World War II - The Fall of Hong KongNarrativeOn December 8, 1941 at 8:00 am, just six hours after the Pearl Harbor disaster, the Japanese launched a devastating attack to the almost defenseless Hong Kong. This attack, however, was not followed by a declaration of war and therefore violated international law. The two opposing sides were: the British, Canadian and Indian forces defending Hong Kong (led by Major General Christopher Maltby) with a contingent of only 14,000 soldiers, against the 52,000 stronger and more war-trained Japanese soldiers (led by Lieutenant General Takishi Sakai). The reason why the Japanese attacked Hong Kong was because Winston Churchill used it as his main outpost in Asia, and it was useful for him to repel attacks from the Japanese. However, many chiefs of staff in London had previously called it an “undesirable military commitment”. But they could not withdraw British troops because this would weaken their already weakened surveillance of Asia. The first attack on Hong Kong occurred at 8:00 am on December 8, the Japanese bombed Kai Tak Airport. In the devastating attack two of the three Vickers Vildebeest and the two Walrus Amphibian submarines were destroyed, leaving Hong Kong without any air defense. The only aircraft remaining were two of the aircraft used by the air unit of the Hong Kong Volunteer Defense Corp. After the attack on the airport, two of the three destroyers were ordered to leave Hong Kong for Singapore, leaving only HMS Thracian, a few gunboats and motor torpedo boats to defend Hong Kong by sea. On 9 December the defense was pushed back to the "Gindrinkers Line". The Gindrinkers...... middle of paper ...... the Japanese attack ferociously south towards the Stanley Peninsula (the least protected part of Hong Kong). Slowly General Maltby's troops ran out of ammunition and fresh water and victory against the incoming Japanese wave was nearly impossible. Meanwhile on the western part of the island a small Canadian was trying to protect the Wong Nei Chong Gap. However they were unsuccessful and the Japanese had to hold back too large a force. After this defeat General Maltby sent all the reserves he had to attack Wong Nei Chon Gap, however after six days of fierce fighting they were destroyed and the battle ended abruptly on Christmas Day. At that point General Maltby thought that continuing to fight would lead to unnecessary slaughter and would be futile. The surrender took place at 6pm and the 6500 survivors were led into captivity where many thousands more would die.