[
    {
        "id": 206354,
        "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-1971",
        "page_number": 171,
        "title": "RAS-1971",
        "content_text": "# HISTORY OF MILITARY VOLUNTEERS IN H.K.\n\n155\n\nequipment borrowed from the military had to be returned. Numbers fell, and by 1881 it practically ceased to exist. After Hennessy left, an appeal was made for government assistance, and Marsh, the administrator, agreed. The Volunteer Corps was disbanded, and a new Volunteer Corps consisting of two companies of Artillery was formed in November 1882, on a new basis which gave the volunteers more official standing.9\n\nThe Volunteer Ordinance No. 18 of 1882 regulated the reorganised body.\n\nThe second and third Hong Kong Volunteer Corps spanned the period in which a renewed interest was taken in the volunteer movement in Britain. There had always been volunteer forces in Britain, especially during the Great War with France 1793-1814, but these then fell almost entirely into abeyance until 1859 when, because of a national panic arising from the hostile tone of the French Army and Government, and what was considered by many to be the defenceless state of the country, they were revived chiefly as rifle volunteers but partly as light horse, artillery and engineers.10 The large Volunteer Force that was formed at that time continued in being, gave valuable help to\n\n9 Endacott, p. 179.\n\n10 Sir J. W. Fortescue's County Lieutenancies and the Army gives a full account of the various forces raised at this period. More recently, an excellent account of one county's volunteer units is given in C. T. Atkinson's The Royal Hampshire Regiment, Volume 1, up to 1914, (the University Press, Glasgow, 1950, at pp. 375-377 and 430-435). Mr. Atkinson's account provides interesting background and comparison for the present article. He states that \"like the original Volunteers of 1793-1814 the new corps provided their own arms and equipment and served at their own cost, except if called out for actual service. Volunteers were therefore normally of some substance, well-paid artisans, shopkeepers, clerks or even small professional men or manufacturers; people who normally stood aloof from national defence, they did not join the Militia and were equally unlikely to enlist in the Regulars or to aspire to a commission.\" Originally formed in many independent single-company corps, the volunteers were gradually converted into definite battalions and, later (1888) into volunteer infantry brigades. As with volunteer corps everywhere, opinions differed as to their need and usefulness, particularly in time of peace and, as Atkinson says, \"it wanted enthusiasm, determination and devotion to carry on with the volunteer movement in those discouraging days, (in the 1870s and 1880s) and the country owes much to the officers and men who persevered.\" In Britain, the volunteers were converted into the Territorial Force on 1st April, 1908 and organised on the pattern of the Regulars into divisions and yeomanry brigades. Like the volunteers, the Territorial Force was specifically designed for home defence.",
        "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1971.txt",
        "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/z029vt43g",
        "rank": 0
    },
    {
        "id": 214444,
        "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-1998",
        "page_number": 302,
        "title": "RAS-1998",
        "content_text": "269\n\nare formed in stepped voussoirs. The first floor verandah is divided into bays by rusticated granite pillars which support the entablature and parapet wall to the roof. Ground and first floor verandah balustrades consist of heavy moulded copings on pierced and mortised infill panels with heavy plinths supported on moulded horizontal cornices emphasizing the storey heights. Flights of entrance steps lead up to the ground floor verandahs on both sides. The 1935 addition comprising the front entrance, dining room, and anteroom is built in similar style but is three storeys in height due to the sloping ground. There is a five-centred elliptical arch and a panel with the Royal coat of arms over the main entrance. On the parapet wall above there is a plaque engraved '1935.' Internally there are several interesting fireplace surrounds and period joinery but little else of architectural interest. Evidence in the P.R.O. indicates that the present infill panels to the verandahs may not be original and that the roof originally was pitched with gable ends and had several large chimney stacks projecting above the ridge. Part of the original roof still remains. The Officers' Mess is a Grade 2 historical building.\n\nThe last British Army Units at the barracks were 28 Squadron, the Gurkha Transport Regiment, also 247 Gurkha Signal Squadron. The United Services Recreation Club occupied part of the site, and 10 Intelligence and Security Company occupied the old Colony Club building, having moved in on the handover of their former site, Number 3 Camp, Argyle Street, to the Hong Kong Government in 1977. Prior to occupation by the Gurkhas, the barracks were usually occupied by British infantry battalions. In recent years occupying British units have included the First Battalion Lancashire Fusiliers (1967), First Battalion The Royal Welch Fusiliers (1969/71), First Battalion The Black Watch (1971/73), and the First Battalion The Royal Hampshire Regiment (1974/76). The 25th Field Regiment, Royal Artillery, is also recorded at Gun Club in 1948. Some of the earliest troops to be stationed in Kowloon were the 99th Regiment (now the Second Wiltshires) and the Second Royal Welch Fusiliers, some of whom were quartered at Gun Club upon their arrival on January 13, 1899. Other Kowloon based units included the 91st Argylls (1888), First Battalion The King's Shropshire Light Infantry (1892) and the First Battalion the King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry.",
        "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1998.txt",
        "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/1g05n0794",
        "rank": 0
    }
]