1967 Confrontation: San Po Kong

Marine formed two companies: `A' (Harbour and Islands) and `B' (Sectors). Thanks to the Auxiliaries, many of whom reported for duty before they were even called, the first out on to the streets was `A' Company under the command of Superintendent Murray Todd. This company formed up at Marine Police Station (MPS) in the Police Headquarters complex on Hong Kong Island, an evolution which had not been tried before at such short notice and which produced a few problems. One was that most of the necessary arms and ammunition had to be shipped across from the central Marine armoury at Tsim Sha Tsui, but this was nothing compared to the difficulty of procuring suitable transport. At the time the only Marine transport available on Hong Kong Island consisted of a Landrover, a prisoner van and a single three-ton lorry. To bring the company's transport up to operational strength three more Landrovers and five three-ton lorries would have to be found.

In the event three brand-new Landrovers were obtained from the Transport Pool - there had to be some advantage in being co-located with Police Headquarters after all - but the lorries proved more difficult. Finally a number of trucks which had been used for transporting livestock were borrowed from the Agriculture and Fisheries Department, and after these had been hosed out and furnished with benches from the MPS canteen the company was ready to roll. It moved out the following morning, the 12th May, and after crossing the harbour to Kowloon City by ferry rumbled in to join the Kowloon City and Wong Tai Sin Companies at Wong Tai Sin Marine Police Constable in riot gear Police Station. There was a distinctly `Fort Apache' feel to the situation there, for the station was one of the new ones built since the 1956 Riots, with a central tower and complex of buildings surrounded by high granite walls topped by loop-holed gun turrets. Each loop-hole was manned by a keen-eyed constable watching the simmering resettlement estates all around the station, and the tension in the air could be felt like a physical force.

The company's first duties were to hold key road junctions and to keep them clear while the Kowloon companies dealt with the escalating violence which was already spreading from San Po Kong to the rest of North Kowloon. This was frustrating work - and dangerous at times, for the barrage of missiles was continuous. To see friends and colleagues receiving injuries and do nothing but close ranks and stand fast is a true test of discipline - a test that the platoons passed, although they didn't have to like it. There was also the suspicion - almost certainly unfounded but very real - that the Mariners were being `held back' because they might shoot someone. Certainly the story of the rioters shot by the Marine Company in 1966 had lost little in the telling by the time this company was deployed, and the fact that the Mariners (Bak Saam! `the White Shirts!') were so easily recognised may even have contributed to the fact that there was never the slightest attempt to storm any of the areas held by them.

In hindsight it made perfect sense to use the Marine Company to hold specific areas and leave the dashing around to companies that knew the area and did not have to get maps out before they could move to the next street. There was also another factor which did not come out officially either then or later but which might have been known to Chief Superintendent Mike Illingworth, the former Mariner in command of operations in the riot areas. This was the fact that, because of the urgency of its formation, Marine `A' Company included a high percentage of launch mechanic constables and NCOs. It will be recalled that these had only comparatively recently become full policemen; and although those who had joined since 1965 had had the same training as their deck colleagues the majority had been `converted' in short courses which had not covered either riot drill or weapon training. They had been given crash courses on these in the MPS canteen and on the ferry to Kowloon, but it must be admitted that there were still a few ex-stokers who were inclined to check their weapons by peering down the muzzles.

The next duty proved to be a little more exciting than holding road junctions however: mobile patrol of the San Po Kong industrial area. For this each platoon was given a pattern of streets to patrol independently and report developments. No. 3 Platoon, commanded by Inspector Ma Ka-lau, [Assisted by Probationary Inspector I. E. Ward] ran into trouble on the first circuit of its allotted area. No sooner had the platoon Landrover and its two attendant livestock trucks turned into Tseuk Luk Street from Choi Hung Road than they found the road blocked by piles of burning rubbish and wrecked vehicles. As they stopped a roaring crowd burst upon them, and in moments the vehicles were being battered by lumps of timber and bottles of petrol. The Landrover was so new (although it quickly ceased to look it!) that it was only partly fitted with window shields, and the trucks were also unprotected. The drivers kept their cool however, and Inspector Ma directed them through the wreckage and on to a junction where the platoon could deploy; and this set the pattern for the rest of the day.