Stanley Fort

Stanley Fort is a military installation on the south side of Hong Kong Island. Built originally to serve the British Armed Forces, it now houses the Hong Kong garrison of the Chinese People's Liberation Army Ground Force. It has also been used as Kai Chi Children's Centre and the Aberdeen Rehabilitation Centre.^[1]

Stanley Fort
Hong Kong
Former site of the Fort in October 2013
Stanley Fort Location within Hong Kong
Coordinates	22.201°N 114.218°E / 22.201; 114.218
Type	Barracks
Site history
Built	circa 1841
Built for	War Office
In use	1841-Present
Garrison information
Occupants	People's Liberation Army Ground Force

Stanley Fort
Traditional Chinese	赤柱炮台
Transcriptions Yue: Cantonese Yale Romanization Chek chyúh paau tòih Jyutping Cek3 cyu5 paau3 toi4

History

The fort, which occupied a site of 128 hectares, was founded in 1841 on the Stanley Peninsula at the southern side of Hong Kong Island. It had barracks and officers quarters. Coastal artillery batteries, such as Stanley Battery and Bluff Head Battery protected the southern approaches. During the Battle of Hong Kong on December 25, 1941, the fort was where British and Canadian troops mounted a final counterattack against Japanese positions at St Stephen's College. The fallen servicemen were buried in the nearby Stanley Military Cemetery.^[2]

The fort then became under the control of the Japanese who modified the fort to make it more shell-proof during the Second World War. In the late 1940s, Stanley Fort reverted to its former purpose as a British Army barracks. By the early 1950s the fort was base of the 27th Heavy Anti-aircraft Regiment and a small workshop operated by the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers. The fort had three-storied barracks, a two-storey NAAFI, medical facilities and a Company HQ building. It also had a parade ground and vehicle and equipment park. In 1997, control was handed to the People's Liberation Army following the Transfer of sovereignty over Hong Kong.^[3]

The Stanley Battery Gun Emplacement at Stanley Fort is listed as one of the Grade I historic buildings and thus is protected under the Antiquities and Monuments Ordinance.^[4]

See also

• List of Grade I historic buildings in Hong Kong

References

1. "Barracks involved" (PDF). Hong Kong Standard. 24 March 1985.
2. "Stanley Barracks". Britain at War. Retrieved 26 June 2016.
3. "1997 St. Barbara - Garrison Church of Stanley Fort". Gwulo. Retrieved 26 June 2016.
4. "Item 353" (PDF). Antiques & Monuments Office. Retrieved 26 June 2016.