Individual Report: B68205 Ray JACKSON

Rank:	First Name:	Second Name:
General Information
Rifleman	Ray	Donald
From:	Enlistment Region:	Date of Birth (y-m-d):
Chesley ON	Central Ontario	1921-05-03
Appointment:	Company:	Platoon:
	D	18R Plt

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

Killed in action at Stone Hill. 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.

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
1941-12-23		Killed In Action
Cemetery Location	Cemetery	Grave Number	Gravestone Marker
Cape Collinson Road Chai Wan Hong Kong China	Sai Wan War Cemetery	VIII. C. 16.	CWGC CWGC- Commonwealth War Graves Commission (Hong Kong & Japan graves) Engraved- the actual headstone has HK or RRC or WG, etc. engraved on the stone Last Post- VAC program Yes- someone has purchased a gs marker for this person UGF- application already submitted or anticipate applying for Unmarked Grave Fund ND- family does not desire Blank- no data

Gravestone Image

Ray Jackson's watch was found on the HK battle field in 2017. See the story below or search for Ray Jackson

Obituary / Life Story

After a year of waiting, Mr. and Mrs. George Jackson of Lot 25, Concession 5, Elderslie received word that their son, Private Ray Jackson had been killed in action.
Ray enlisted in May 1941 and arrived in Hong Kong in October 1942. Prior to going overseas, he trained at Camp Borden and North Bay, and then went back to Camp Borden where he joined the Royal Rifles Regiment.
Picture shows Ray Jackson father and mother- second and third from the left.
Ray Donald Jackson joined the Canadian armed forces on 9 June 1941 in Toronto, Ontario. It is thought he originally joined the Royal Regiment of Canada He had no previous military experience. He was single. He had not attended high school. He left school at age 14. Had no formal training of any kind. Could read and speak English. He was employed by his father as a farm hand for 6 years before applying to join the army. Stated he did not want to engage in farming after the war. He was 5 foot 8-1/2 inches tall, 145 pounds. Dark complexion, green eyes, dark brown hair. He had a large scar below his right knee cap. He was a member of the United Church. Had originally been buried in Stone Hill. His father was George Clement Jackson (1881 - 1971). His mother was Charlotte Allen (1880 - 1956) residing at R. R. No. 3 Chesley, Ont. His sister, Ida Pearl Jackson married Clifford Harold Burgess on 9 September 1925 in Grey County, Ontario. Ida had been born on 8 July 1904.
Unknown newspaper clipping

The Sai Wan War Cemetery holds those who were killed during the Battle of Hong Kong or died later as prisoners of war during the Japanese occupation, including 173 members of 'C' Force. The remains of those who died as prisoners in Formosa (now Taiwan) were brought to Hong Kong for burial at Sai Wan in 1946. There are 1,505 Commonwealth casualties of the Second World War buried or commemorated at Sai Wan War Cemetery. 444 of the burials are unidentified.
At the entrance to the cemetery stands the Sai Wan Memorial bearing the names of more than 2,000 Commonwealth servicemen who died in the Defence of Hong Kong or subsequently in captivity and who have no known grave.
Ref: Includes excerpts from Veterans Affairs Canada.

General Comments

The discovery of a watch belonging to a Royal Rifle who was killed just before the surrender. The watch was found at Stone Hill in Hong Kong by an amateur historian, in a spot very close to where the soldier, Pte Ray Donald Jackson, was believed to have been killed. The historian, Dave Willott, recognized that the watch belonged to a Canadian soldier by the engraving he found on its back, and contacted the HKVCA to see if we could locate his next-of-kin so that the watch could be returned to them. Happily, we located his closest relative, a great nephew, who lives near Toronto. The folks in Hong Kong made a beautiful presentation box for the watch before shipping it to Canada. Submitted by Mike Babin May, 2017

Links and Other Resources

There may be more information on this individual available elsewhere on our web sites - please use the search tool found in the upper right corner of this page to view sources.

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.
Images displayed on the web page are small, but in many cases the actual image is larger. Hover over any image and you will see a popup if a larger version is available. You can also right-click on some images and select the option to view the image separately. Not all images have larger versions. Contact us to confirm whether a large copy of an image in which you are interested exists.
The 'From' information box at the top of the report represents the enlistment location unless we have obtained updated information pinpointing where the member lived.
In some cases the References displayed as part of this report generate questions because there is no indication of their meaning. They were inherited with the original database, and currently we do not know what the source is. We hope to solve this problem in future.
We have done our best to avoid errors and omissions, but if you find any issues with this report, either in accuracy, completeness or layout, please contact us using the link at the top of this page.
Photos are welcome! If a photo exists for a 'C' Force member that we have not included, or if you have a higher quality copy, please let us know by using the Contact Us link at the top of this page. We will then reply, providing instructions on submitting it.