1st Bn The Winnipeg Grenadiers
General Information | ||
| Rank: | First Name: | Second Name: |
|---|---|---|
| Private | Wilbert | Howard |
| From: | Enlistment Region: | Date of Birth (y-m-d): |
| Newton Siding MB | Manitoba | 1923-04-06 |
| 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
No record of hospital visits found.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 Aug 15 | ||
| JP-Os-3B | Oeyama | Kyoto-fu, Yosa-gun, Yoshizu-mura, Sutsu, Japan | Nippon Yakin Nickel Mine & Refinery | Mining nickel & work at the refinery | 43 Sep 01 | 45 Sep 02 |
Transport to Japan
| Draft Number | Name of Ship | Departure Date | Arrival Date | Arrival Port | Comments | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| XD4A | 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 |
Transportation SE Asia to Home
| Transport Mode | Arrival Destination | Arrival Date | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hospital ship Marigold | USS Glory to Hospital ship Marigold |
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
No other or additional related information found. Please submit documents to us using the contact link at the top of this page.
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 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000-04-20 | Post War | ||
| Cemetery Location | Cemetery | Grave Number | Gravestone Marker |
| Edmonton Alberta Canada | St. Michael's Cemetery | 25, 287, 23 | |
Gravestone Image
Obituary / Life Story
H77269 Wilbur LYNCH- Wilbert Lynch was born in Portage, Manitoba on April 6th 1923 and was raised on a farm with two brothers and three sisters. He left home when he was 13 years old and worked for five dollars a month plus room and board at a few local farms. Three days after turning seventeen he joined the army and trained on the Bren gun in Camp Shilo and became a member of the 18th Manitoba Regiment.
Transcribed from the Legion Manitoba and Northwestern Ontario Command Military Service Recognition Book
Wilbur was born on April 7, 1923 in Portage la Prairie, Manitoba. He enlisted in the Canadian Army in 1941 in Winnipeg and served with the Winnipeg Grenadiers in Canada and Hong Kong during WWII. Wilbur was taken prisoner in Hong Kong and weighed only 118 pounds when liberated. According to him, no one who survived a Japanese prisoner of war camp was ever the same on release. Wilbur has been a member of The Royal Canadian Legion in Edmonton for a number of years.
Links and Other Resources
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Related documentation
- Our HKVCA Vault (Google Docs) may contain additional information, newspaper clippings, and documents which have been saved for this soldier. To access this information, click on the vault link and a Google Docs folder list will open in a separate tab. Use the first letter of the soldier’s service number, found at the top of this report, to open the correct folder. Each sub-folder is identified by service number. Scroll down until you reach the one of your interest.
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General Comments
Slave labour, meagre rations ruled in Japanese prison camp
George Merritt, 75, remembers what were supposed to be the best years of his life. They were horrible.From age 20 to 24, Merritt, a Second World War veteran from Edmonton, lived and worked in the Japanese prisoner of war camps in Hong Kong.
For 12 hours a day, almost every day for four years, he shovelled coal and broke rocks. He was only given about three teacups of cooked rice a day with the occasional treat of pickled seaweed and protected only by a thin layer of cotton and shoes with worn-out soles.
Winters were hard, and cold. Most of the prisoners were plagued with lice and fleas. When he was finally freed from his back-breaking labour in 1945, his five foot-10 frame had shrunk to 102 pounds from 175 pounds.
For those four years of mistreatment at the hands of the Japanese army, Merritt and other Hong Kong vets hold the Canadian government responsible for reparations.
"It was them that signed everything away on us," said Merritt, referring to the 1952 San Francisco Treaty that waived all Hong Kong veterans' claims on the Japanese government in exchange for $1 a day for each day of the 44 months of imprisonment. After more than 50 years of waiting, Merritt's not holding his breath for any action from the government.
"They wait another few years, they won't have to pay anybody," he said.
"There's veterans dying almost every day now in old age," agreed Henry Hladych. 78, another Hong Kong vet. Delay may have been understandable once, but not anymore. "From the start, the Japanese government wasn't doing very good," said Hladych, referring to the general reluctance to overburden the Japanese economy, which was weak after the war. "(But) it's been pretty good there for quite a while for them."
Merritt said the federal government should compensate its veterans first and then push for reparations from Japan afterward.
"Let (the Canadian government) deal with the Japanese government. The government hasn't done anything."
Merritt said the $24,000, or $18 a day for each Hong Kong vet or widow called for by a recent House of Commons motion was fair. The motion was defeated 127-105 Tuesday. For Hladych, the compensation is a little late. He could have used the money 25 years ago when he had to mortgage his house to put his two children through college.
"It doesn't matter too much to me now," said Hladych, who lives alone.
But for Wilbur Lynch, 75, a Hong Kong vet who has a wife and 10 children, that money has both practical and symbolic value. "We were there under slave labour rules. And I think we should get compensation."
Lynch said it's Japan that should compensate the veterans. On the other hand, he added, that won't happen unless the federal government takes they action.
"We want the Canadian government to stand up," he said.
Lily NGUYEN JOURNAL STAFF WRITER Edmonton
This veteran was interviewed by Veterans Affairs. To view, visit the VAC Video Gallery page and use the search tool. Note: VAC moves pages around constantly, so you may have to work to find the video. Currently the best way to access the Hong Kong veteran interviews is to select the "Heroes Remember" category, then use the advanced search option and click on the "Hong Kong" campaign option.
End of Report.
Report generated: 27 Apr 2025.
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.
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