Individual Report: H6901 Walter WHILLIER

Rank:	First Name:	Second Name:
General Information
Lance Corporal	Walter	Clifford
From:	Enlistment Region:	Date of Birth (y-m-d):
Brandon MB	Manitoba	1899-07-31
Appointment:	Company:	Platoon:
	C

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	09/05/1942	09/09/1942	Died while in hospital	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 09

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
Whillier Island	in Billard Lake, Manitoba	Manitoba	64 H/01	57 09' 22"; 96 07' 27"	1995

Other Military or Public Service

Served in WW1 with 4th C.D.A.C. March 12, 1917 to May 29, 1919. Also in the Reserve Manitoba Rangers 1922 to 1936 and the Res Home Guard from July 1922 to when he signed for WW2

Death and Cemetery Information

Date of Death (y-m-d)	Cause of Death	Death Class
1942-09-09	Diphtheria & Beri Beri	Died while POW
Cemetery Location	Cemetery	Grave Number	Gravestone Marker
Cape Collinson Road Chai Wan Hong Kong China	Sai Wan War Cemetery	VIII. F. 25.	NA

Gravestone Image

Brandon Municipal Cemetery, Manitoba Canada Walter Clifford Whillier

Obituary / Life Story

Son of LCol. Charles John Whillier and Ada Annie Whillier, of Brandon, Manitoba. Brother of Charles, Ernest and Annie. Husband of Hilda Frances (nee Baker) Whillier and father of Gladys Maureen and Kathleen Patricia, of Brandon, Manitoba. Lance Corporal Whillier also served in the First World War enlisting in 1917. Lance Corporal Walter Clifford Whillier is commemorated on the Hong Kong Memorial Wall, Panel 3, Ottawa, Ontario.

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

No comments found.

End of Report.

Report generated: 27 Apr 2025.

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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.
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.
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.
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.