Suggested Reading

Published: 1981 by Canada's Wings Inc, Stittsville, ON

Near the end of October 1941, a few hundred soldiers from New Brunswick were among the 1,975 Canadian troops who set sail from Vancouver to reinforce the British Colony of Hong Kong. Within two short months, after a hard-fought but disastrous battle against the Imperial Japanese Army, the island fell to the invaders on Christmas Day, and its defenders were ordered to surrender by the governor of Hong Kong. The survivors were taken captive.

Based on the first-hand accounts of the author's father, Andrew "Ando" Flanagan, a rifleman from Jacquet River, NB,The Endless Battle explores the Battle of Hong Kong and its long aftermath, through the eyes of the soldiers. During their captivity, the POWs endured starvation, forced labour, and brutal beatings. They lived in deplorable conditions and many died from illness. But the soldiers stuck together, bound by their cameraderie, loyalty to King and Country, and collective desire to sabotage the Japanese war effort.

Writing intimately and sensitively about the lingering effects of the trauma of the soldiers held in captivity, Andy Flanagan shows both the heroism of individual soldiers and the terrible costs of war.

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This is the diary kept by Lieut. Leonard Corrigan, WG, during 3 1/2 years in Hong Kong as a POW. This unique inside story includes daily journal entries buried during the years of imprisonment and brought home after liberation.

Lieutenant Corrigan’s four daughters have added their reflections on the time before, during and after the war, the readjustments to his homecoming, and his life until his death in 1994.

Editors:
Mik Bergersen,
Kathie Carlson,
Shelagh Purcell,
Pat Turcotte

Publishers: Frei Press at P.O.BOX#38 Baltimore, ON K0K 1C0

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Note: an online version of this document is available on our site.

Published: 1980

Published: 1983

On the battlefield, suffering heavy casualties, they fought with determination and courage until they were ordered to lay down their arms by the British Governor of Hong Kong.

As prisoners of war they were shipped to Japan as slave labourers. In unimaginable conditions in their camps in Japan many died of starvation, overwork, disease, and savage abuse.

During nearly four years of their captivity they remained undaunted. They never failed in their duty to try and resist, and they never submitted to the demands of their cruel enemy.

While prisoners of war in the very heartland of their enemy, their sabotage was astonishingly successful in crippling the Japanese war effort.

Their courage and defiance are part of our history - and one we can be proud of.

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ISBN 978-0-9733350-1-9

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Written in 1997, this is the story of a "no military risk" campaign that slowly turned into a nightmare. The book provides new answers to a number of difficult questions beginning with a discussion of why Canadian troops were sent to Hong Kong at the request of the British War Office. Were the British duplicitous in making this request? Was Canadian Chief of the General Staff, Lieutenant-General Harry Crerar, guilty of putting his own interests above those of his men in telling the minister of National Defence that there was "no military risk" in sending the "C" Force?

The book recounts the formation of the "C" Force and its departure to Hong Kong where it arrived just three weeks before the Japanese attack. It outlines the course of the battle from December 8, 1941, until the inevitable surrender of the garrison on Christmas Day. It places appropriate emphasis on the Canadian contribution, refuting 1947 allegations by the British General-Officer-Commanding - allegations which were only made public in 1993 - that the Canadians did not fight well. Greenhous attacks these charges with solid evidence from participants and eye-witnesses.

Finally, the book tells the story of life and death in the prison camps of Hong Kong and Japan.

Brereton Greenhous worked for twenty-five years in the Department of National Defence's Directorate of History. He has authored, co-authored, or edited a dozen books on Canadian military history.

Interview with CBC on 11 Nov 2010 (mp3, audio)

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Publisher: Borealis Press
Copyright: 2009

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ISBN: 13:978-0-9939229-0-9

The book can be purchased by sending a cheque or money order to R.C.L. Branch 488, Brechin, Ontario L0K 1B0 in the amount of $27.60 which includes HST and mailing costs. (the book is priced at $19.95) It is also available at Nanticoke Books in Orillia, Ontario.

Canadians who were sent to Hong Kong with only the munitions they carried off the troop ships and without any air or naval support, after seventeen days of battling overwhelming enemy numbers, soon found themselves as prisoners-of-war in Japanese camps.

Many POWs have taken different routes in coming to grips with the memories that haunt them still. Sgt. George MacDonell wrote a book.

Brings together the micro details surrounding a military action which took place during the battle for Hong Kong in December 1941

Their story begins in the fall of 1941 when almost 2,000 members of the Royal Rifles and Winnipeg Grenadiers were sent to bolster the British garrison at Hong Kong. In the seven-day battle for the colony 290 men were killed and another 500 wounded for a casualty rate of some 40%—the highest rate of any battle the Canadians fought in the Second World War save for Dieppe.

The second part of their story lasts 1,378 days—more than three and a half years—and is of how the Canadians survived the horrid conditions of Japanese POW camps. Four were executed for trying to escape. Another 260 died from diseases brought on by malnutrition, effects of beatings, and slave labour in shipyards and coal mines. Hundreds more suffered from beriberi, diphtheria, typhus and other diseases, and malnutrition, which in many cases led to blindness. Scores of Canadians were tortured; hundreds of were turned into slave labourers in factories, shipyards and dangerous coal mines.

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The following ISBNs are associated with this title:
ISBN - 10:1554682193
ISBN - 13:9781554682195

DUNDURN PRESS

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• Amazon
  
• Chapters Indigo

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Also available at Amazon.com

This reprint contains a few more photographs than the original and it has a foreword by the author of Part 1, Grant Garneau.

For those unfamiliar with this book, Part 1 deals with the historical aspects of the reforming the Royal Rifles in 1939; the Crown Colony of Hong Kong; the battle as seen by the RRC; and the imprisonment following the surrender. Part 2 is illustrations and photographs supplied by the veterans. Part 3 is mainly personal accounts. The book has 436 pages in total.

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Published: 1995

Read an excerpt

Les survivants des Royal Rifles et les Winnipeg Grenadiers demeureront aux mains des Japonnais comme prisonniers de guerre durant 3 ans et 8 mois.

Bernard à tenu son journal presque quotidiennement pendant toute cette période. Dans ce journal Bernard nous raconte ce qu’il a vécu au jour le jour.

Published in September '09

Available through Amazon.ca

Published: 2003

Website

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Please visit this page on Tony's web site for other details.

"the first factual account of what happened to the allied prisoners and to the British, American and Dutch families who were subjected to the callous brutality of their captors for almost four years. It also covers the activities of the British Intelligence Organisation in China which was initially extraordinarily successful in establishing contact with the POWs and internees..."

Published: 1981

Published by: Hamish Hamilton, London, England

Published: 1978

This book is dedicated to the 2,000 Canadian soldiers of "C-Force" who, in the face of an imminent Japanese threat, were sent to reinforce the far distant British Crown Colony of Hong Kong in October of 1941.

It is also dedicated to their mascot who was an unusual and heroic Newfoundland dog named Gander, who fought bravely until, in a final act of heroism on the battlefield of Hong Kong, gave up his life for his comrades.

The Story of brave Gander and the Canadian defenders of Hong Kong is not about how they were defeated by vastly superior Japanese forces, but how together, in their gallant defence of the island, they showed the world the mettle of which they were made.

40 Pages, Photos - Size 11" x 8.5"

George S MacDonell & Sue Beard

ISBN10: 0986609916

ISBN13: 9780986609916 French version: Gander le Chien

ISBN10: 0986609930

ISBN13: 9780986609930

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This book tells the story of the more than 3000 non-Chinese civilians: British, American, Dutch and others, who were trapped in the British colony and interned behind barbed wire in Stanley Internment Camp from 1942 to 1945.

ISBN-13:978-0774818551

Purchase from: amazon.ca

(HOW I SURVIVED JAPANESE DEATH CAMPS)

The first edition of My Life With the Samurai received excellent reviews and was recognized as an important contribution to the study of the Pacific Theatre during WW ll. This new, limited edition 3rd printing includes maps, photos, the names of those who fell in camp, in addition to new chapters which document the brutality experienced by many nations of S.E. Asia during the Japanese reign of terror. My Life With the Samurai tells the true story of a 17 year old boy (AUTHOR) captured by the Japanese in Indonesia.
He survived a horrendous death rate and beat the odds against starvation and brutality. This book is an inspiration to all. Definitely a must read. Compelling yet disturbing truths emerge about the captured British POWs' and what they had to endure at the hands of the Japanese. Anthony "Tony" Cowling tells of great suffering at the hands of the Japanese from a perspective found only in someone who was there. It is so well written that one begins to see history no one wanted you to hear. This is your chance to read TRUE WWII experiences from 1941-1945.

The battle of Hong Kong was a fiasco and on Christmas Day 1941, the Canadians surrendered. They spent the next four years in a prisoner-of-war camp.

The Home Front is the story of his loved ones at home. Told through the eyes of young Margaret, it portrays her mother, Lucy, and younger brother and sister during the four long years their father was away. With poignancy and humour, the author offers a colourful picture of Canadian life during the dark days of World War II.

A Winnipeg writer and a retired school teacher. She has been
writing since 1972 and has published many articles. The Home Front is her first book.

Out of print. An online version is available on our site.

Note: as of mid-Nov '08 the following message was posted on the vendor's web site:

"This product is out of print and no longer available from the publisher"

Life As A P.O.W. in Japan 1942-1945

Card cover 288 pp 6x9”

Les Chater, a Canadian with the Royal Air Force, was captured by the Japanese in 1942 at Singapore, and remained a prisoner until liberation in 1945.  During that time he kept a secret diary, recording life in the camps day by day.  b/w photos, illustrations, Appendices.

“This is a story of a child, and of a journey. At its heart, it is the tale of how two young children in China, having had their mother trapped by war in Hong Kong and their father killed there, crossed a world in conflict. Jennifer Dobbs tells her singular and moving story, summoning impressions and memories of a childhood in China, a family shattered, and a father lost.”

—Robert Bickers, associate pro vice-chancellor for post graduate research, professor of history, University of Bristol