Individual Report: H6730 John HODGKINSON

Rank:	First Name:	Second Name:
General Information
Private	John	Steven Fred
From:	Enlistment Region:	Date of Birth (y-m-d):
Kelwood MB	Manitoba	1920-02-11
Appointment:	Company:	Platoon:
	B

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
41/12/16	N/A

Hospital Information

Name of hospital	Date of admission	Date of discharge	Comments	Reference
HK-BMH	12/16/1941	N/A		118(42 Sep 21)

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 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 Apr 16
JP-Se-4B	Ohashi	Iwate-ken, Kamihei-gun, Katsushi-mura, Ohashi, Japan	Nippon Steel Company		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

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
1981-03-14		Post War
Cemetery Location	Cemetery	Grave Number	Gravestone Marker
Winnipeg Manitoba Canada	Chapel Hill Memorial Gardens

Gravestone Image

Obituary / Life Story

Private Jack Hodgkinson (H6730) grew up in Kelwood, Manitoba. In 1939, he joined the Winnipeg Grenadiers. After garrison duty in Jamaica, the Winnipeg Grenadiers were sent on their ill-fated mission to protect Hong Kong.

During the fierce battle for Hong Kong, Dad was hit by shrapnel. His head wound was never surgically repaired until his return to Canada and he spent his years as a POW with simply a flap of skin protecting his shattered skull. After months in Hong Kong, the Grenadiers were sent to Japan. Dad first laboured in the shipyards and was then sent to Sendai - Camp 4B, Ohashi. Work in the coal mines there damaged Dad's lungs such that when he was diagnosed with emphysema in his fifties, the doctor said his lungs resembled those of a man in his eighties.

When Dad returned to Winnipeg in October, 1945, he met our Mom, Ladena Smith, who was residing in his parents' boarding house. They were married in 1947 and had five children. Dad told Mom that he never wanted to talk about the war, that he wanted a happy married life with her, and he couldn't do both.

Dad suffered nightmares of this POW experience throughout his life and Decembers were always a difficult time for him. Every Christmas morning, Dad always took a few quiet moments to himself before joining the rest of the family to open gifts..... most likely reliving the surrender on Christmas Day and the hell to come.

Our Dad was a quiet, generous man and a wonderful father who did all he could to give us a happy life, we treasure our memories of him. When poor health forced an early retirement, he spent peaceful times at Clear Lake.

Dad was a lifelong member of the Royal Canadian Legion and proudly carried the flag at Remembrance Day church services and marches to the Cenotaph. He felt strongly about his HKVA comrades and valued the bond they had for one another .... No one else could truly understand or believe the horrors they had endured.

Dad died March 14, 1981. Despite the scars on his body, mind and soul, his life was one of honour and love for his family and country. - Patricia Bale (daughter)

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

During the fierce battle for Hong Kong, Dad was hit by shrapnel. His head wound was never surgically repaired until his return to Canada and he spent his years as a POW with simply a flap of skin protecting his shattered skull. After months in Hong Kong, the Grenadiers were sent to Japan. Dad first laboured in the shipyards and was then sent to Sendai – Camp 4B, Ohashi. Work in the coal mines there, damaged Dad’s lungs such that when he was diagnosed with emphysema in his fifties, the doctor said his lungs resembled those of a man in his eighties.

When Dad returned to Winnipeg in October, 1945, he met our Mom, Ladena Smith, who was residing in his parents’ boarding house. They were married in 1947 and had five children. Dad told Mom that he never wanted to talk about the war, that he wanted a happy married life with her, and he couldn’t do both.

Dad suffered nightmares of this POW experience throughout his life and Decembers were always a difficult time for him. Every Christmas morning, Dad always took a few quiet moments to himself before joining the rest of the family to open gifts….. most likely reliving the surrender on Christmas Day and the hell to come.

Dad was a lifelong member of the Royal Canadian Legion and proudly carried the flag at Remembrance Day church services and marches to the Cenotaph. He felt strongly about his HKVA comrades and valued the bond they had for one another …. No one else could truly understand or believe the horrors they had endured.

Dad died March 14, 1981. Despite the scars on his body, mind and soul, his life was one of honour and love for his family and country.

- Patricia Bale (daughter)

End of Report.

Report generated: 15 Jan 2025.

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Additional Notes

(These will not be visible on the printed copy)

Service numbers for officers 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.
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.
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