1st Bn The Royal Rifles of Canada
General Information | ||
| Rank: | First Name: | Second Name: |
|---|---|---|
| Rifleman | Murray | Blair |
| From: | Enlistment Region: | Date of Birth (y-m-d): |
| Hampton NB | Eastern Quebec | 1922-11-04 |
| Appointment: | Company: | Platoon: |
| A | ||
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| NATS 90413 | Oakland | 1945-09-28 |
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
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 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1995-11-12 | Post War | ||
| Cemetery Location | Cemetery | Grave Number | Gravestone Marker |
| Oromocto New Brunswick Canada | Vincent de Paul Church Cemetery | ||
Gravestone Image
Obituary / Life Story
On November 12, 1995 at the Oromocto Public Hospital after a long, brave and courageous battle with many illnesses Murray Blair (Brownie) Brown of 27 Waterville Road, Geary. He is survived by his wife Adeline (St. Coeur) Brown, tw daughters: Nancy Lynn Brown and her companion Michael Dykeman at home, Donna Lee Augustine and her husband Lloyd of Geary, three grandchildren: Holly. Jesse and Marissa: four brothers: Gordon and wife Evelyn of Barnesville, Vernon (Jake) and wife Martha of Quispamsis, Donald and Dee of Saint John, Richard and wife Betty of Titusville; two sisters: Jean Prosser and William of Hampton and Donna Campbell and Jimmy of Saint John, several nieces and nephews. He was predeceased by his parents, one brother Ivan and by one sister Pauline
Born in Hampton, NB on November 1922, he was the son of the late Blair and Margaret Ann (Wheaton) Brown. A veteran of WWII, he signed on with the 8th Princess Louise NB Hussars and transferred to the Quebec Royal Rifles of Canada in Sussex as a nfleman in 1940 at the age of 18. He was taken prisoner of war on the 28th of December 1941 at Repulse Bay, Hong Kong Liberated on the 16th of August, 1945. He returned to Canada in October 1945. He was employed with the Canadian Armed Forces until his retirement in 1972. He was a longstanding member of the Royal Canadian Legion, Branch 28. Hampton.
Resting at the Oromocto Funeral Home, 108 Winnebago Street. Oromocto, with visiting hours on Tuesday from 2-4 and 7-9 PM. The funeral mass will be celebrated at St. Vincent de Paul Church on Wednesday, November 15, 1995 at 11:00 AM. Rev. Paul Riley will officiate. Interment will take place in the adjoining cemetery. For those who wish, memorial tributes to the charity of the donor's choice would be appreciated by the family The Royal Canadian Legion, Branch # 93, Oromocto, will hold a tribute service at the gravesite.
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.
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
Soldiers Visit Capture Scene
Three Base Gagetown veterans, who were captured by the Japanese during the Defence of Hong Kong. Christmas Day, 1941, left Fredericton airport Nov. 29 for a two week pilgrimage to the battle scene.
The servicemen are: Private Murray B. Brown, 44, a member of 40 Camp Ordnance Railhead, Royal Canadian Ordnance Corps; Sapper Bernard P. Duplassie, 44. 2 Field Squadron. Royal Canadian Engineers and Sergeant Raymond W. Elliott. 48, 3rd Brigade Service Battalion.
All three soldiers were taken prisoners on Christmas Day 1941, in Hong Kong during one of the most outstanding battles by Canadians overseas. When captured, they were members of the Royal Rifles of Canada.
They are three of 21 personnel from across Canada who will participate in remembrance ceremonies in Hong Kong. Pusan, Korea and Yokohama, Japan, from Dec. 2 to Dec. 15.
The Hong Kong Association of Canada and Department of Veterans Affairs are sponsors of the Second World War soldiers, while the RCAF is providing air transportation to the Far East. During their four years
in Japanese prisons, their diet consisted of rice and greens which the men had to cook themselves, saving the water for a noon-day meal of soup.
Sapper Duplassie said, "The soup was made from horse heads and horse-hoofs, cooked so often that the bones would turn brittle and fall apart, leaving nothing waste."
Sergeant Elliott said, "The first few years I was one of many Canadian prisoners forced to build an airfield, on the mainland side of Hong Kong."
Later in 1943, he said. "I was assigned to Kyushu Island, Japan, where I worked in a coal mine, using crude tools and baskets to carry the coal. I remained there until the war ended."
Private Brown was a prisoner of war in Camp Shamshuipo, Hong Kong, from Dec. 1941 to Jan. 1943, then was moved to Camp Tokyo 3D and Camp Sendeil, Japan, where he remained until released Aug. 16, 1945.
unknown newspaper clipping
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.
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