I recently went to the Museum of Coastal Defence for a last look before it gets ‘rectified’ later this year, after which it will be renamed the Hong Kong Museum of the War of Resistance and Coastal Defence. A before-and-after comparison will be interesting. It’s not about what new exhibits they add (it already has displays on pre-colonial forces, the East River Column and the PLA), so much as what, if anything, they remove. A lot of the equipment, uniforms and posters are very much British-era, and not exactly in keeping with today’s patriotic emphasis.
The munitions alone are worth a look – from 10-inch naval gun shells, to mortar bombs, to hand grenades, to anti-aircraft rounds, to .303 bullets – plus the 1890s ‘Brennan’ guided torpedo.
Yes the HKCCPSARG can give the little museum the Yushukan Museum treatment and make the protagonists solely local Chinese with the assistance of CCP/PLA clandestine advisors providing the “know how” on beating the 日本鬼子.
I’ve never visited it, but I believe the Correctional Services Museum at Stanley has also had a patriotic makeover recently.
Oh, those British with their war museums and their cenotaphs. Always like that. Like nothing else ever happened then “war this and war that”. And then they have high tea. And then Mike Rowse rises to the occasion and gives a rousing speech, mostly about his own (imaginary) heroic war efforts.