WWII Battle of Hong Kong: Geo-Spatial Technology

Wallace Lai, Chi Man Kwong and Craig Mitchell ask how much is known about the ruins of war and the numerous stories that are hidden in the forests and buried beneath the ground in Hong Kong’s countryside.  To answer this question, they have used innovative geospatial and geophysical technologies to unfold the long-lost heritage of the Battle of Hong Kong to further archaeological and historical studies of the battlefields.

Wallace Lai, Chi Man Kwong and Craig Mitchell tell of how they developed a geo-spatial and technology-based approach to facilitate archaeological investigation and historical interpretation of the war, to help expanding and deepening understanding of the British and Japanese military works on the hills.  They first studied historical texts, old maps, aerial photos, plans of attack and defence, and satellite images to define regions/points of interest.   They then adopted 3D point clouds extracted from the Hong Kong Government’s airborne LiDAR ground lasers, to develop a digital terrain model for geo-registration within a geographic information system. 

They then explored the use of imaging algorithms to search for lost and unknown WWII heritage features in the Gin Drinkers Line area of the battle. The output allowed them to find features such as pillboxes, trenches and tunnels which were then visited and identified in the field to generate a real 3D augmented reality of the battlefield in 1941.

Members of the RGS, their guests and others are most welcome to attend this event, which is HK$200 for RGS Members and HK$250 for guests and others.