265
THE STORY OF GUN CLUB HILL BARRACKS
R.G. HORSNELL
Anyone who walks or drives along Austin Road, Kowloon, past the Kowloon Bowling Club towards Chatham Road, cannot fail to notice the imposing entrance to Gun Club Hill Barracks.
The old cannon on its granite base at one side of the iron gates guarded by a sentry, and the massive granite retaining wall resembling the wall of an unassailable fortress, make a fitting entrance to the barracks. Yet it did not always look like this. The granite retaining wall was built when the cutting for Austin Road was made, and the main entrance to the barracks originally was from Chatham Road. In the old photograph one can see what the entrance looked like at the turn of the century. Colonnaded buildings stand on the site of the present WOS and Sergeants' Mess, a building in the centre stands on the site of the present Record Office and Training Centre, and a building on the right is where the present Officers' Mess now stands. This building is still there although somewhat remodelled with a front entrance wing added in 1935.
It is not known for certain when the barracks were established, but in early 1860, before Kowloon was ceded to Britain after the China Wars, several areas had already been mapped out as possible sites for military barracks. A memorandum from the Secretary of War, dated 1860, stated "The necessity for increased accommodation for the garrison has long been apparent to the military authorities, and the acquisition of a healthy site like that of Kowloon, points at once in the direction in which accommodation must be found." One of the sites which was mapped out was Whitfield Barracks, named after Maj. Gen. H.W. Whitfield, Maj. Gen. China, Hong Kong and Straits Settlements (1869-1874) to the west of Nathan Road in Tsimshatsui. Another site was Gun Club Hill, probably one of the nine hills which gave Kowloon its name. The site then encompassed the Kowloon Cricket Club ground, but the present 25 acre site is bounded by Chatham Road, Austin Road, Jordan Path, Jordan Road and Gascoigne Road, this last road named after another CBF - Maj. Gen. Sir W.J. Gascoigne KCMG, Maj. Gen. China and Hong Kong (1898-1903).
265
THE STORY OF GUN CLUB HILL BARRACKS
R.G. HORSNELL
Anyone who walks or drives along Austin Road, Kowloon, past the Kowloon Bowling Club towards Chatham Road, cannot fail to no- tice the imposing entrance to Gun Club Hill Barracks.
The old cannon on its granite base at one side of the iron gates guarded by a sentry, and the massive granite retaining wall resembling the wall of an unassailable fortress, make a fitting entrance to the barracks. Yet it did not always look like this. The granite retaining wall was built when the cutting for Austin Road was made, and the main entrance to the barracks originally was from Chatham Road. In the old photograph one can see what the entrance looked like at the turn of the century. Colonnaded buildings stand on the site of the present WOS and Sergeants' Mess, a building in the centre stands on the site of the present Record Office and Training Centre, and a building on the right is where the present Officers' Mess now stands. This building is still there although somewhat remodelled with a front entrance wing added in 1935.
It is not known for certain when the barracks were established, but in early 1860, before Kowloon was ceded to Britain after the China Wars, several areas had already been mapped out as possible sites for military barracks. A memorandum from the Secretary of War, dated 1860, stated "The necessity for increased accommodation for the gar- rison has long been apparent to the military authorities, and the acqui- sition of a healthy site like that of Kowloon, points at once in the direc- tion in which accommodation must be found." One of the sites which was mapped out was Whitfield Barracks, named after Maj. Gen. H.W. Whitfield, Maj. Gen. China, Hong Kong and Straits Settlements (1869- 1874) to the west of Nathan Road in Tsimshatsui. Another site was Gun Club Hill, probably one of the nine hills which gave Kowloon its name. The site then encompassed the Kowloon Cricket Club ground, but the present 25 acre site is bounded by Chatham Road, Austin Road, Jordan Path, Jordan Road and Gascoigne Road, this last road named after another CBF - Maj. Gen. Sir W.J. Gascoigne KCMG, Maj. Gen. China and Hong Kong (1898-1903).
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