Old Soldiers Never Die: Hong Kong ethnic Chinese soldiers in the British Army (1857-1997) Revised Edition

As early as 1857, the British army recruited Chinese people to serve as logistics workers. At the end of the 19th century, Chinese sailors, torpedo gunners, and labor teams appeared in Hong Kong one after another, and their roles were different. During World War II, ethnic Chinese joined the British army extensively. In addition to the well-known British Army Service Corps, there were also artillery, engineering, Chinese Legion, defense forces, and special forces such as the Hong Kong Volunteer Brigade on the Burma battlefield. After the war, ethnic Chinese soldiers in the British army continued to play a role in Hong Kong's defense. It was not until 1997 that their identity became a historical imprint with the end of the colonial era. Although these soldiers have faded out of history with the transfer of Hong Kong's sovereignty, they have indeed contributed to defending Hong Kong and even old China in the past century of military service. Although the identity of ethnic Chinese British soldiers has vanished into thin air, it has made it into history, and their spirit should be remembered by people. As a military song says, "Old soldiers never die, they just fade away." The cooperation between ethnic Chinese and British soldiers for more than 100 years is a unique portrayal of the history of "Chinese and foreign coexistence" in Hong Kong. This book is not only to rediscover "local soldiers" and review this forgotten history of Hong Kong, but also to examine the relationship between British colonizers and Hong Kong Chinese from the perspective of Chinese British soldiers.