kong airfield, sha tin airfield. Mar 12, 2021 in robbie shaws book on kai tak, the final decade, there are a number of images of helos with raf numbering and in one case a royal air force wessex. Air vicemarshal nigel baldwin is correct in his foreword to describe it as a pageturner. It was classified as grade 1 historic buildings on 16 april 2010. Historical cum social study on kowloon city district in connection. The old scenery of hong kong, hong kong, cosmos books ltd. For more information about this place, please click the view button above. This year the raf base was moved to the east of kai tak. Baseline conditions 1 general 2 former royal air force hangar. Hector dolly gray, the signals officer from raf kai tak and several other ranks is recorded in the diary of squadron leader donald hill see dr philip astons website relating to russells mathematical tables entry for saturday, th december 1941.
Group captain dan honley, commander raf hong kong, makes a. It is a very concise history of this base including the fall of hong kong and occupation years. Service routines consisted of daily, weekly and monthly inspections. Tide cove from 1961 until typhoon wanda decided to strike sha tin. On this day, lt maurice hynett and sub lt jack smith were programmed to fly two low level bombing runs on a nearby range. On 9 march, raf kai tak, a royal air force base, was established.
The hong kong government reached an agreement with the kai tak investment company to acquire the land with hkd 1,007,250. Royal air force stations in africa, royal air force stations in asia, royal air force stations in europe, royal air force stations in germany, royal air force stations in singapore, royal air force stations in the isle of man, royal air force. Heres an extract from the novel becky chan by jared mitchell set entirel. Author royal air force publisher production date 1972 place made kai tak, hong kong. However, an raf signals presence at the site in late 1941, comprising one officer, flt lt. The ex royal air force raf station kai tak was located at no. I had the pleasure of being posted to 20 indipendent recce flt. Two visiting raf phantom jet fighters land in kai tak airport on august 28, 1973.
We lost all but one of our aircraft and the unit was then moved to kai tak raf the above unit was army. Their business fails and the government takes control of their business, establishing an airfield at kai tak, which later becomes raf kai tak, and then hong. Lard factories in hk nauseating stench raf kai tak 1920s the. In october 1954 i was posted from raf kai tak to the army base at sha tin. In preparation for the transfer of sovereignty from the united kingdom to the peoples republic of china, the unit was disbanded on 31 march 1993 although technically an armed military unit, run on the. This is an extremely wellpresented and informative book.
History of royal air force kai tak imperial war museums. Raf kenley, raf third tactical air force, james fitzmaurice pilot, raf wattisham, raf kai tak, seletar airport, osman ali khan, asaf jah vii, vultee a31 vengeance, raf metheringham, airco dh. After the second world war, the squadron operated as a fighterreconnaissance unit as part of the far east air force, moving to raf kai tak, hong kong in 1949 still with spitfires. A detachment remained at raf kai tak and became no. I shot the film on an old super 8 cine camera and that. The existing buildings include the ex raf station kai tak headquarters building near kai yip estate, the officers quarters compound, raf officers mess, and the officers. The book also covers littleknown raf flying boat operations around north borneo where crews assisted local seaborne police to locate pirates and smugglers from the philippines. The squadron moved to raf kai tak, hong kong, in september 1945, when the war formally ended. Some of the cartoons i did which were hung on the walls of 10 squadrons crew room 1967 wonder if any are still in.
We can reunite you with your friends who served at raf kai tak and we have a wealth of information on different units, bases and ships in. In fact, the use of such craft in hong kong has a colorful history. Lard factories in hk nauseating stench raf kai tak 1920s. The route, a hong kongmacau service from kowloons old kai tak airport. The royal hong kong auxiliary air force was an auxiliary unit of the united kingdom royal air force, based in hong kong. In 1925, kai tak was a simple grassstrip airfield which served the british raf and enthusiasts from the hong kong aviation club.
I was based at raf kai tak, from dec,1950 to may 1952, as an air wireless mechanic, posted to 80 fighter squadron. The raf had always occupied the eastern end of kai tak next to todays richland and telford gardens whilst the civilian side was located at the western end. Power unit one rolls royce griffon engine that could develop 2700hp. Introduction kai tak airport in pro holdings government. The royal air force squadron is group captain dan honley right, commander raf hong kong, makes a salute as he hands over the transfer documents to david mcdonald, director of public works, at a handover ceremony of the raf s over 120acre kai tak site. Dec 03, 2014 by the 90s, booming hong kong was outgrowing kai tak s limited capacity. The exroyal air force raf station kai tak was located at no. Kai tak river improvement works wong tai sin section.
We are the largest and fastest growing community of uk forces veterans on the web with over 500,000 members. Raf kai tak was a royal air force station in hong kong, based at kai tak airport. Raf kai tak occupied the area to the north east of the main runway which runs from the north west to the south east of the map and the camp extended beyond the end of the runway almost as far as the dark hatched patch. Later there is an image of an s76 in vr rego when they became the gfs. The only fighter squadron in the raf that operated spitfire mark 24s. Raf kai tak project gutenberg selfpublishing ebooks. Civil aviation department kai tak airport 19251998. The suitability of using this land as an airfield was recognized and the first recorded flight from kai tak took place on lunar new years day in. Skyplaza, hong kong international airport, kai tak airport, raf kai tak, airport authority hong kong, shek kong airfield, sha tin airfield. The squadron headquarters was established at raf seletar sometimes referred to as seltar, on singapore island on 18 may 1946 and no.
Welcome to forces reunited the place where you can find information and friends from raf kai tak. On the opposite page to the wessex is an army scout. You could also do it yourself at any point in time. The adjacent land was given to the hk government which built and named the airport after them. Beautifully illustrated and historically important, this book provides the first factual, biographical account of post second world war sunderland flying boat operations in the far east where the author navigated raf flying boats of no.
Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders. Kai tak airport served as hong kongs international airport from 1925 to 1998, leaving. It took the name of the famous chinese classic novel the. Reoccupied after the liberation of hong kong as a joint rn raf station. Descending planes aiming for kai tak airport flew so close to. The airfield at kai tak was established in 1924 on reclaimed land in kowloon bay.
Object details category books related period second world war content, 19451989 content, second world war content creator alderson, g. The royal hong kong auxiliary air force rhkaaf was an auxiliary unit of the united kingdom royal air force, based in hong kong. British forces overseas hong kong military wiki fandom. It was classified as grade 1 historic buildings on 16. Between its aerodrome and kai tak bund was the early kai tak nullah. Prior to the closure of raf kai tak in the 1970s, kai tak airport and the airfield prior to it was divided into civilian and military use. Flown to renfrew on 300649 for loading on hms ocean for shipment to the far east. The raf flight operated a few land based aircraft as well as having spare aircraft for naval units. Accomodation was at kai tak and we travelled daily by garry up route twist to get to work.
The remaining reclamation was accomplished and an airport, known as the aerodrome at kai tak, was built. Sembawang air base, raf hal far, rmaf butterworth, raf celle, kibrit air base, raf second tactical air force, raf kai tak, royal air force germany, raf butzweilerhof, raf gan, raf ascension island, class a airfield. Noted on charge with the far east air force, raf seletar, singapore, on 250849. Jun 23, 2020 for those who like some light reading, at chics website, there are scanned images of a complete book about the history of raf kai tak from 1927 to 1971, written by g. The squadron moved to kenley the following year and reequipped with the dh. Each day started with a parade and inspection which, as an airman, was very foreign to me.
The airport was designed to handle 24 million passengers per year but, by 1996, kai tak was handling 29. Dr ho kai and mr au tak started an illfated building scheme. It opened as raf kai tak in 1927 and a concrete slipway was added in 1928. Apr 12, 2018 1930s kai tak airport at the coast of kai tak airport, a crane was used to lift raf fighter planes into and out of the water.
A description of flying boat operations from raf kai tak elaborates on how crews responded rapidly to assist any aircraft in distress over the south china sea. Raf kai tak was a royal air force station in hong kong. Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from wikipedia or other free sources online. Rafair 1001 at raf kai tak, hong kong heading homeward. World heritage encyclopedia, the aggregation of the largest online encyclopedias available, and the most definitive. Squadron at raf kai tak to broaden my experience, finally returning to the united kingdom for demobilisation in march 1955. The raf flight operated a few land based aircraft as. Detachments from the squadron however were still located and kept busy at a wide range of airfields across the southeast asian theatre of war.
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