What's new and updated on the Gwulo website:

General

• We've booked venues for my talks in November, and I'm looking forward to meeting Gwulo's readers and contributors, from north and south! (If you have friends or organisations that might enjoy the talks, I'll be grateful if you can let them know.)
  • Glasgow talk - 1 Nov  - details and booking
     
  • Exeter talk - 8 Nov  - details and booking
• This week marks the 83rd anniversary of the sinking of the Lisbon Maru, which was transporting allied POWs from Hong Kong to Japan. Read survivor Andrew Salmon's recollections of the incident (scroll down to his entry for 27 Sep 1942 to begin).
   
• If you've noticed old pages reappearing at the top of Gwulo's 'Recent content' page, but without any apparent changes to their text, it's because I've just fixed a broken link that appears somewhere on that page. I'm about halfway through checking a list of broken links that Google generates, so I should be finished in another week or two.
   
• A Japanese Gunner's Journey, 1940-1943: Artillery Actions during the Pacific War by Dr. Kwong Chi Man and his team, History Department, HKBU. This collection of photos from a Japanese soldier's album includes Hong Kong scenes of guns, batteries, pillboxes, air raid tunnels and wartime scenes.
   
• Readers are looking for information about:
  • Chan Tuck & Co., Tailor & Outfitter
     
  • Looking for maps of the original Customs Pass Road
     

  • Can anyone identify the people in this photo:

    

     

  • Does anyone remember the HK Riding Academy which was located close to the RHKJC Beas River stables in the late 1960s and 70s? 

    

Places

What's new and updated on the Gwulo website:

General

• Readers in Scotland and southwest England: I'm planning to give a talk in Glasgow on 1 November, and Exeter on 8 November. It will be my first talk, that was the foundation for Volume 1 of my books. I'll follow up with more details in later newsletters, but please keep the date clear if you're able to join us. I'd also welcome suggestions for good venues in both cities, somewhere with a good screen and projector so the photos display well.  We've got a couple of places in mind, but please let me know if there's somewhere you've seen an onscreen presentation that was clear for all to see.
   
• In last week's newsletter about using AI to transcribe old documents I recommended using Google Gemini. Several readers wrote to tell me Google Gemini isn't currently available in Hong Kong. They recommend either accessing Gemini via Poe, or using Deepseek as an alternative to Gemini.
   
• The 1886 Jurors List is now online. Thanks to volunteers David, Grace, hkspace_wl, and joybot for typing up the pages. Only three more lists to go until we've finished this mammoth project, which leads on to ...
   
• We've started typing up the 1885 Juror's List. Please join in and help by typing up a page.
   
• Talk in London on 13 Sep 2025: The Friends of East Asia are hosting "Searching for Billie" by Ian Gill.
   
• Andrew Salmon's wartime diary gives an insight into how the Hong Kong POWs who'd been shipped to Japan experienced the Japanese surrender. Start reading from his entry for 15 Aug 1945, then follow the links to later pages.
   
• Memories of a voyage from HK to Shanghai in 1942
   
• Looking for information about:
  • Where was the Mongkok cafe that sold Friesland's mango ice cream?
     
  • Who is Bennet's Hill in Aberdeen Country Park named after?
     

  • Constantin Kluge [1912-2003], a Latvian / Russian painter and architect, who lived in Hong Kong between 1946 and 1950.
     

    

Places