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Concept
Stonecutters Island
Summary
Stonecutters Island or Ngong Shuen Chau is a former island in Victoria Harbour, Hong Kong. Following land reclamation, it is now attached to the Kowloon Peninsula.
The island once boasted at least three mating pairs of sulphur-crested cockatoos as well as many snakes; banded kraits, brown cobras and bamboo snakes were all common denizens as late as the 1980s. Black kites often hovered overhead, looking for prey and carrion amongst the many tamarind, ficus benjamina and banyan trees.
The island was ceded by the Qing dynasty to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland along with Kowloon in 1860 through the Convention of Peking. It was initially used for quarrying by the British, hence the English name for the island.
A Royal Navy Radio Interception and Direction-finding Station was established on the island in 1935. From 1935 to 1939, the base was the main radio interception unit for the Far East Combined Bureau, which was four miles (6.4 kilometres) away across the harbour in the naval dockyard.
After World War Two the island became host to British Army units including 415 Maritime Unit RCT and the Ammunition Sub-Depot RAOC. Explosive storage became more important following the 1967 riots and the Mines Division elected to have all commercial explosives stored on Stonecutters prior to being issued to the various blasting sites around the colony. British Royal Army Ordnance Corps soldiers oversaw all commercial explosive issues post-1968 until 1994, at which time the Royal Navy took over care and custody of the military explosives at the site. Civilian explosive storage and issues was controlled by civilian contractors. The Royal Navy retained care and custody until the colony was transferred to China in 1997. Before then, it was the training and HQ depot of the Hong Kong Military Service Corps.
The island was policed by Indian Sikhs, because traditionally they neither smoke nor drink alcohol. The Army Department Police (ADP), as they were known, saw continuous service on the island during the British era.
Official source
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