Individual Report: H6336 William BELL

Rank:	First Name:	Second Name:
General Information
Private	William
From:	Enlistment Region:	Date of Birth (y-m-d):
Winnipeg MB	Manitoba	1917-03-12
Appointment:	Company:	Platoon:
	A	7 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

Date Wounded	Wound Description	References
41/12/19	bullet pass from buttock to front of upper leg, 2nd wound shrapnel in left knee and top of head

Hospital Information

No record of hospital visits found.

POW Camps

Camp ID	Camp Name	Location	Company	Type of Work	Arrival Date	Departure Date
HK-NP-01	North Point	North Point, Hong Kong Island			41 Dec 20	41 Dec 22
HK-AS-01	Argyle Street	Kowloon, Hong Kong			41 Dec 22	Dec 26
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 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 Mar
JP-To-6B	Suwa	Nagono-ken, Suwa-gun, Kitayama-mura, Japan	Nippon Steel Tube & Mining Company	Labour at an open-pit iron ore mine	45 Apr 16	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 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
2013-03-12		Post War
Cemetery Location	Cemetery	Grave Number	Gravestone Marker
Winnipeg Manitoba Canada	Brookside Cemetery	9949	Engraved

Gravestone Image

Obituary / Life Story

WILLIAM BELL March 12, 1917 - March 12, 2013 Peacefully, on his 96th birthday, surrounded by his wife, Nada, and loving family, dad passed away at the Concordia Hospital. Bill is survived by his wife, Nada, of 67 years; son Bill (Nenita), and son Dennis (Marleen); grandchildren Angela, Sheri (Keiko), Paul, Adrian (Janellyn) and Alvin (Rochel); and three great-grandchildren. He was predeceased by his parents William and Rachel, sisters Rachel and Isabel, and brothers John and Gordon. Bill was born on March 12, 1917, in Winnipeg, Manitoba and spent his childhood years in central Winnipeg. Some of dad's fondest memories as a child were as a member of the Riverside Boys Swim Club, having their clubhouse on the banks of the Red River, and diving off the Redwood Bridge. Dad was active in Judo, Jiu Jitsu, and was a boxing member of the OBU (Old Boxing Union). In 1933 he won the Golden Gloves. As a result of the Great Depression dad left school early to help with family finances. He spoke often of leaving home at 16 to go to British Columbia to be a lumberjack. On September 13, 1939, upon the outbreak of the Second World War, dad, his brother Gordon, and all of his childhood friends enlisted with the Winnipeg Grenadiers, the first regiment to become active. Dad served in Jamaica and Bermuda guarding prisoners of war. He had many great memories of the islands and spoke of them often. When the Grenadiers returned to Winnipeg they immediately prepared for a new assignment. As part of "C Force" they joined the Royal Rifles of Canada and headed for Hong Kong on October 25, 1941. After a valiant and courageous battle, in which dad was wounded three times, he and brother Gordon were taken prisoner-of-war by the Japanese on Christmas Day 1941. Dad spent 44 months in captivity in Hong Kong and Japan. These experiences were shared with the "Love of his Life" his wife Nada, whom he met upon his return home to Winnipeg. Within two and a half months of meeting each other they were married on January 18, 1946, and spent 67 wonderful years together. Mom and Dad moved to Bannerman Avenue where most of their neighbours were Winnipeg Grenadiers. They continued to live there for 67 years where sons Bill Jr. and Dennis were born and raised, and the grandchildren visited often. Dad loved babysitting his grandchildren, as well as the family pets. He loved doing his own repairs, tinkering in the garage, and working in the yard. Mom and dad loved to travel, and visited Hawaii, Palm Springs, England, and Europe to name just a few. Dad was employed with Winnipeg Hydro until his retirement in 1976. Dad was a proud member of the Duke of Kent Legion and the Hong Kong Veterans Association. He was the recipient of numerous military medals, the Minister of Veteran's Affairs Commendation, and most recently, the Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Medal. He was honoured to be closely connected with his fellow Hong Kong Veterans, no braver men ever were! Dad, we can only imagine the reunion that is taking place in Heaven right now! A memorial service will be held on Saturday, March 23, 2013, at 1:00 p.m. at Neil Bardal Funeral Centre, 3030 Notre Dame Avenue (across from Brookside Cemetery). In lieu of flowers, donations are gratefully accepted for: The Hong Kong Veterans Commemorative Association P.O. Box 381, Winnipeg, MB R3C 2H6 http://www.hkvca.ca/donations.htm Free The Children 233 Carlton Street, Toronto, ON M5A 2L2 http://www.freethechildren.com/donate/ NEIL BARDAL FUNERAL CENTRE 204-949-2200 www.nbardal.mb.ca As published in the Winnipeg Free Press on March 16, 2013

Links and Other Resources

William Bell's web site

Article in Maclean's Magazine dated 17 April, 2013

Article in the Winnipeg Free Press dated 16 March, 2013

General Comments

No Monument Badge as only engraved headstone allowed in a Commonwealth War Cemetery.

'C' Force Family Connections:

Brother to H6298 Gordon Bell

End of Report.
Report generated: 27 Apr 2025.
Back to 'C' Force Home Page

Additional Notes

(These will not be visible on the printed copy)
1. Service numbers for officers ("X") 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.