[
    {
        "id": 216498,
        "series_id": 26,
        "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine",
        "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊",
        "series_use_hku_proxy": false,
        "document_key": "RAS-2003",
        "page_number": 257,
        "title": "RAS-2003",
        "content_text": "208\n\nAfrica in 1917. Apparently, in October 1993, a squad of Queen's Gurkha Engineers went up to the Peak one night with a truck and a crane and purloined the Middlesex Boulder.\n\nNot everyone used the word outrage, as did Booth. Nevertheless, the general reaction among Hong Kong citizens who take an interest in local history was that this fascinating and moving colonial memorial belonged to Hong Kong and to take it away was 'naughty' to say the least. There were others, however, who felt it would be better cared for by the Middlesex Regiment in England.\n\nIn 2001, the Boulder was spotted by Royal Asiatic Society Hong Kong Branch members outside the National Army Museum in Chelsea. This is 'formally and legally the Museum of the Middlesex Regiment and stands within the county of Middlesex.' I wrote to the Director of the Museum, the late Ian G. Robertson MA FMA, who was helpful. He pointed out that he did not have a hand in moving the Stone and did not know the underlying circumstances. I, in turn, pointed out that the plaque on the Boulder was difficult to read and needed cleaning. Mr. Robertson responded by saying care needed to be taken not to use destructive techniques. He did, however, say the intention was to move the Boulder inside the Museum at a later date.\n\nIn 2003, I was informed by RAS members that the Boulder had indeed been moved inside and placed in a permanent gallery. It is said to have been donated to the National Army Museum by the Middlesex Regimental Association. I was able to visit the Museum on 3 June 2004. The original plaque, which is still on the Boulder, reads:\n\nThis stone memorial was erected by Lieutenant John Ward, Commanding Officer, in memory of those men of the 25th Battalion The Middlesex Regiment who died when the troopship TYNDAREUS struck a German mine off Cape Agulhas, South Africa, on 6th February 1917. The Battalion had embarked in England and were en route to Hong Kong to carry out garrison duties. There is no doubt that the exemplary conduct of all ranks after the accident contributed in considerable measure to the Master's ability to prevent the ship from sinking with further loss of life.\n\nI am pleased to be able to report that the Stone is now well lit and",
        "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-2003.txt",
        "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/2v242g390",
        "rank": 0
    },
    {
        "id": 216499,
        "series_id": 26,
        "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine",
        "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊",
        "series_use_hku_proxy": false,
        "document_key": "RAS-2003",
        "page_number": 258,
        "title": "RAS-2003",
        "content_text": "209\n\nthe original plaque, with the words as above, has been cleaned and is easy to read,\n\nA new, interesting information panel now also accompanies the exhibit. It reads as follows:\n\nSteam Ship Tyndareus\n\nIn 1916 the 25th (Garrison) Battalion, the Duke of Cambridge's Own (Middlesex Regiment) was ordered to proceed to Hong Kong from Aldershot. The Battalion was to be taken as far as Durban by S S Tyndareus, a 7058-tonne vessel with a crew of 108 owned by Alfred Holt and Company of Liverpool which was making her maiden voyage. Having sailed from Glasgow, the Tyndareus embarked the battalion, 1005 strong, and left Devonport on 22 December 1916.\n\nAt 6.55pm on February 1917, off Cape Agulhas, 173 Km south-east of Cape Town, the vessel struck a German mine which exploded creating an 84 square metre hole in the starboard side and bottom of the ship. The Tyndareus heaved over, began to ship water and started to go down by the head. No lives were lost in the explosion or the subsequent evacuation and the vessel managed to reach Simontown two days later.\n\nThe Tyndareus received partial repairs in South Africa, served through the Second World War and was not broken up until 1960. The Battalion had recovered sufficiently from its ordeal to form a guard of honour at the opening of the South African Parliament on 16 February, and after a further stop in Singapore the 25th reached Hong Kong on 1 April 1917. Here the Battalion's commanding Officer commissioned the erection of a memorial, sited on the Peak of Hong Kong Island, to commemorate the exemplary conduct displayed by his men when the ship was mined.\n\nAn inscribed metal plaque was later added to the rock which erroneously stated that it was erected in memory of the men who died in the accident - perhaps a confusion with the wreck of HM Troopship Birkenhead in 1852 which claimed 445 lives.",
        "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-2003.txt",
        "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/2v242g390",
        "rank": 0
    }
]