Individual Report: H41718 Michael ZEDAN

Rank:	First Name:	Second Name:
General Information
Private	Michael
From:	Enlistment Region:	Date of Birth (y-m-d):
Alonsa MB	Manitoba	1913-11-16
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

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-SA-01	Shamshuipo	Kowloon, Hong Kong			Capture	42 Jan 22
HK-NP-02	North Point	North Point, Hong Kong Island			42 Jan 22	42 Sep 26
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 02	43 Dec 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

Commemorative Feature

A map detailing the location of this feature can be found in this soldier's vault. (See Vault explanation below in the Links and Other Resources block) .

Site Description	Location	Province	Map Reference	Lat/Long	Date
Zedan Lake	south of Shethanei Lake, Manitoba	Manitoba	64 I/05	58 28' 31"; 97 43' 32"	1974

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
1943-12-05	Dysentery	Died while POW
Cemetery Location	Cemetery	Grave Number	Gravestone Marker
Jido-Yuenchi-Dori Hodogaya Japan	Yokohama War Cemetery	Cdn. Sec. B. C. 3.	NA

Gravestone Image

Obituary / Life Story

PTE. MICHAEL ZEDAN, son of Mrs. Mary Zedan, Alonsa, Man., reported to have died while a prisoner of war. Born and reared in Alonsa, he enlisted in June, 1941, with the Winnipeg Grenadiers, going with them to Hong Kong, where he was taken prisoner. His mother was notified that he died of illness in a Japanese prison camp, Dec. 5, last. Besides his mother, he leaves a brother, Henry, on active service overseas, and two other brothers and a sister, John and Nick and Mrs. J. Marcicki, of Windsor, Out, and another brother, Steve, at home.

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.

General Comments

Prisoner In Hong Kong Windsor Soldier Held: Another Known Here Also Is Captive
The long list of Canadian soldiers now prisoners of war at Hong Kong, published yesterday, brought joy to at least two Windsor homes. For included in the list were one Windsor soldier, Private Russell Woolrich, 1770 Aubin road, and another who has many relatives and friends here, Private Michael Zedan.
AWAITED NEWS
Relatives and friends of these soldiers, who fell into the hands of the Japs with the fall of Hong Kong last Christmas Day, have been anxiously awaiting news of them for the past nine months. Yesterday's list, published in The Windsor Star, advised them that although the soldiers are prisoners of war, they are at least alive.
A resident of Windsor for two years, Private Zedan, 27, is a brother of Mrs. Nick Bachalo, 808 Alexandrine street, Remington Park, and Nicholas Zedan, 1214 Gladstone avenue. A native of Manitoba, Private Zedan lived in Winnipeg most of his life. He lived in Windsor during 1937 and 1938 with his sister and then returned to Winnipeg. He enlisted there with the Winnipeg Grenadiers and went to Hong Kong with them. He has a brother, Gunner Henry Zedan, serving overseas with the 14th Canadian Field Regiment.

End of Report.

Report generated: 27 Apr 2025.

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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.