Individual Report: H6830 Elmer MCKNIGHT

Rank:	First Name:	Second Name:
General Information
Private	Elmer	James
From:	Enlistment Region:	Date of Birth (y-m-d):
Winnipeg MB	Manitoba	1914-07-04
Appointment:	Company:	Platoon:
	Bn HQ	Band

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

Name of hospital	Date of admission	Date of discharge	Comments	Reference
HK-BMH	06/25/1942	07/10/1942		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			41 Dec 20	41 Dec 22
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
1973-12-19		Post War
Cemetery Location	Cemetery	Grave Number	Gravestone Marker
Burnaby British Columbia Canada	Ocean View Burial Park	Evergreen Gardens

Gravestone Image

Obituary / Life Story

December 19, 1973, Elmer James McKnight, aged 59 years. late resident of 6180 Irmin St., South Burnaby. Survived by his loving wife Erna; 2 sons, Dan and Gary and 1 daughter Ann, all of Burnaby: 3 brothers Mel, of Manitoba, Rex, Edmonton, Gerald, Surrey, nieces and nephews. Service of memorial will be held Friday, December 21 at 10.30 a.m. from ROYAL OAK FUNERAL CHAPEL. 5100 Kingsway, South Burnaby, Rev. M. G. Ralston officiating. Cremation. In lieu of flowers donations may be made to the B.C. Heart Fund.

Links and Other Resources

Elmer MCKNIGHT article in War Time Canada

General Comments

In a letter from Hong Kong, BANDSMAN GERALD MCKNIGHT, right above, told his wife, of 1095 Spruce st., "Don't worry." From this his family hopes his other brothers, BANDSMEN ELMER, left, Gerald's twin, and MELVILLE, are also safe and well.
Unknown newspaper clipping, 31 Aug 1942, Monday, Page 18

Music: WRITE SONG IN JAP PRISON CAMP
Pte. Elmer McKnight . . . held by Japan, he writes prisoners' theme song.
Canadian orchestras are featuring "I'll Never Say Good-bye Again," the new song hit that was composed in a Jap prison camp and broadcast over short wave from Tokyo.
Written by Pte. Elmer McKnight of the Winnipeg Grenadiers, who was taken at Hongkong, the song was picked up and recorded by a Canadian government listening station.
With McKnight when he was taken prisoner at Hongkong. were his twin brother, Gerald, and another brother, Melville. The three McKnight brothers, together with Johnny Matheson, Douglas Morrison and Bill Robertson, all of Winnipeg, and Johnny St. Clair, Chicago, were members of a small band who broadcast the song from Tokyo.
Just off the press, "I'll Never Say Good-bye Again" has been adopted as theme song by the Royal Rifles of Canada, War Prisoners' Association members of which all are relatives of Canadian soldiers taken at Hongkong. They cannot send parcels to their boys and have received only one letter each from them since December, 1941, when they were imprisoned.
All royalties from sale of the song are being deposited to the credit of Pte. McKnight. It has a haunting tune and the words go like this:
I'll never say "good-bye" again
I'll never make you cry again,
I'll never say "good-bye" again to you.
Though we're apart, you're in my heart
Fond memories come back to me
Of happy hours that yesterday we knew.
At the end of each day
In my dreams I drift away
To the harbor where my dreams will all come true.
And when the clouds roll by again,
With rainbows in the sky again,
I'll never say "good-bye" again
to you.
Unknown newspaper clipping

SOLDIER-COMPOSER FOR T. B. TREATMENT
Elmer McKnight, Winnipeg, in Family Reunion; 3 Brothers Prisoners of Japs.
Monday was a big day in the life of Mrs. G. W. McKnight, mother of the Winnipeg Grenadier who wrote the hit song, "I'll Never Say Goodbye Again." The soldier-composer son, Elmer McKnight came home yesterday for the first time in more than four years.
He has been confined to a bed in the Winnipeg tuberculosis clinic since his arrival here October 19th. Nobody but his family have been allowed to see him.
Last night two more sons arrived home from the Jap Prison Camp in which all three sons were interned at Yokohama. Pte. Gerald McKnight, Elmer's twin, and Pte. Melville, an older brother, arrived here completing the last lap of their long journey. For the first time in more than four years the whole family was together.
The tall good looking soldier who wrote, "I'll Never Say Goodbye Again," hasn't any immediate plans in the field of music. He has written a second song which he calls "I'm Dreaming of Home," and has placed it in the hands of a music publisher.
For T.B. Treatment.
But Elmer explains, the doctor says, "I must be in bed for the winter at least." He is entering Ninette Tuberculosis Sanitarium this week.
He is going to have a try at earning his living at song writing when he is well again. He doesn't plan on marrying Lorraine Ramsay, the girl who was the inspiration for his first song, written in August, 1943, in a Jap Prison Camp until after he is out of hospital.
Elmer says he didn't intend to do anything with his first song. He wrote it for entertaining of the boys who were imprisoned with him and to express the longing that was in his heart.
"When the song caught on in Canada and the United States," he says, it hit me like a bolt from the blue."
In Jap Shipyard.
The big grenadier worked in a Jap shipyard at Yokohama building tin cans for the Jap Navy," and wrote his song between shifts. Then in a particularly benevolent mood the Japs recorded and broadcast the tune. McKnight suspects it was broadcast for propaganda purposes.
Copyrighted for Him.
When the song was first made public in Canada, Federal authorities in Ottawa copyrighted, in McKnight's name.
It was more than a year later that McKnight learned his song had made a hit in Canada. An older brother, Rex McKnight, handled all the business arrangements here.
When the song reached Canada it was given a boost by several radio stations, besides Mart Kenny and Toronto's Happy Gang Winnipeg orchestras welcomed McKnight home with I'll Never Say Goodbye Again and incidentally so did Lorraine.
Elmer doesn't know exactly how much he made out of the song and it doesn't worry him.
I know I'm home, I'm free and happy," he said. "They couldn't kill me in four years over there so I don't think I've got much to worry about now."
Special Dispatch to The Daily Gleaner Winnipeg, Oct. 31.

’C’ Force Family Connections:

Brother of H6863 Melville McKnight
Twin Brother of H6865 Gerald McKnight

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.
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