HISTORY OF MILITARY VOLUNTEERS IN H.K.
153
way to the Volunteer Ordinance No. 10 of 1933 which was replaced, in its turn, by Ordinance No. 63 of 1948. The present Force is constituted under the Royal Hong Kong Defence Force Ordinance Chapter 199 of the Laws of Hong Kong, Ordinance No. 25 of 1951, modified by subsequent amendments.3 Besides being established by law, all volunteers have also been subject to rules and regulations provided for in the main Ordinances,
Besides serving as a reminder to the present day volunteer that he and his predecessors have always operated within the laws of the Colony, these Ordinances and Regulations are a valuable source of information about volunteering over the past century and more. They are milestones in the growth and development of the Hong Kong Volunteers and provide the essential framework of accurate facts on to which information from other sources can be fitted.4 These include annual inspection reports for part of the period, personal reminiscences, newspaper reports, old photographs and memorials and the wide range of material included in the pages of the pre-war Year Book of the Hong Kong Volunteer Defence Corps, 1934-40 and of the post-war Royal Hong Kong Defence Force magazine, The Volunteer. The latter has appeared every year since 1950, with a special edition in 1954 to commemorate the centenary of volunteering in Hong Kong. The war period 1941-45 has been covered in Major Evan Stewart's account which has been supplemented by other publications dealing with the fall of Hong Kong. Material from these different sources has been used in writing this brief
3 Since this article was prepared the Royal Hong Kong Defence Force Ordinance has been repealed and replaced by the Royal Hong Kong Regiment Ordinance and Regulations. Legal Supplements No. 1 of 18th December, 1970 and No. 2 of 24th December, 1970 in the Hong Kong Government Gazette refer.
4 They are to be found in the various editions of the Laws of Hong Kong and of the Government Gazette.
5 Only those for the years 1893-1907 are available in Hong Kong, printed in Sessional Papers 1894-1908. None of the earlier or later reports are available in the Colony.
6 A Record of the Actions of the Hong Kong Volunteer Defence Corps in the Battle for Hong Kong, December 1941, Hong Kong, Ye Olde Printerie, Ltd. Other sources include the official History of the Second World War - The War against Japan, Volume I edited by Major-General S. Woodburn Kirby (London, H.M.S.O. 1957), John Luff's The Hidden Years (Hong Kong, South China Morning Post, Ltd., 1967) and Tim Carew's The Fall of Hong Kong (London, Anthony Blond, Ltd., 1961).
HISTORY OF MILITARY VOLUNTEERS IN H.K.
153
way to the Volunteer Ordinance No. 10 of 1933 which was re- placed, in its turn, by Ordinance No. 63 of 1948. The present Force is constituted under the Royal Hong Kong Defence Force Ordinance Chapter 199 of the Laws of Hong Kong, Ordinance No. 25 of 1951, modified by subsequent amendments.3 Besides being established by law, all volunteers have also been subject to rules and regulations provided for in the main Ordinances,
Besides serving as a reminder to the present day volunteer that he and his predecessors have always operated within the laws of the Colony, these Ordinances and Regulations are a valuable source of information about volunteering over the past century and more. They are milestones in the growth and deve- lopment of the Hong Kong Volunteers and provide the essential framework of accurate facts on to which information from other sources can be fitted.4 These include annual inspection reports for part of the period, personal reminiscences, newspaper reports, old photographs and memorials and the wide range of material included in the pages of the pre-war Year Book of the Hong Kong Volunteer Defence Corps, 1934-40 and of the post-war Royal Hong Kong Defence Force magazine, The Volunteer. The latter has appeared every year since 1950, with a special edition in 1954 to commemorate the centenary of volunteering in Hong Kong. The war period 1941-45 has been covered in Major Evan Stewart's account which has been supplemented by other publications dealing with the fall of Hong Kong. Material from these different sources has been used in writing this brief
3 Since this article was prepared the Royal Hong Kong Defence Force Ordinance has been repealed and replaced by the Royal Hong Kong Regi- ment Ordinance and Regulations. Legal Supplements No. 1 of 18th Decem- ber, 1970 and No. 2 of 24th December, 1970 in the Hong Kong Government Gazette refer.
4 They are to be found in the various editions of the Laws of Hong Kong and of the Government Gazette.
5 Only those for the years 1893-1907 are available in Hong Kong, printed in Sessional Papers 1894-1908. None of the earlier or later reports are available in the Colony.
6 A Record of the Actions of the Hong Kong Volunteer Defence Corps in the Battle for Hong Kong, December 1941, Hong Kong, Ye Olde Printerie, Ltd. Other sources include the official History of the Second World War -The War against Japan, Volume I edited by Major-General S. Woodburn Kirby (London, H.M.S.O. 1957), John Luff's The Hidden Years (Hong Kong, South China Morning Post, Ltd., 1967) and Tim Carew's The Fall of Hong Kong (London, Anthony Blond, Ltd., 1961).
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