Individual Report: H6686 George MCLAUGHLIN

Rank:	First Name:	Second Name:
General Information
Private	George	Robert
From:	Enlistment Region:	Date of Birth (y-m-d):
Hamiota MB	Manitoba	1917-05-19
Appointment:	Company:	Platoon:
	D

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
41/12/23	N/A

Hospital Information

Name of hospital	Date of admission	Date of discharge	Comments	Reference
HK-WMH	12/23/1941	N/A
HK-BMH	09/19/1942	N/A		118

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			N/A	N/A
HK-AS-01	Argyle Street	Kowloon, Hong Kong			N/A	N/A
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 20

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
McLaughlin Lake	southeast of Oxford Lake, Manitoba	Manitoba	53 L/14	54 45' 30"; 95 12' 05"	1983

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
1943-12-20	Beri Beri & Dysentery	Died while POW
Cemetery Location	Cemetery	Grave Number	Gravestone Marker
Jido-Yuenchi-Dori Hodogaya Japan	Yokohama War Cemetery	Cdn. Sec. A. D. 7.	NA

Gravestone Image

Canada Memorial Hamiota Cemetery, Hamiota, Manitoba, Canada

Obituary / Life Story

Son of William Lachlan McLaughlin and Jane Collie of Hamiota, Manitoba. Served in Manitoba, Jamaica with Y Force, Hong Kong with C Force, Japan as a prisoner of war. He had 1,545 days of service, including 784 overseas. To commemorate his sacrifice, the Manitoba government named McLaughlin Lake located southeast of Oxford Lake in his honor in 1983.

Citation(s): 1939-1945 Star, Pacific Star, War Medal 1939-1945, Defence Medal, Canadian Volunteer Service Medal and Clasp.

Canadian Virtual War Memorial

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

Canadian's Story Given At Hearing Tells Atrocities Of Cruel Jap Commander Of Camp for P.O.W's
YOKOHAMA - In the dimly-lighted interior of the Yokohama District Court House, Honshu, Japan, the trial of United States vs. Lt. Masato Yoshida continued into its third week. In an effort to prove Lt. Yoshida as one of the most brutally vicious prisoner of war camp commanders that the Canadians were affronted with in Japan, the prosecution recalled Warrant Officer Robert Manchester to the witness stand.
Story of Brutality
During the course of the morning session, a photograph was exhibited to the witness, who identified it as that of James Mortimer. Manchester added that, because Mortimer, had been accused of stealing Red Cross supplies, he was sentenced by Yoshida to ten days in the guard house. His punishment consisted of being roped to a stake and left exposed to the mercies of the cold biting winter's wind and snow, clad only in light trousers, shirt and socks. After several days of this inhuman treatment, the victim's face and limbs took on a reddish color, then a bluish tinge. Following this, his toes began to crack from the intense cold, and infected sores resulted. After release from the guard house, Mortimer was admitted to the hospital, where he was treated for gangrene by the American medical orderly, Chief Pharmacist's Mate Dickson. In a miserable and suffering condition, he remained in the hospital only approximately three weeks before his death.
Following a ten-minute recess, the prosecution continued with its witness regarding atrocious mistreatment given Canadian prisoner, James Martin. This prisoner was suffering from beri-beri. He was in considerable misery with swollen legs and feet, since he had no footwear. Manchester stated that one day, when morning parade had assembled, he took Martin to the head guard, Sato, and asked that the man be excused from work because of his condition. After learning the nature of his trouble, Sato laughed and proceeded to stamp on both his feet, then ordered him to work. The next day, following the same appeal, the incident reoccurred, and Sato began punching and slapping, and then allowed Martin to return to his hut. He died within several weeks, after having been transferred to the dysentery ward.
Tells of Other Deaths
The prosecution's witness continued with his testimony on the deaths of POW's Leo J. Bottie and G. R. McLaughlin. According to Manchester, Bottie, who was a frail individual, was taken from camp one morning by Sato, while he was excused from work and was resting, and that, upon return that evening with the work party, he was supported by his fellow comrades. Taken to the hospital, he died the following day.
Contrary to the size and condition of Bottie, prisoner McLaughlin was a large, awkward person, who was often the butt of jokes and slappings by the Japanese workers. One particular incident occurred one day on the trestle when McLaughlin paused in his work to repair his shoes, and was accosted by a foreman who was using a club. Sato appeared and inquired as to why the man was not working, whereupon the foreman evidently replied that he was slacking from his work. Hearing this, Sato slapped and kicked the man to the ground. Later, McLaughlin was permitted to remain in camp because he was suffering from dysentery and a severe cold. The witness added that McLaughlin died some months afterwards in the camp.
Another death reportedly contributed to by orders from Sato forcing sick men to work was that of Gerald Snedden. After suffering for a time, he was finally allowed to remain in camp, but never recovered from his illness.
A prisoner who was suffering from the common complaint of diarrhea was Albert Boulding. The Japanese refused to allow him to rest or remain in camp, and as a result, his condition became so serious as to warrant hospital treatment. However, he did not respond to what little treatment the American medical orderly was able to give with the limited supplies. The witness for prosecution continued by saying that the name of the Japanese medical orderly who refused treatment of Boulding was Takahashi.
No Medical Supplies
Throughout Manchester's testimony, the fact was brought out that medical supplies were virtually non-existent for the use of prisoners.
Another case of mistreatment on the trestle occurred when Arthur H. Hunter fell while working, and a guard, who was nearby, revived him with water, and then proceeded to slap and beat him with a club. Later, he was refused medical treatment, and as a result, collapsed into a semi-conscious state. However, he failed to regain his strength, and soon after the mistreatment he died. (NB: editor's note: While this report names the soldier as Arthur Hunter, it was his brother Stanley Hunter who died.)
The prosecution concluded its interrogation for the day when Manchester testified regarding the death, of prisoner Ernest Heuft, who could not control his personal hygiene, He was ordered by Sgt. Ito to move his bedding to the latrine, where he remained for three days, whereupon he was transferred to the hospital, shortly prior to his death.

End of Report.

Report generated: 27 Apr 2025.

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Additional Notes

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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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