Chapter 17: Local Forces
VOLUNTEER FORCES
VOLUNTEER Service in Hong Kong began with the formation on 30 May 1854 of the Hong Kong Volunteers. Between 1854 and 1920 volunteering fluctuated considerably, chiefly in relation to the personality and enthusiasm of successive Commanding Officers. In 1878 the Hong Kong Volunteers were re-named the Hong Kong Volunteer Corps; in 1917 their name was changed to the Hong Kong Defence Corps; and in 1920 the title was changed once more to the Hong Kong Volunteer Defence Corps.
The Corps mobilized about 1,400 men to meet the Japanese attack on the Colony on 8 December 1941, and fought with the Regular Forces against overwhelming odds until ordered to surrender on 25 December 1941. For their gallantry in battle and subsequent escapes from Japanese prison camps in Hong Kong, members of the Corps were awarded one D.S.O., five M.C.s, two M.B.E.s, one D.C.M., and six M.M.s; eighteen members were mentioned in despatches.
After the war the Corps was reconstituted on 1 March 1949, as the Hong Kong Defence Force, to which name, two years later, the prefix Royal was awarded by His late Majesty King George VI in recognition of the part played by the Hong Kong Volunteer Defence Corps in the defence of Hong Kong.
The Royal Hong Kong Defence Force is constituted by Ordinance and is a combined force comprising a naval, an army and an air force element. Men and women of different races and nationalities serve side by side in each unit. The Force is composed partly of volunteers and partly of con- scripts enrolled after the introduction of compulsory service in 1951. The main units of the Force are the Force Headquarter Units (consisting of an Artillery Battery and various specialist units and officers), the Hong Kong Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve, the Hong Kong Regiment, the Home Guard, the Hong Kong Auxiliary Air Force, the
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