1st Bn The Winnipeg Grenadiers
General Information | ||
| Rank: | First Name: | Second Name: |
|---|---|---|
| Private | Samuel | Evans |
| From: | Enlistment Region: | Date of Birth (y-m-d): |
| Winnipeg MB | Manitoba | 1904-11-16 |
| Appointment: | Company: | Platoon: |
| B | 12 Plt | |
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 | 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
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 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1970-10-12 | Post War | ||
| Cemetery Location | Cemetery | Grave Number | Gravestone Marker |
| Winnipeg Manitoba Canada | . | Cremation | |
Gravestone Image
Obituary / Life Story
SAMUEL EVANS BURDEN On October 12, 1970 at the Deer Lodge Hospital, Samuel Evans Burden, aged 66 years, formerly of 479 Spence Street, widower of the late Verna Burden. Mr. Burden was born in Armah Northern Ireland and came to Canada forty years ago. During Second World War he served with the Winnipeg Grenadiers, during which time he spent four years as a prisoner of War in Hong Kong. Mr. Burden is survived by three sons; Garnet of St. James, Roger of Winnipeg, Gordon of Vancouver; one stepdaughter Mrs. D. Davies (Dianne) of Haliflax, N.S. He was predeceased by his wife Verna and son Danny killed in a fire in 1965.
Friends may call at the Chapel Tuesday 7:00 - 9:00 p.m. Funeral service Wednesday 11:00 a.m. in the Bardal Funeral Home, Sherbrook at William. Padre A. R. MacIver officiating. Funeral service will terminate in the Chapel, Cremation to follow.
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
THOUSANDS JAM VICTORIA STREETS TO GREET REPATS
Victoria, Oct 6 – Thousands jammed the dock and lined Victoria streets four and five deep Friday when 386 Canadians returned from the horrors of Jap prison camps. They first landed at San Francisco, then by train and boat to Seattle and Victoria. Pte. Frank Conkey of Winnipeg who fought with the Winnipeg Grenadiers at Hong Kong, told how the infamous “Kamloops Kid” had been interpreter at the Hong Kong prison camp where he was first held. “He took every opportunity he could get for slapping the boys around” said Pte. Conkey. “He’s really had it in for the whites in general and the Canadians in particular.” “The Kamloops Kid” was a Japanese named Inouye who was born at Kamloops, B.C. and educated there and in Vancouver. It is believed he travelled to Japan in 1939. The Winnipeg soldier who with his companions seemed completely undaunted by his experiences added that they considered the former Kamloops Jap a good example of a man with an inferiority complex. Sam Burden, of the Winnipeg Grenadiers found his imprisonment “an experience I don’t want to go through again.” He was held in camp 5B at Niigata where he was taken in 1943 after year’s imprisonment in Hong Kong. He recalled seeing two Canadian boys caught while trying to smuggle beans into their clothes for cooking later. A Jap sergeant-major stood them outside the guard room and beat them with a bamboo cane. He beat them until the cane shattered and then took a wooden shoe and continued to strike them across the face. “Oh there’s a lot more to tell” he said, but the line had started moving and he was on his way to the bus. In a few days he will be home in Winnipeg where he has a wife and two sons. Gordon Head Reconditioning Centre here, vacant Wednesday morning, Friday had a “guest list” of 685 as 386 more Canadian repats from the Far East arrived by boat from Seattle, following a train trip from San Francisco. Monday the United States transport Admiral C.F. Hughes will dock here with 39 Canadians and 1,907 Britishers and on Tuesday another 55 Canadians and 390 Britishers will arrive on the U.S. transport Gospar.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.
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- 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.
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