Mark Aitchison Young
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Sir Mark Aitchison Young (30 June 1886 – 12 May 1974, 楊慕琦) was a British administrator who became the Governor of Hong Kong during the years immediately before and after World War II.
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Early life, service in war
Young was educated at Eton and King's College, Cambridge. He entered Ceylon Civil Service in 1909 and served in the European War from 1915.
Colonial administration
Young served as Principal Assistant Colonial Secretary of Ceylon from 1923 to 1928, then as Colonial Secretary of Sierra Leone from 1928 to 1930. From 1930 to 1933, he served as Chief secretary to the Government of Palestine, during the British Mandate of Palestine.
From 5 August 1933 to March 1938, he served as Governor and Commander-in-Chief of Barbados. From November 1937 to February 1938, he served in the Government of Trinidad and Tobago. Then from 1938 to 1941, he became the last Governor and Commander-in-Chief of the Tanganyika Territory British Mandate.
Hong Kong Governor, prisoner of war
He served as Governor of Hong Kong between 1941 and 1947. During his term, which coincided with the Pacific theatre of World War II, Hong Kong came under the threat of Japanese invasion.
At 08:00, December 8, 1941, several hours after Pearl Harbor was attacked, Hong Kong came under fire by Imperial Japanese Forces. The attacks only lasted for 18 days, and ended when Young surrendered the Colony to the Japanese General Takashi Sakai on December 25, known as the 'black Christmas' by Hong Kong people, who were then subject to Japanese rule for next 3 years and 8 months, the amount of time forever assoiciated with that period of history.
Young was a prisoner of war in Japanese hands from December 1941 to August 1945. He was initially incarcerated in a prisoner of war camp in Stanley, on the southern shores of Hong Kong Island, but was later transferred, with other high ranking allied captives, to a prisoner of war camp in Manchuria.
Post-Japanese occupation governorship
Young resumed his duties as Governor of Hong Kong on 1 May 1946, after having spent some time recuperating in England. Before his retirement in 1947, he proposed political reforms that would have allowed Hong Kong people to choose their own Legislative Council. He envisaged that the new Council would handle every-day affairs and that its decisions would be immune to veto, even to that of the Governor himself. Reception to his proposed reforms was cool, due largely to the fact that many Hong Kong people at that time believed that the colony would soon be taken over by Communist China. The question was also raised of whether the Communist Party would influence elections in Hong Kong should Young's reforms be adopted. As a result, these initiatives were eventually abandoned under the Grantham Administration.
Some historians today believe that if Young's proposed political reforms took shape, Hong Kong would have a chance at achieving self-determination, even eventual independence.
Personal life
Young and his wife, Josephine Mary, had two sons and two daughters. Young died on 12 May 1974.
Honours
External links
- Hong Kong Photo 1946-1947 by Hedda Morrison
- The Fall of Hong Kong: Britain, China and the Japanese Occupation by Philip Snow
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Categories: 1886 births | 1974 deaths | Governors of Hong Kong | Governors of Barbados | World War II political leaders | Hong Kong World War II people | Companions of St Michael and St George | Knights Commander of St Michael and St George | Knights Grand Cross of St Michael and St George | Old Etonians | Alumni of King's College, Cambridge | British colonial governors and administrators