The Royal Canadian Army Service Corps
General Information | ||
| Rank: | First Name: | Second Name: |
|---|---|---|
| Corporal | Edwin | |
| From: | Enlistment Region: | Date of Birth (y-m-d): |
| Gormley ON | Central Ontario | 1911-12-29 |
| Appointment: | Company: | Platoon: |
| Brigade Headquarters | ||
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
| Date Wounded | Wound Description | References |
|---|---|---|
| 41/12/19 | N/A |
Hospital Information
No record of hospital visits found.POW Camps
| Camp ID | Camp Name | Location | Company | Type of Work | Arrival Date | Departure Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| HK-SA-02 | Shamshuipo | Kowloon, Hong Kong | 42 Sep 26 | 43 Aug 15 | ||
| JP-To-5B | Niigata-Rinko | Niigata-ken, Nakakambara-gun, Ogata-mura, Japan | Marutsu, Rinko Coal, Shintetsu | Stevedore labor at port of Niigata (Marutsu), primarily foodstuffs; mining coal (Rinko Coal ) and labor at a foundry (Shintetsu) | 43 Sep 03 | 45 Sep 05 |
Transport to Japan
| Draft Number | Name of Ship | Departure Date | Arrival Date | Arrival Port | Comments | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| XD4B | Manryu Maru | 43 Aug 15 | 43 Sep 01 | Osaka, Japan | Brief stopover in Taihoku (Taipei), Formosa (Taiwan); then 2 day stopover at northern point for stool tests | Tony Banham |
Transportation SE Asia to Home
| Transport Mode | Arrival Destination | Arrival Date | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| USS Ozark Passenger List A | SF | 1945-10-02 | evacuated from Japan via USS Ozark |
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
No other or additional related information found. Please submit documents to us using the contact link at the top of this page.
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 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1995-11-15 | Post War | ||
| Cemetery Location | Cemetery | Grave Number | Gravestone Marker |
| Aurora Ontario Canada | Aurora Cemetery | Yes | |
Gravestone Image
Obituary / Life Story
The following Extracted from HKVCA Ontario Region archived newsletter June 2003
Oda was just sixteen when she and Ted began going out together. They dated for three years, and during this time Ted worked at de Havilland, and then in Port Colborne as a welder, trying at the same time to get into both the navy and the merchant marine. He wasn't successful so he came into Toronto 9 and joined the army. Ted was an excellent swimmer, and when he was sent to Camp Borden he soon found himself training recruits as a swimming instructor. He was really anxious to get overseas, but because they couldn't find someone to take his place as an instructor when his unit went, they wouldn't let him go. He felt especially badly because his parents were in England and he felt he should be there.
By the time they decided to get married in August of 1941, Ted had been at Camp Borden for a year. Not only did they have to get permission to be married, but Oda had to have a letter of recommendation, which the Chief Coroner, her former employer, was glad to give her. Ted hadn't taken too kindly to being left behind when his unit left for overseas, but, before long, being a fitter mechanic, the opportunity to go to Ottawa to join the Royal Rifles came up, so off he went. By October of 1941, the Royal Rifles had entrained for the West coast, and their final destination of Hong Kong.
Ted sent a letter from Ottawa on October 22, 1941, saying that they were on their way. They had been issued summer clothing, and had been given several shots to ward off disease, but their destination was unknown. During the week that it took for the soldiers to cross the country, Oda received several letters from Ted. When he first landed in Hong Kong, she got a cable, and then two more letters before the battle for Hong Kong began. It would be a long time before she heard from him again.
Oda got her first letter from Ted in August of 1942 in which he said:" Tell brother Roland that I'm getting lots to eat." Since he didn't have a brother the message was obvious. The men had subtle ways to let the families at home know what their situation was like. Another fellow writing around the same time noted that "Hong Kong was a nice place but I'd rather be in Mt. Pleasant." The Japanese wouldn't have realized that Mt. Pleasant was a Toronto cemetery. Oda wrote many letters, and she still has the ones that she wrote before December 7, 1941, which were returned to her. They had never reached Ted, and for all the years Ted was away, the letters were few and far between, and always at least six months old when they were received. Their first child, Rose Anne, was born while Ted was away.
Ted was in and out of hospital for two years after he came back, with most of the problems that those who had been in the prison camps had, but he returned to farming. By 1947, he had bought Oda's dad's farm. This after the DVA had tried to stop his grant for the farm, saying that he was not fit enough to be a farmer. For twenty years, Ted and Oda worked the farm 2 ½ miles south of Aurora on Bayview Avenue. They started with two cows, and a bit of money borrowed, and built up a sizeable milk herd. In 1967, they moved to Gilford, near Fennell's Corners, where they switched to raising beef cattle. On one occasion, some of the cattle were struck by lightning, and, since they were out on the range, it was three or four days before it was realized they were missing. Because they were not discovered within a few hours of their deaths, the insurance adjusters maintained that they couldn't confirm that the cattle had been struck by lightning so they weren't able to collect any insurance. Just one of the ups and downs of farm life. Eventually some of the farm was rented out, some of the cash crop was sold and the couple reached the stage where they could winter in Florida.
Oda and Ted's five children all lead interesting lives. Their eldest daughter, Rose Anne, runs a newspaper in Bobcaygen called "The Promoter", and it is she and Oda's granddaughter who are preparing to print Oda's story. Their second daughter, Kate, is married to Greg Sorbara, a Liberal MPP in 10 Ontario. Their third child, and first boy, John, owns a cabinet-making business near Barrie, and is looking after gathering the pictures for the family history. Their third daughter, Mary Ellen, taught Sports Administration at Durham College, and later became Director of International Education. In that capacity she travelled the world, recruiting students for the college. She met and married her husband, John, who had been the Dean of Thunder Bay College, when he was doing similar work for that institution. The couple spent a number of years working in India, and Oda and Ted were able to visit them there. Ted wasn't too well at that time but he made the trip, and they managed to see such exotic places as Agra, the Taj Mahal and Jaipur. Their son-in-law was robbed at gunpoint in New Delhi some time later, and everything was taken including jewellery and passports. Before too long, they returned to Canada and are now retired and living in Niagara-on-the-Lake. Both still travel for different educational programmes, but as fanatical bridge players, they often take cruises in the winter, teaching and playing bridge. Oda and Ted's youngest son went into real estate, then into renovations, making use of his excellent skills in wiring, plumbing and carpentry.
When the Ladies Auxiliary of the HKVA Association in Toronto was first organized, Oda didn't drive so she couldn't really go in to meetings but she urged others to go. The men's meetings had involved a smaller group by this time, but, with the addition of the ladies, numbers increased, until there were about thirty who regularly attended meetings. The men and the women would meet separately, and then have a supper together afterwards. There are memories of some really good times. In 1970, the first National Convention was held at the King Edward Hotel in Toronto. Besides having a special banquet, there was a Civic Luncheon at the Royal Canadian Yacht Club on Toronto Island. That first Convention was an excellent model for those that were to follow. After that, Oda was able to go regularly to meetings, as she had learned how to drive after moving to the Gilford area. It was in the 1980's that the Hong Kong Veterans and their wives had several corn roasts in the summer at the Barlows' farm. Everyone still remembers the get-togethers, and the fun they had on those occasions.
Oda and Ted moved to Churchill in Innisfil Township in 1987, and spent about ten years there. Ted enjoyed spending time in his workshop, but when he died in 1995, Oda started looking for another house.
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
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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.
- 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.
- 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.