Les Bird - Blacksmith Books

Born in 1951 in England, Les Bird joined the Royal Hong Kong Police in 1976 and served for two decades in the lead-up to the change of sovereignty. He was a rural officer in the remote fishing town of Tai O, he was involved in bringing in Vietnamese refugees along the Southern Boundary, and he chased down the “big flyer” daai fei smuggling speedboats which carried stolen luxury cars across Mirs Bay to China.

Bird is married with two daughters and still lives in Hong Kong. He has previously written his memoir: A Small Band of Men: An Englishman’s Adventures in Hong Kong’s Marine Police. His website is at www.lesbirdhk.com.

Along the Southern Boundary: A Marine Police Officer’s Frontline Account of the Vietnamese Boatpeople and their Arrival in Hong Kong

HK$180.00
USD: US$23.05
CNY: CN¥166.86
GBP: £18.04
EUR: €21.21
AUD: AU$34.64
CAD: CA$31.43
JPY: ¥3,621
With a foreword by Lord Wilson of Tillyorn, Governor of Hong Kong, 1987-1992

“We had no jurisdiction outside of Hong Kong waters. But we could see their vessels sinking in heavy seas. It was life or death, right there. We just went.”

Former Marine Police officer Les Bird tells of the harrowing sea journey to Hong Kong made by tens of thousands of refugees in the years that followed the end of the Vietnam War. As he patrolled the southern maritime boundary of Hong Kong, he photographed their makeshift boats and later the people-smuggling vessels coming in – including the Sen On, a freighter ship that was abandoned by its crew and ran aground on Lantau Island.

With this previously unpublished collection of personal photographs, taken by himself and his former police colleagues, he tells the stories of these boatpeople – the young children, the father who just bought a boat to embark on a 1,000-mile journey, and the disillusioned North Vietnamese battle-hardened veterans – all searching for a new life.

LOOK INSIDE THIS BOOK
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Introduction

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A Small Band of Men: An Englishman’s Adventures in the Hong Kong Marine Police

HK$180.00
USD: US$23.05
CNY: CN¥166.86
GBP: £18.04
EUR: €21.21
AUD: AU$34.64
CAD: CA$31.43
JPY: ¥3,621
Published by Earnshaw Books

Les Bird joined the Hong Kong Marine Police in 1976 during a period of rapid change in one of the British Empire’s few remaining colonies, and witnessed the last years of the hard-working, hard-drinking colonial policemen handing out rough justice in the World of Suzie Wong. He led his men in combat with the growing organized crime in the years leading up to the handover of the colony back to China in 1997 and was one of a handful of senior officers instrumental in dealing with highly sensitive issues including a flood of refugees fleeing Vietnam and the increase in the smuggling of guns, drugs, people, and luxury goods either to or from China.

Filled with gripping stories spanning 20 years, A Small Band of Men follows Bird and his cohorts including his mentor, “Diamond” Don Bishop, an eccentric officer whose volatile temper, larger-than-life personality, and overbearing presence was a major influence in Bird’s career. These tales provide a fascinating insight into the intersection of cultures that is Hong Kong. Supported by his second-in-command, Joe Poon, Bird gained the trust of his band of men to such an extent that they were willing to follow him into danger, even at the risk of their own lives.

By the same author:
Along the Southern Boundary

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