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D.A. GRIFFITHS AND S.P. LAU
records to indicate that the Botanic Gardens were preserved as had been the case at Singapore where a senior Japanese officer took over the role of Director and where botanical research continued throughout the occupation.
Following the surrender of the Japanese military administration a rapid rehabilitation scheme was established whereby rubbish was removed from the garden site and serious attempts were made to re-establish the garden to its former appearance. In 1946 the internal restructuring of various Hong Kong Government departments resulted in the division of the original Botanical and Forestry departments into a Forestry Department and a separate Gardens Department.
At this stage there was no superintendent with overall supervision of the gardens but in 1947 Fr. T.F. Ryan, S.J. was appointed Acting Superintendent. He reported to Government in that year that:
"Returfing had to be done on a large scale, so as the replanting of flowering shrubs and trees. The gradual return of the Gardens to something approaching its pre-war appearance won favourable comments on many occasions.”
Mr. R.E. Dean assumed the post of Superintendent of Gardens in January 1948 and work continued on the restoration of the Gardens. The entrance gates and railings around the grounds were re-erected. Forty granite garden seats were replaced. The extensive earth mounds formed by the Japanese were cleared and the formal layout of garden beds enhanced the appearance of the Gardens. In 1949 the superstructure of the Plant and Fern House was completed, the Aviary restored in 1951 and the Mammal House restored in 1953.
The Herbarium collection, which had been shipped to Penang prior to the Japanese Occupation in 1940, was sent to the Singapore Botanical Garden by the Japanese for safe keeping. The collection was recalled to Hong Kong from Singapore in 1948 and the 40,000 specimens were first housed in the Supper Room of Gov-