Kowloon East Barracks (), formerly Osborn Barracks (), is a former

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

facility now in use by the

People's Liberation Army The People's Liberation Army (PLA) is the military of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the People's Republic of China (PRC). It consists of four Military branch, services—People's Liberation Army Ground Force, Ground Force, People's ...

Kowloon City District Kowloon City District is one of the districts of Hong Kong, 18 districts of Hong Kong. It is located in the city of Kowloon and cut through by Boundary Street. It had a population of 381,352 in 2001, and increased to 418,732 in 2016. The di ...

, Hong Kong located in the northern part of

Kowloon Kowloon () is one of the areas of Hong Kong, three areas of Hong Kong, along with Hong Kong Island and the New Territories. It is an urban area comprising the Kowloon Peninsula and New Kowloon. It has a population of 2,019,533 and a populat ...

on Waterloo Road and

Junction Road Junction Road may refer to: * Junction Road, Hong Kong Junction Road () is a road in Kowloon, Hong Kong which runs between Kowloon City and Kowloon Tong. History The streets in Kowloon City, including Junction Road, were laid out in the late ...

(across the street from

Hong Kong Baptist University Hong Kong Baptist University (HKBU) is a public Liberal arts education, liberal arts university with a Christian ethics, Christian education heritage in Kowloon Tong, Kowloon, Hong Kong. The university was established as Hong Kong Baptist ...

History

The military facility was named for Canadian Army

Company Sergeant Major The company sergeant major (CSM) is the senior non-commissioned soldier of a company in the armies of many Commonwealth countries, responsible for administration, standards and discipline. In combat, their prime responsibility is the supply of ...

John Robert Osborn of the

Winnipeg Grenadiers The Winnipeg Grenadiers was an infantry regiment of the Canadian Army. First formed on 1 April 1908 under General Order No. 20. Initially it was raised with headquarters at Morden, Manitoba, and companies at: A Company at Morden, B Co ...

. Osborn was a British-born

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

who died defending Hong Kong in 1941. He was awarded the

Victoria Cross The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious decoration of the Orders, decorations, and medals of the United Kingdom, British decorations system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British ...

and a barracks in

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

was named in his honour in 1945 after the liberation. Osborn is memorialised at

Sai Wan War Cemetery Sai Wan War Cemetery is a military cemetery located in Chai Wan, Hong Kong which was built in 1946. The cemetery was created to commemorate soldiers of Hong Kong Garrison who perished during the World War II, Second World War. The cemetery also ...

and also through a statue of an anonymous World War I soldier in

Hong Kong Park Hong Kong Park is a public park next to Cotton Tree Drive in Central, Hong Kong, Central, Hong Kong. Built at a cost of Hong Kong dollar, HK$398 million and opened on 23 May 1991, it covers an area of and is an example of modern des ...

Hong Kong Island Hong Kong Island () is an island in the southern part of Hong Kong. The island, known originally and on road signs simply as "Hong Kong", had a population of 1,289,500 and a population density of , . It is the second largest island in Hong Kon ...

. The statue of the anonymous World War I soldier was originally part of the

Eu Tong Sen Eu Tong Sen (; 23 July 1877 – 11 May 1941) was a businessman in Malaya, Singapore and Hong Kong during the late 19th and early 20th century. He was vice-president of the Anti-Opium Society and a member of the Kinta Sanitary Board.Twent ...

statuary collection at Eucliff villa. When Eucliff villa was demolished, the Eu family donated the statue in the 1980s to Osborn Barracks in Kowloon where it stayed for 20 years before being relocated to

. Part of the land of the Osborn Barracks (the east of Renfrew Road) was given to Hong Kong Baptist University for new campus development in early 1990s. The last British Army regiment to occupy the Barracks was the

Hong Kong Logistic Support Regiment RLC The Hong Kong Logistic Support Regiment RLC was a British Army regiment and affiliated to the Royal Logistic Corps. It was raised on 8 April 1994 to provide logistical support in British Hong Kong prior to the handover of Hong Kong to China. The ...

. After the

transfer of sovereignty over Hong Kong The handover of Hong Kong from the United Kingdom to the People's Republic of China was at midnight on 1 July 1997. This event ended 156 years of British rule in the former colony, which began in 1841. Hong Kong was established as a specia ...

the Osborn Barracks are used by the Chinese

. A helipad is located along Renfrew Road. In 2015,

Albert Chan Wai-yip Albert Chan Wai-yip (born 3 March 1955, Hong Kong), also known by his nickname "Big Piece", is a former member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong representing the New Territories West constituency. He has served as a legislator from 199 ...

suggested that the barracks be decommissioned for more residential space.

References

The Country Boy Who Died for Hong Kong
Kowloon Tsai Military of Hong Kong under British rule Barracks in Hong Kong {{HK-struct-stub

History

See also

References

References