1st Bn The Winnipeg Grenadiers
General Information | ||
| Rank: | First Name: | Second Name: |
|---|---|---|
| Private | Walter | |
| From: | Enlistment Region: | Date of Birth (y-m-d): |
| Winnipeg MB | Saskatchewan | 1916-11-09 |
| 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
| Date Wounded | Wound Description | References |
|---|---|---|
| 41/12/12 | N/A |
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 | 45 Sep 10 |
Transportation SE Asia to Home
| Transport Mode | Arrival Destination | Arrival Date | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| USS Admiral CF Hughes | Victoria, BC | 1945-10-09 | Manila to Victoria BC |
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 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1952-01-14 | Post War | ||
| Cemetery Location | Cemetery | Grave Number | Gravestone Marker |
| Edmonton Alberta Canada | Beechmount Cemetery | ||
Gravestone Image
Obituary / Life Story
Rogers- on January 14th Mr. Walter Rogers of 9926 101 St., passed away in the city. He leaves to mourn his loss his wife in Winnipeg. Funeral services will be held on Monday January 21st at 11:00 a.m. from Andrews-McLaughlin Funeral Chapel. Interment will be made in the Beechmount cemetery.
ref: Edmonton Journal, Saturday, 19 January 1952, Page 18.
Winnipeg man is found dead
A man identified by personal papers as Walter Rogers, 36, of Winnipeg, was found dead with a gunshot wound in his head in a small downtown hotel at 8:45 p.m. Monday.
A Mauser revolver was found nearby. It was found by police that the man registered at the hotel last Friday as W. Brown, of Calgary. Personal papers indicated he was Walter Rogers, 328 Aberdeen Ave. Winnipeg. A general service button was found among his effects.
Unknown newspaper clipping, January 15th, 1952
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.
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.
- 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
- Find a Grave® is a valuable resource that may contain additional information on this 'C' Force member. When you arrive at the site search page, fill in as much detail as you can for best results.
General Comments
Police say suicide gun used in Bank hold up
A surprise development came Tuesday from police investigations into Edmonton's one man bank hold up at the McKernan branch of the Bank of Toronto last December 14th, 1951.
Detective inspector Bert Petheram stated Wednesday that a Mauser automatic, which was found at the scene of an alleged suicide Monday evening, had been definitely identified as the gun taken from the bank manager at the time of the holdup.
Believed to have taken his own life Monday was a man identified as Walter Rogers, 36, of Winnipeg. His body was found in an hotel, lying in a pool of blood, with the gun nearby.
In the bank robbery, which occurred at 10:15 a.m. at the south side branch, A man carrying a sawed-off rifle held employees at Bay while gathering $1,400 from the cashiers. Before leaving the bank the man took the bank managers Mauser automatic.
Tuesday, the filed off serial number of the gun found by the body was "raised" by application of chemicals. Police found the serial number was that of the missing bank gun.
Inspector Petheram also said the bank manager had visited the morgue, and stated that the dead man matched the description of the bank robber. Authorities are continuing investigation centering around the dispatch of a large quantity of money to Winnipeg sometime in December.
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.
- 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.