Individual Report: H41704 Lawrence LEWIS

1st Bn The Winnipeg Grenadiers

Red River Métis

General Information

Rank: First Name: Second Name:
Private Lawrence John
From: Enlistment Region: Date of Birth (y-m-d):
Grand Marais MB Manitoba 1916-00-00
Appointment: Company: Platoon:
C

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
41/12/22N/A

Hospital Information

Name of hospital Date of admission Date of discharge Comments Reference
HK-BMH12/22/194112/23/1941Transferred to another hospital118
HK-UNKN/AN/A

POW Camps

Camp ID Camp Name Location Company Type of Work Arrival Date Departure Date
HK-SA-01ShamshuipoKowloon, Hong KongCapture42 Jan 22
HK-NP-02North PointNorth Point, Hong Kong Island42 Jan 2242 Sep 26
HK-SA-02ShamshuipoKowloon, Hong Kong42 Sep 26 43 Jan 19
JP-To-3DTsurumiYokohama-shi, Tsurumi-ku, Suyehiro-cho, 1-chome, JapanNippon Steel Tube - Tsurumi ShipyardsVariety of jobs related to ship building43 Jan 1945 May 13
JP-Se-1B YumotoFukushima-ken, Iwaki-gun, Yumoto-cho, Mizunoya, JapanJoban Coal Mining Company45 May 1345 Sep 15

Transport to Japan

Draft Number Name of Ship Departure Date Arrival Date Arrival Port Comments Reference
XD3ATatuta Maru43 Jan 19, left Shamsuipo Camp, 0500 hrs; left Hong Kong 1300hrs43 Jan 22, 0400 hrsNagasaki, JapanBoarded train, arrived in Tokyo on 43 Jan 24 at 0700 hrs, boarded electric train for 10 mile ride to campTony Banham

Transportation SE Asia to Home

Transport Mode Arrival Destination Arrival Date Comments
NATS 90411Oakland1945-09-25
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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 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
1992-06-21Post War
Cemetery LocationCemeteryGrave NumberGravestone Marker
Grand Marais Manitoba CanadaSt. Jude's Anglican Church Parish Cemetery

Gravestone Image

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Obituary / Life Story

On Thursday, May 21, 1992 at the Seven Oaks Hospital, Dick Lewis, aged 75 years, of 430 Dufferin Ave., Selkirk, dearly beloved husband of Doris Lewis. Dick was born in Fisher River and lived his early years at Grand Marais, Man. During the war he served with the Winnipeg Grenadiers and was a prisoner of war at Hong Kong for over four years. He was employed at Booth Fisheries for many years at Selkirk following the war and later was with the security department at Lower Fort Garry. Dick was a life member of both the Royal Canadian Legion Branch No. 42 and the Army, Navy and Air Force Veterans Branch No. 151 and was also a member of the Hong Kong Veterans Association. Besides his loving wife Doris, he is survived by two sisters, Muriel and Bella and his stepchildren Harvey, Rose and Charles Mann. Funeral service was held on Monday , May 25 at 11 a.m. in the Gilbart Funeral Chapel, Selkirk with Rev. Peter Cain officiating. A prayer service and viewing was held in the chapel on Sunday afternoon at 4 p.m. His pallbearers were Doug Thomas, Val Sayer, Earl Paquin, Bert Brown, Harvey Mann and Ted Geard. Fellow members of the Legion formed an honor guard and held graveside rites at the burial at the St. Jude’s Anglican Church Cemetery at Grand Marais, Manitoba. The Gilbart Funeral Home was in charge of arrangements.

Research conducted as part of the HKVCA Indigenous Veterans Project for this veteran are available in our Vault. To access this research use the link displayed below under Related Documentation.

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.

Facebook has proven to be a valuable resource in the documentation of 'C' Force members. The following link will take you to any available search results for this soldier based on his regimental number. Note: results may be contained within another related record. Facebook Search Results

Related documentation for information published in this report, such as birth information, discharge papers, press clippings and census documents may be available via shared resources in our HKVCA Vault. It is organized with folders named using regimental numbers. Use the first letter of the individual's service number to choose the correct folder, then scroll to the specific sub-folder displaying the service number of your interest.

General Comments

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End of Report.

Report generated: 02 Nov 2024.


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Additional Notes

(These will not be visible on the printed copy)

  1. Service numbers for officers are locally generated for reporting only. During World War II officers were not allocated service numbers until 1945.
  2. '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.
  3. 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.
  4. 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.
  5. 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.
  6. 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.
  7. 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.
  8. 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.
  9. 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.