Exhibition follows research that came up with more names of men who defended city from invaders than those already remembered on plaque
DANNY LEEdanny.lee@scmp.com
PUBLISHED : Sunday, 08 November, 2015, 3:10am
UPDATED : Sunday, 08 November, 2015, 9:51am
Andre Cheng (left) and Clive Tsang prepare for the exhibition.
Diocesan Boys' School will unveil an exhibition today to celebrate more than 50 "old boys", many of whom volunteered for service and died in the Japanese invasion of Hong Kong or who fought overseas.
The exhibition comes as commemorations are held around the world to mark Remembrance Sunday.
The Mong Kok school's efforts are part of two years of research to fill a gap in the 146-year-old institution's history - the Japanese occupation of the city. Originally, 46 old boys' names were remembered on a plaque, but research has come up with more names. A total of 51 students and 10 teachers who fought in the battle have been profiled in the exhibition.
School historian Kelvin Lau Chi-to said much about the soldiers remained unknown to current students and staff.
Among old boys who volunteered to take part in the defence of Hong Kong was Donald Anderson, one of the city's first Eurasian judges and brother of Dr Joyce Symons, who served in the Legislative and Executive councils in the 1970s. Researchers found 10 more staff and students who fought and who until now have remained unrecognised by the school.
"We discovered most of these old boys were Eurasians," Lau said. "For most of them, because of their parenthood and love for Hong Kong, they didn't have a homeland, and when it came to the war, the old boys felt they had an obligation to defend the place and they volunteered to fight, and many of them died for it."
At least 27 of the 51 soldiers died within days of each other during the Battle of Hong Kong, and some of them were brothers and brothers-in-law.
Among those who died was William Gittins, the son-in-law of prominent Hongkonger Sir Robert Hotung, and Oswald Chan, the son of Chan Kai-ming, who was one of the wealthiest people in the city at the time.
Alan Pong Sung-hin, one of the exhibition's researchers, said: "Outside our school hall there is a war memorial, a roll of honour with 46 names on it. That memorial opened in 1949 but … no one in the school conducted any real research about our alumni's background and stories.
"The exhibition will take pride of place inside the school's relatively new museum."
A commemoration service will be held in the school chapel at 11am today. The exhibition, "Our Forty-Six: From Schoolboys to Defenders", is open to the public today from 10.30am to 5pm.
http://m.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/education-community/article/1876657/school-exhibition-honours-wartime-old-boys-after