The Jubilee Battery
It took me a while, with many confusing turns, before I found the Jubilee Battery. For there is only one ruins of the battery that is accessible by proper roadways. The Jubilee Battery’s Gun Emplacement 2 lies within the University of Chicago Francis and Rose Yuen Campus in Hong Kong on Victoria Road.
The Jubilee Battery’s Role in WWII
During the latter half of the 1930s, the British determined that “if the defence on the mainland were overcome, and retirement to the Island of Hong Kong took place,” there was such need to build a battery on the northwestern coast of Hong Kong Island. The British then built the Jubilee Battery to serve this purpose. It replaced the former Mount Davis Practice Battery of the 1900s. Together with the long range Mount Davis Battery up on nearby Mount Davis, the Jubilee Battery was part of the Western Fire Command. Its specific role was for counter bombardment.
The Jubilee Battery had engaged in a battle in the defence of Hong Kong against the Japanese invasion of 1941. The 26th Coast Battery, 12th Coast Regiment, Royal Artillery was in command here. On 11th December, 1941, both the Jubilee Battery and Aberdeen Battery directed fire against the Japanese attempting to land on Lamma Island. As a result of this battle, this battery and the Mount Davis Battery sustained multiple bombing from the Japanese forces. Before Hong Kong’s surrender on 25th December, 1941, the officers blew up this facility, This would prevent its use by the enemy after.
The Jubilee Battery acquired its name from the main road above, as it used to be Jubilee Road. The main road is now Victoria Road, but the name of the battery remains.
Layout of the Gun Emplacements
The Jubilee Battery consists of three 6-inch gun emplacements. Two of the guns came from the nearby Belcher’s Battery. The other one came from the Pak Sha Wan Battery.
According to historical descriptions on-site,
Each emplacement consists of a circular reinforced concrete structure for mounting the coastal gun, and adjacent Above-ground Magazine and Underground Magazine for the protected storage of shells and cartridges.
The layout of the three Gun Emplacements takes advantage of the terrain in order to achieve the widest possible arc-of-fire from right to left. The guns were positioned in such a way that the blast of a firing gun at one Emplacement would not endanger the crews at the other Emplacements.
It is of some importance that the outer curved wall of Gun Emplacement 2 was demolished due to a mistaken assessment of its role. According to descriptions on-site, “an initial site investigation in 2013-2015 led to the conclusion that the outer curved wall of the No.2 Gun Emplacement was part of a later-added servants’ quarters.” As a result, this outer curved wall was demolished during the construction of the University. Together with the inner curved wall, the outer curved wall was meant to form a protected corridor for the gunners that carried, stored, and delivered ammunitions. It served an important role in the defence of Hong Kong during WWII. The best that can be done now is to just conserve the footprint of the wall.
Photos: These ten rectangular storage recesses were “expense lockers,” for separate storage of shells and cartridges.
Photos: Left – The boundary marker for a military structure; Right – Above-ground Magazine with 3 compartments, for separate storage of fuzes, shells and cartridges. Mental ventilators above maintain a stable environment in Hong Kong’s humid and hot weather.
Gun Emplacements 1 and 3
The layout of Gun Emplacements 1 and 3 are very similar to Gun Emplacement 2 as described above.
Despite my best efforts, I was not able to find my way to Gun Emplacements 1 and 3, which, together, take up a much larger area of the defence system of the Jubilee Battery. They lie further west and southwest of the restored Gun Emplacement 2, just about 20 to 30 metres above sea level. Besides the gun emplacements and the magazines, the system also consisted of tunnels and a searchlight shelter.
According to Ko Tim Keung & Jason Wordie, “some areas of the battery lie within a restricted area, and the extant ruins outside the restricted area are very heavily overgrown. This location should only be visited by the very keen and adventurous.” At 143.
Early sources (dating the 1990s and early 2000s) suggest that there is a path that connects to Victoria Road. However, the government has closed the road access to Gun Emplacements 1 and 3. That explains why I could not find my way.
In terms of heritage conservation, neither has the government given the Jubilee Battery a grading as historic buildings.
A Walk in the Vicinity
Besides the Jubilee Battery, part of the structures of Block C are also publicly accessible nearby. Block B and Block C are both part of the Jubilee Battery. Block B lies within the University structure. During the turbulent times of 1960s, the Hong Kong Police used them for group confinement. They kept the leftist elements of Hong Kong here to prevent spying against the British administration. For some time in the 1990s the police used it for the protection of witnesses. The metal grille enclosure remains a testament to the stark reality of police practices even during the British times.
Finally, I also took a further walk to visit the Sai Wan Swimming Shed nearby. Another suggestion is to walk up Mount Davis to see the Mount Davis Battery.
Photo: Across the street from the University of Chicago Campus, this is the road leading to the Mount Davis Battery.
How to Get There
Bus Routes 1, 43M, 47P, and 971 stop at the Mount Davis Path stop. Once off the bus, enter the public areas of the University of Chicago campus. Access to Gun Emplacement 2 is open to the public year-round, perhaps subject to Covid restrictions, if there is any. Walk through the open area, and head toward the direction of the ocean. You will have a bird’s eye view over the Jubilee Battery Gun Emplacement 2 there.
The university does offer a tour of the other areas of historic interests within its building. That includes the infamous detention center with its cells, that is Block B. Visitors can sign up for it normally, but I am very sure that has ceased due to the pandemic.
Sources
Historical Descriptions on-site.
The best and most thorough discussion I managed to find online of Gun Emplacements 1 and 3 are gwulo.com on the Jubilee Battery, here. However, the government has closed access to the entry path that this entry shows.
Ko Tim-keung & Jason Wordie, Ruins of War: A Guide to Hong Kong’s Battlefields and Wartime Sites (1996) at 143 – 147.
The University of Hong Kong, Finding a Partly Forgotten Urban Gem, Decoding Some Enigmas of the Jubilee Battery, 25 April 2001.