13 Responses to “sai wan war cemetery: unknown soldier”

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1. Shawn W says:

   July 13, 2008 at 12:44 pm

   How sad!

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2. Stevo says:

   July 13, 2008 at 3:00 pm

   Shawn: Yes, very. The men that defended Hong Kong were deemed “expendable” as was the colony itself.

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3. Unguided says:

   July 13, 2008 at 9:24 pm

   I have hardly felt sad or frightened for that matter, in the cemeteries. Maybe it’s because I have no Christian background. They are one of the places I usually find peace and time to contemplate. Yet I can feel it miles away, and it is bitterness.

   Unguideds last blog post..The Bold and Ugly

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4. Health NUt says:

   July 13, 2008 at 11:16 pm

   I am a Christian and I find cemeteries calming, peaceful and contemplative. So I don’t think it has to do with being a Christian or not.

   Is this WAN CHAI or Chai Wan?

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5. Nomadic Matt says:

   July 14, 2008 at 12:06 am

   Interesting photo. I like how the second tombstone in the back creates a sort of mirror image.

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6. Nomadic Matt says:

   July 14, 2008 at 12:06 am

   how come comment luv doesn’t work for me anymore!

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7. Stevo says:

   July 14, 2008 at 4:37 am

   Unguided: It is easy to be bitter about such places. I look at the battle and deaths as a supreme effort made in a the harshest of circumstances. The men did their best against impossible odds. Being bitter, I tell myself, sullies their sacrifice.

   Health NUt: It’s Chai Wan, on the north-east corner of Honk Kong Island. The names are confusing. Wan Chai is the north-center of Hong Kong Island.

   Matt: Thanks. CommentLuv is extremely fickle. Sometimes it works, sometimes not. You could try to use your Feedburner address instead of your site addy.

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8. Shawn W says:

   July 14, 2008 at 11:30 am

   Unguided, it’s not the cemetery I find sad. Death is simply a fact of life. It’s the lack of caring. Those were people, with a mothers and fathers, maybe a wives and children, yet they didn’t even rate a name on their tombstones.
   It seems like a metaphor for everything that’s wrong (and getting worse) with the world today.

   Dang it, Stevo! You’re going to get me into a good old-fashioned rant, yet.

   Shawn Ws last blog post..The Atomic Fur-Ball

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9. Stevo says:

   July 14, 2008 at 11:41 am

   Shawn: There is a memorial wall at the cemetery with a list of the dead from the battle.

   From Wikipedia: Other than those died in defense of Hong Kong, the remains of POWs died in Taiwan were brought to Sai Wan for burial as well. There are now 1,528 casualties of World War II buried or commemorated at Sai Wan War Cemetery, 444 of the burials are unidentified. In addition, there are special memorials to 16 World War II casualties buried in Kowloon whose graves were lost. There are also 77 war graves of other nationalities from this period, the majority of them Dutch. The cemetery also contains special memorials to 12 World War I casualties buried in Kowloon whose graves have since been lost.

   Stevos last blog post..temple stairs

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10. Unguided says:

    July 15, 2008 at 4:11 am

    Shawn: And that is exactly why I felt bitter. And I am always in for a good rant.

    Unguideds last blog post..Remembering Anne Frank

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11. Eddie Walsh says:

    August 12, 2009 at 12:23 am

    I visited this cemetery when on holiday to Hong Kong some 30 years ago. My father was asked by a work colleague to try to find the grave of his father who was killed out there, which we managed to do. It is an idyllic setting where many souls can be truly be at rest. I still remember the inscription on the headstone :

    ‘Out of a world of suffering into a haven of peace’

    It really is a haven of peace.

    Reply

Trackbacks/Pingbacks

1. Photograph: Graves and Mountains, Hong Kong | asian ramblings says:

   August 8, 2008 at 10:21 am

   [...] Heng Fa Chuen, next to Chai Wan on Hong Kong Island’s northeast shore is home to Lei Yun Mun Fort and the Hong Kong Museum of Coastal Defence. It was this fort that valiantly tried to stop the Japanese invasion of Hong Kong Island in December 1941. The fort fell on December 19. Many of its defenders are buried at the nearby Sai Wan War Cemetery. [...]

   Reply
2. remembering the fallen | asian ramblings says:

   December 4, 2008 at 5:59 am

   [...] Battle of Hong Kong saw the first Canadians to fight and die in World War II. Most are buried the Sai Wan War Cemetery in Chai Wan, on Hong Kong [...]

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