1st Bn The Royal Rifles of Canada
General Information | ||
| Rank: | First Name: | Second Name: |
|---|---|---|
| Rifleman | Albert | George |
| From: | Enlistment Region: | Date of Birth (y-m-d): |
| Niagara Falls ON | Central Ontario | 1922-12-25 |
| Appointment: | Company: | Platoon: |
Transportation - Home Base to Hong Kong
Members of 'C' Force from the East travelled across Canada by CNR troop train, picking up reinforcements enroute. Stops included Valcartier, Montreal, Ottawa, Armstrong ON, Capreol ON, Winnipeg, Melville SK, Saskatoon, Edmonton, Jasper, and Vancouver, arriving in Vancouver on Oct 27 at 0800 hrs.
The Winnipeg Grenadiers and the local soldiers that were with Brigade Headquarters from Winnipeg to BC travelled on a CPR train to Vancouver.
All members embarked from Vancouver on the ships AWATEA and PRINCE ROBERT. AWATEA was a New Zealand Liner and the PRINCE ROBERT was a converted cruiser. "C" Company of the Rifles was assigned to the PRINCE ROBERT, everyone else boarded the AWATEA. The ships sailed from Vancouver on Oct 27th and arrived in Hong Kong on November 16th, having made brief stops enroute at Honolulu and Manila.
Equipment earmarked for 'C' Force use was loaded on the ship DON JOSE, but would never reach Hong Kong as it was rerouted to Manila when hostilities commenced.
On arrival, all troops were quartered at Nanking Barracks, Sham Shui Po Camp, in Kowloon.
Battle Information
We do not have specific battle information for this soldier in our online database. For a detailed description of the battle from a Canadian perspective, visit Canadian Participation in the Defense of Hong Kong (published by the Historical Section, Canadian Military Headquarters).
Wounded Information
No wounds recorded.Hospital Information
No record of hospital visits found.POW Camps
| Camp ID | Camp Name | Location | Company | Type of Work | Arrival Date | Departure Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| HK-SM-01 | Stanley | Fort Stanley, Hong Kong Island | Capture | 41 Dec 30 | ||
| HK-NP-01 | North Point | North Point, Hong Kong Island | 41 Dec 30 | 42 Sep 26 | ||
| HK-SA-02 | Shamshuipo | Kowloon, Hong Kong | 42 Sep 26 | 43 Jan 19 | ||
| JP-To-3D | Tsurumi | Yokohama-shi, Tsurumi-ku, Suyehiro-cho, 1-chome, Japan | Nippon Steel Tube - Tsurumi Shipyards | Variety of jobs related to ship building | 43 Jan 19 | 45 Apr 16 |
| JP-Se-4B | Ohashi | Iwate-ken, Kamihei-gun, Katsushi-mura, Ohashi, Japan | Nippon Steel Company | 45 Apr 16 | 45 Sep 15 |
Transport to Japan
| Draft Number | Name of Ship | Departure Date | Arrival Date | Arrival Port | Comments | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| XD3A | Tatuta Maru | 43 Jan 19, left Shamsuipo Camp, 0500 hrs; left Hong Kong 1300hrs | 43 Jan 22, 0400 hrs | Nagasaki, Japan | Boarded train, arrived in Tokyo on 43 Jan 24 at 0700 hrs, boarded electric train for 10 mile ride to camp | Tony Banham |
Transportation SE Asia to Home
| Transport Mode | Arrival Destination | Arrival Date | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| NATS 50848 | Oakland | 1945-10-03 | Guam Passenger Manifest embarked 1945-09-30 NATS |
No other or additional related information found. Please submit documents to us using the contact link at the top of this page.
Post-war Photo
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Other Military or Public Service
No other or additional related information found. Please submit documents to us using the contact link at the top of this page.
Death and Cemetery Information
| Date of Death (y-m-d) | Cause of Death | Death Class | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1987-04-23 | Post War | ||
| Cemetery Location | Cemetery | Grave Number | Gravestone Marker |
| Niagara Falls Ontario Canada | Niagara Falls Cemetery | ||
Gravestone Image
Obituary / Life Story
Albert George Graham was Also Known As: Red Graham
SUMMARY OF SERVICE
Albert Graham initially joined the Lincoln & Welland Regiment on 29 Aug 39, and served with them until 11 Sept 1941. At the time of his enrolment he was 16 years, 8 months old. His service number B40622 shows that he was the 122nd person to join the active service battalion, (full-time as opposed to part-time, reserve soldiers).This is the badge he would have worn with the Lincoln and Welland Regiment.
Prior to joining the active battalion he might have been in the militia (reserves). The regiment was called out on service on 26 August 1939 and then details were placed on active service on 1 September 1939 for local protection duties. The photographs you sent and from what he said confirm that he took part in guard duty. By December 1939 the RCMP had taken over protecting the vital points and the regiment stood down, meaning they went back to part-time status. Because of this change in status almost 500 men immediately left volunteering with Toronto Units. They were afraid to be left out. Six months later on June 23rd, 1940 the regiment resumed active status and assembled at Niagara-on-the Lake, your father included. Training began and at the same time Vital Point protection guards resumed including the power plants at Niagara Falls, Queenston and Chippewa. At the beginning of May 1941 the regiment moved to Nanaimo, BC with the rest of the brigade (13th Canadian Infantry Brigade).
Then four months later, due to an army reorganization, the 13th Brigade was disbanded and beginning on the 8th of August elements of the regiment began redeploying back to Niagara-on-the-Lake. On September 10th the main body of the Lincoln and Welland Regiment left Nanaimo. Their final destination was not in Ontario however, the regiment was sent to Newfoundland.
Private Graham did not return east however, because on 11th September 1941 he was Struck-off-Strength from the Lincoln and Welland Regiment, (which is Amy speak for he left the regiment).
Albert G Graham is listed in Appendix VIII of the History of the Lincoln and Welland Regiment, published in 1954. There are 4 other "Grahams” listed including one P Graham who was a pre-war militia soldier, his father, Percy Graham. The history of the Royal Rifles of Canada states that when the regiment was ordered overseas, (October 9th, 1941) they were 102 men under their deployment strength. As there were no reinforcements available from their Military District the decision was made to take men from the Toronto District. Unfortunately when the reinforcements were vetted, 54 failed to meet the requirements for overseas service. The Lincoln & Welland Regiment was either asked to provide volunteers or tasked to provide reinforcements and that's why Pte. Graham became Rifleman Graham of the Royal Rifles of Canada.
So very soon after 11th September 1941 Rfmn Graham was TOS, (Taken-on-Strength, army speak for joined) the Royal Rifles of Canada because on 27 October 1941 the Royal Rifles of Canada embarked for Hong Kong from Vancouver, BC, and he was with them. Fifty-nine days later, on 25th December 1941 following 18 days of brutal combat the Hong Kong garrison surrendered. It was Albert's 19th birthday.
The history of the Royal Rifles of Canada, in Appendix A lists Rfmn AG Graham as a member of the regiment.
The surrendering soldiers were taken by the Japanese transport ship “Tatsuta Maru” to one of the POW camps in Sendai, Japan. Rfmn Graham was later moved to the Tsurumi POW Camp in Yokohama, Japan, where he was forced to work for Nihon Keken Tsurumi Zosen (Nihon Ironworks) in the Tsurumi Shipyards.
Rfmn Graham was repatriated under supervision of the U.S. Navy at Oakland Airport (San Francisco), California, where he was flown back to Canada on October 3rd 1945.
Links and Other Resources
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Related documentation
- Our HKVCA Vault (Google Docs) may contain additional information, newspaper clippings, and documents which have been saved for this soldier. To access this information, click on the vault link and a Google Docs folder list will open in a separate tab. Use the first letter of the soldier’s service number, found at the top of this report, to open the correct folder. Each sub-folder is identified by service number. Scroll down until you reach the one of your interest.
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General Comments
Albert George Graham was Also Known As: Red Graham
End of Report.
Report generated: 27 Apr 2025.
Additional Notes
(These will not be visible on the printed copy)
- Service numbers for officers ("X") are locally generated for reporting only. During World War II officers were not allocated service numbers until 1945.
- 'C' Force soldiers who died overseas are memorialized in the Books of Remembrance and the Canadian Virtual War Memorial, both sponsored by Veterans Affairs Canada. Please use the search utility at VAC to assist you.
- Some birthdates and deathdates display as follows: 1918-00-00. In general, this indicates that we know the year but not the month or day.
- Our POW camp links along with our References link (near the bottom of the 'C' Force home page) are designed to give you a starting point for your research. There were many camps with many name changes. The best resource for all POW camps in Japan is the Roger Mansell Center for Research site.
- In most cases the rank displayed was the rank held before hostilities. Some veterans were promoted at some point prior to eventual post-war release from the army back in Canada. When notified of these changes we'll update the individual's record.
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