- Douglas Clague
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Colonel The Honorable Sir Douglas Clague CBE, MC, QPM, CPM, TD was a British soldier and entrepreneur who spent most of his life in Hong Kong.
Sir Douglas Clague
He arrived in Hong Kong in 1940 at a lieutenant in the Royal Artillery, and on the outbreak of World War II became a prisoner in the Sham Shui Po PoW camp. He escaped , and joined the British Army Aid Group in free China.
On the ending of the war, he famously took the surrender of Japanese forces in Bangkok more or less single-handedly. [2]
After the war, he became the tai-pan of the hong Hutchison, later to become Hutchison Whampoa. He overstretched his finances, and HSBC took over the firm, later selling it to Li Ka-Shing's Cheung Kong.
He owned a lodge at Kam Tsin in the northern New Territories alongside many other wealthy people. [3]
He was also one of the commandants of the Royal Hong Kong Auxiliary Police Force, and a member of both the Executive and the Legislative Councils of Hong Kong. In 1950-51 he was President of the Gunners Roll of Hong Kong. [4]
The Clague Garden Estate in Tsuen Wan is named for him as he was also one of the longest serving chairmen of the Hong Kong Housing Society.
He was also a racehorse owner and one time chairman of the Royal Hong Kong Jockey Club - under his tenure the Sha Tin Racecourse was developed.
He died of cancer aged 64, in 1981.
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