Devil's Peak ( ) is a

peak Peak or The Peak may refer to: Basic meanings Geology * Mountain peak ** Pyramidal peak, a mountaintop that has been sculpted by erosion to form a point Mathematics * Peak hour or rush hour, in traffic congestion * Peak (geometry), an (''n''-3)-d ...

Sai Kung District Sai Kung District is one of the districts of Hong Kong, 18 districts of Hong Kong. The district comprises the southern half of the Sai Kung Peninsula, the Clear Water Bay Peninsula in the New Territories and a strip of land to the east of Ko ...

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 ...

. The communities of Tiu Keng Leng, Lei Yue Mun and

Yau Tong Yau Tong () is an area of Hong Kong, located in the southeastern end of Kowloon, between Lei Yue Mun and Lam Tin, at the east shore of Victoria Harbour, west of Tseung Kwan O. Administratively, it is part of Kwun Tong District, the most densely ...

surround this peak. It was designated as a Grade II historic building in December 2009 and is currently located on unallocated government land under the jurisdiction of the Lands Department. This military installation is mainly composed of the fortress, Gough Fort and Pottinger Fort, which serve as the east coast design headquarters. Devil's Hill faces the narrow Lei Yue Mun Channel, where you can watch the ships coming from the east of Victoria Harbour. After the British leased the New Territories in 1898, they selected Devil's Hill to build military defense facilities and made it an important military stronghold. The area around the peak was garrisoned by the

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 ...

in the 20th century and prior to that, by local pirates in the 19th century to control the passage of Lei Yue Mun, an important nautical passage that leads to

Victoria Harbour Victoria Harbour is a natural landform harbor, harbour in Hong Kong separating Hong Kong Island in the south from the Kowloon Peninsula to the north. It acts as both a major trading hub and tourist attraction of Hong Kong in general. Lying in ...

Geography

Devil's Peak stands at 222 metres in height. To the east of the peak lies Junk Bay Chinese Permanent Cemetery and

lies to its west. The hill extends its ridge south to water in Lei Yue Mun and north to another peak called Chiu Keng Wan Shan. Section 3 of The Wilson Trail runs through the foot of Devil's Peak and can be reached from Tiu Keng Leng or

via cemetery roads.

Military history

The major parts of the military sites on Devil's Peak were built between 1900 and 1914. The remnants of a redoubt and batteries are still visible on the peak. The four main clusters of military structures that remain are: * Devil's Peak Redoubt, which stands on the summit at a level of 222m. It was built in 1914. * A small site at 196m * Gough Battery - upper battery at 160m, was built in 1898 with 2 6-inch guns; one later replaced by 9.2-inch guns; guns removed in 1936 to Stanley Fort; likely named for former Commander-in-Chief of British Forces in China

Hugh Gough, 1st Viscount Gough Field Marshal Hugh Gough, 1st Viscount Gough, (3 November 1779 – 2 March 1869) was a senior British Army officer. After serving as a junior officer at the seizure of the Cape of Good Hope during the French Revolutionary Wars, Gough commanded ...

* Pottinger Battery - lower battery at 81m, with 9.2-inch guns; guns removed in 1936 to Bokhara Battery, Cape D'Aguilar; named for Governor Sir Henry Pottinger A list of troops whom were stationed here (mainly during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

): * 5/7 Rajput Regiment * 1st Mountain Battery of the Hong Kong Singapore Battalion of the Royal Artillery

References

External links

Batteries on Devil's Peak
* *
Facilities Management and Planning for Heritage Sites: Lessons Learnt From a Pilot Study on Disused Military Sites

{{Coord, 22, 17, 38, N, 114, 14, 38, E, display=title, type:mountain Forts in Hong Kong World War II sites in Hong Kong Mountains, peaks and hills of Hong Kong

Geography

Military history

See also

References

External links