Alfred Ronald Paling

Stationed RAF Kai Tak, at the time of the Japanese invasion in December 1941, it
was equipped with 2 Supermarine Walrus seaplanes and 3 Vickers torpedo-reconnaissance
bombers, flown and serviced by seven officers and 108 airmen. An earlier request for a fighter squadron had been rejected and the nearest fully operational RAF base was in Kota Bharu, Malaya, nearly 1,400 miles away.

On 8 December 1941, the Imperial Japanese Army began the Battle of Hong Kong soon after the attack on Pearl Harbor. The colony resisted for two weeks before surrendering on 25 December 1941

In 1942, the Japanese army expanded Kai Tak, using many Allied POW labourers, building two concrete runways, 13/31 and 07/25. Numerous POW diary entries exist recalling the grueling work and long hours working on building Kai Tak. During the process, the historic wall of the Kowloon Walled City and the 45-metre (148 ft) tall Sung Wong Toi, a memorial
for the last Song dynasty emperor, were destroyed for materials.

Sgt Paling died at Sham Shui Po Barracks, POW camp, Hong Kong from a pulmonary embolism due to Pellagra, a disease caused by a lack of the Vitamin B3.

Unknown