Individual Report: E30055 Gerald LACHANCE

Rank:	First Name:	Second Name:
General Information
Rifleman	Gerald	Aime
From:	Enlistment Region:	Date of Birth (y-m-d):
Montreal QC	Eastern Quebec	1919-01-16
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 May 13
JP-Se-1B	Yumoto	Fukushima-ken, Iwaki-gun, Yumoto-cho, Mizunoya, Japan	Joban Coal Mining Company		45 May 13	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
USS Rixey	SF	1945-10-11

2 FROM MONTREAL ARRIVE IN FRISCO

70 Repatriated Canadians Reach U.S. Aboard the U.S.S. Rixey

San Francisco, October 12. The following Canadians were among 70 repatriated Canadian prisoners of war who landed here yesterday aboard U.S.S. Rixey; Rfmn. D. M. Adams, Matapedia, Que.; Rfmn. A. Blanchard, Val d'Amour, N.B.; Rfmn. R. A. Boudreau, Glen Levit, N.B.; Rfmn. C. Cochrane, New Richmond, Que.; Rfmn. E. Daigle, West Bathurst, N.B.; Rfmn. J. A. Dempsey, Jacquet River, N.B.; Cpl. W. A. Dobb. Sherbrooke; Rfmn. A. Driscoll, Durkan Centre, N.B.; Rfmn. E. F. Francis, Dartmount, N.S.; Rfmn. G. Grimshaw, Montreal; Rfmn. J. H. Hand, Chapleau, Que.; Rfmn. S. D. Henderson, Richmond, Que.; Rfmn. J. I. Hotton, Gaspe, Que.; Rfmn. G. T. Hutchinson, Norton, N.B.; Rfmn. R. Keays, Broadlands, Que.; Ffmn. J. W. Killoran, Belledume River, N.B. Rfmn. A. D. Lapointe, Kirkland Lake, Ont.; L. Cpl. E. G. Ladds, Noranda, Que.; Rfmn. A. MacDonald, Wyers Brook, N.B.; Cpl. M. Moores, Matapedia, Que.; Rfmn. E. Olson, Bury, Que.; Rfmn. G. P. Pentland, Escuminac, Que.; Rfmn. D. B. Rees, St. John's, Nfld.; Rfmn. F. Robertson, Maria East, Que.; Cpl. A. T. Robson, Kenogami, Que.; Rfmn. R. Tremblay, Preval, Que.; Cpl. L. G. Wood, Lake Megantic, Que.; Sgt. J. C. MacMillan, Campbellton, N.B.; Cpl. Leo Ross, Cookshire, Que.; Rfmn. B. E. Boulanger, Perce, Que.; Rfmn. C. I. Meredith. New Richmond, Que.; Rfmn. H. E. Glendenning, South Bathurst, N.B., Rfmn. Gordon MacIver, Scotstown, Que.; Rfmn. R. A. McLaughlin, Campbellton, N.B.; L. Cpl. G. A. Lachance, Montreal; Sgt. C. H. Kerrigan, Aroostock, N.B.

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
1953-09-06	MVA	Post War
Cemetery Location	Cemetery	Grave Number	Gravestone Marker
Cookshire Quebec Canada	Cookshire Protestant Cemetery		Yes

Gravestone Image

Obituary / Life Story

Cookshire Man Killed As Car Leaves Highway

Gerard Lachance a 34-year-old resident of this town was killed early Sunday morning when his car left the road white he was returning from East Angus and struck a culvert.

Mr. Lachance, employed salesman for the Southern Canada Power Company has attended a Hong Kong Association dinner in Bury on Saturday evening. He had returned to Cookshire with wife of other guests and the leaving them at their several homes in Cookshire, he drove two friends to East Angus where he remained till about 7:30 a.m. Sunday. While returning home and approaching a sharp curve opposite R. Doyon's farm, his car went out of control, passing between a telephone pole and a mail box and colliding into the end of a culvert. The victim was alone at the time and he suffered severe head and body lacerations.

Mrs. Doyon, who heard the impact called her husband, a neighbour, Pierre Bessette and a fellow employee of the Southern Canada Power Company, C. Rouleau, and Dr. Lepine. Mr. Lachance was rendered first aid and an ambulance was rushing him to Sherbrooke Hospital when he died en route.

Gerard Lachance, son of the late Mr. Charles Lachance and his wife, nee Marie Lea Fortier, formerly of Sherbrooke, was thirty-four years old. He had served with Royal Rifles of Canada from July 1940 till September 1947. He was taken prisoner at the fall of Hong Kong and liberated in the autumn of 1946. On his return to Canada he was in hospital for some time. In August 1947 he married Miss Dorothy G Bompus, of Ottawa, and entered the employ of the Southern Canada Power Company at Cookshire. Mr. Lachance is survived by his wife, two sons, Charles aged 4 and Gerald aged 2; four sisters and three brothers, resident in Montreal.

At the inquest, held at Sherbrooke on Monday under the direction of Dr. Gagnon, coroner for this district, it was found that Mr. Lachance had gone to sleep at the wheel of his car and a verdict of accidental death was returned. Det. Guy Dupont and officers Hubert Lawrence and Gerard Belisie made the investigation.

The funeral will take place from the Legion Hut, Cookshire, at 2:15 Tuesday afternoon, thence to St. Peter's Anglican Church, at 2:30. Interment will be in the Cookshire Cemetery.

Links and Other Resources

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General Comments

Full Name Gerald Aime Lachance. Marriage 30 Aug 1947 to Dorothy Geraldine Bompas in Cookshire Quebec

End of Report.

Report generated: 27 Apr 2025.

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Additional Notes

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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.
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