Individual Report: H6937 Ernest GARBUTT

Rank:	First Name:	Second Name:
General Information
Private	Ernest	William
From:	Enlistment Region:	Date of Birth (y-m-d):
Lyleton MB	Manitoba	1909-09-07
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	09/02/1942	N/A		118

POW Camps

Camp ID	Camp Name	Location	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	45 Sep 10

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
1948-07-28		Post War
Cemetery Location	Cemetery	Grave Number	Gravestone Marker
Sherbrooke Quebec Canada	St. Peter Cemetery Prospect St.		Yes

Gravestone Image

Obituary / Life Story

Entered into rest at the Sherbrooke Hospital, on Wednesday, July 28th, 1948, Ernest W. Garbutt, beloved husband of Edna May Knapp, in his 39th year. Resting at the late residence, 34 Elgin Avenue. Funeral will be held on Saturday, July 31st, prayers at the above address at 3:15 p.m., thence to St. Peter's Church for service at 3:45 p.m. Rev. C. Jensen officiating. Interment in Prospect St. Cemetery, Blake's Funeral Home, Phone 404.

Sherbrooke, Sept. 10. The funeral of Ernest W. Garbutt, who passed away on July 28, at the Sherbrooke Hospital, at the age of thirty-eight years, was held on July 31, at the late residence, 34 Elgin Avenue, where prayers were said at 3:15 p. m., thence to St. Peter's E Church, for the funeral service at 4 3:45 p. m. The Rev. C. Jenson officiated, with Mr. W. Bishop, the organist. The hymns sung were "Rock Of Ages" and "Abide With Me." The casket was draped with the Canadian Legion flag. The bearers were Messrs. Henry Salter, Alvin Davidson, Renard Cote, Leonard Wood, Raymond Ross and Clifford A Robinson, all veterans of Hong Kong.

The deceased had been in ill health since his return from Hong Kong, in 1945, and at that time was a member of the Winnipeg Grenadiers. He leaves to mourn his passing, his wife, the former Edna Knapp; his father, Mr. Charles Garbutt, of Brandon, Man.; one brother and sister-in-law and niece, Mr. and Mrs. Russell Garbutt and Verna, of Mentmore, Man.; two aunts, Mrs. G. Fennell and Miss May Garbutt; a cousin, Mrs. Ruth Fennell, all of Edmonton, Alta.; a father and mother-in-law, Mr. and Mrs. George Knapp; two brothers and sisters-in-laws, Mr. and Mrs. Douglas Knapp and Mr. and Mrs. Gordon Knapp; one niece and one nephew, Dorothy and Ronald Knapp, all of Sherbrooke; also many other relatives and friends, in Manitoba and Sherbrooke.

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.
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