The Royal Canadian Corps of Signals
General Information | ||
| Rank: | First Name: | Second Name: |
|---|---|---|
| Signalman | Lionel | Curtis |
| From: | Enlistment Region: | Date of Birth (y-m-d): |
| Victoria BC | British Columbia | 1919-09-10 |
| Appointment: | Company: | Platoon: |
| Despatch Rider | Brigade Headquarters | |
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-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-To-6B | Suwa | Nagono-ken, Suwa-gun, Kitayama-mura, Japan | Nippon Steel Tube & Mining Company | Labour at an open-pit iron ore mine | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| USS Ozark Passenger List A | SF | 1945-10-02 | evacuated from Japan via USS Ozark |
From the records of Gene Labiuk: USS OZARK via San Francisco.
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.
Decorations Received
| Image | Name of Award | Abbreviation | References | Precedence | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Military Medal | MM | 37, 38, 123 | 08 | Citation not found |
Other Military 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 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2006-04-30 | Post War | ||
| Cemetery Location | Cemetery | Grave Number | Gravestone Marker |
| Yes | |||
Gravestone Image
No other or additional related information found. Please submit documents to us using the contact link at the top of this page.
Obituary / Life Story
Lionel Curtis Speller, MM, age 86, passed away Sunday, ApriI 30, 2006 at the Lodge at Broadmead. Lionel was born in Victoria on September 10, 1919 to Alexander and Melville Speller. He was the sixth of eight spirited children and became a keen participant in sports, especially soccer, boxing and motorcycle riding. During World War 11, Lionel was stationed in Hong Kong as a dispatch rider in the Royal Canadian Corps of Signals with the Royal Rifles of Canada. He was later awarded the Military Medal for courage and devotion under fire. Lionel was a POW of the Japanese for almost four years, an experience that through its atrocities, forged an everlasting bond with his comrades. In 1952, he married Ida C. Bergstrom, who was his loving support for the rest of his life. They had two swell children. Lionel remained dedicated to his family and his community, and to helping veterans both personally and through his work at the Department of Veterans Affairs. He held several positions with the Hong Kong Veterans Association and the Royal Canadian Legion, and received many service awards, the Legion Meritorious Service Medal and the Palm Leaf being among them. Lionel is survived by his wife, Ida; son, and daughter-in-law, Ross and Wendy of Kamloops; daughter and son-in-law, Carol and Arlen Goodwine of Medford, Oregon; three grandchildren; two great-grandchildren; two brothers and one sister; and 23 nieces and nephews. He was much loved and will be greatly missed by family and friends. A Legion memorial service with reception to follow will be held Saturday, May 6 at 1 p.m. at the Royal Canadian Legion, 411 Gorge Rd. East. Donations may be made to the Royal Canadian Legion Trafalgar Pro Patria Branch 292 or to the Hong Kong Veterans Commemorative Association. #28451
Links and Other Resources
Read more about RCCS 'C' Force members in Burke Penny's book Beyond the Call published by HKVCA.
Facebook has proven to be a valuable resource in the documentation of 'C' Force members. The following link will take you to any available search results for this soldier based on his regimental number. Note: results may be contained within another related record. Facebook Search Results
→ Related documentation for information published in this report, such as birth information, discharge papers, press clippings and census documents may be available via shared resources in our HKVCA Vault. It is organized with folders named using regimental numbers. Use the first letter of the individual's service number to choose the correct folder, then scroll to the specific sub-folder displaying the service number of your interest.
General Comments
Lionel Curtis Speller was born in Victoria, British Columbia in 1919. His father Alexander William, and his mother Melville Ormuz came to Canada from London, England. Lionel had six brothers and one sister to play with during his boyhood years. While he was growing up he had a passion for sports. He was very competitive and enjoyed success participating in soccer, boxing, wrestling, and bicycle racing. As Lionel grew older he developed a passion for motorcycles, which he maintains to this day. That would explain why he became a dispatch rider for the Signal Corps in WWII.
Prior to enlisting in February 1941, Lionel was the manager of a shoe clinic owned by the Hertz brothers, located in the Hudson Bay Company store in Victoria. There was never a question in his mind about the need to serve his country.
Lionel found himself serving in the Canadian Army Ordinance Corps as a shoemaker. While he was waiting for his corporal stripes, he was transferred to the Bay Street Armory in Victoria to await placement. Shortly afterward, while performing the duties of doorman, an old friend of his father’s entered the armory. His name was Colonel St. Louis from the Canadian Signal Corps. When he saw Lionel he asked him if he was interested in joining the Signal Corps. His love of motorcycles made for an easy decision. By November 1941, Lionel Curtis Speller found himself shipping out with his comrades to Hong Kong.
As a prisoner of war, he remained in Hong Kong until January 1943. He was then sent to work as a slave laborer in Camp 3D, Nippon Kokan Shipyards in Japan. The last five months of the war found Lionel imprisoned in a hellhole called Suwa, which was an iron ore mine located in the mountains north of Tokyo. He remembers seeing Japanese troops training in the distance on Mt. Fujyama. There was a Japanese interpreter in Suwa who was somewhat sympathetic to the P.O.W.’S. He had spent some time in both Canada and the United States before the war. He had returned to Japan before the onset of WWII to be with his ill father. Hostilities broke out and he found himself in the Japanese army as an interpreter. He gave the P.O.W.’S the first indication that the war was coming to an end. He would have been shot if it had been discovered that he was passing along any form of information.
Shortly afterwards, Lionel recalls seeing the mushroom cloud in the distance over Hiroshima, after the Americans dropped the first atom bomb. It wasn’t long before the Japanese guards abandoned them. Years of forced labor, starvation, disease and suffering had taken their toll. American planes started dropping food. A lot of our brave men became very sick because their bodies were not accustomed to adequate sustenance. The natural reaction was to eat too much, and many paid the price. The first Americans to arrive at Suwa were a group of big strong marines. They were very surprised with the poor condition of the men in the camp. The Japanese had told the marines the Canadians were a bunch of “ bad guys.”
Like all of our returning Hong Kong Veterans, Lionel suffered with his share of health problems. He remained in the army until March 1946, when he was released due to his health. Upon his return to hometown Victoria, he found that his job as a manager in the shoe industry was still waiting for him.
In 1952 Lionel and his beautiful wife Ida (Bergstrom) were married, and remained in Victoria. They have two children, Ross who lives in Kamloops, and Carol who lives in Medford, Oregon.
Lionel Speller was the only Canadian Dispatch Rider to receive the Military Medal. It was presented to him after the war by the then Lt. Governor of British Columbia, the Rt. Honorable Charles Arthur Banks. Lionel joined The Royal Canadian Legion upon his return from overseas, and is a lifetime member. He has received a meritorious service medal for his many years as a service officer in the Legion. For over thirty years, Lionel has served his comrades as President of The Hong Kong Veterans Association in British Columbia.
Reprinted from HKVCA BC Region newsletter March 2002
End of Report.
Report generated: 04 Dec 2024.
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.
- 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.