Individual Report: L2721 Jack SMITH

Rank:	First Name:	Second Name:
General Information
Private	Jack
From:	Enlistment Region:	Date of Birth (y-m-d):
Saskatoon SK	Saskatchewan	1921-10-25
Appointment:	Company:	Platoon:
	HQ Coy

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
41/12/21	Compound fracture of right ulnar	36

Hospital Information

Name of hospital	Date of admission	Date of discharge	Comments	Reference
HK-BMH	01/20/1942	02/14/1942		118
Hk-BMH	09/04/1942	09/23/1942		118

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 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	N/A
JP-To-15B	Niigata-Tekko	Niigata-ken, Niigata City, Yamanoshita, Akiba-dori, Japan	Niigata Ironworks Company		N/A	N/A

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

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
2010-06-17		Post War
Cemetery Location	Cemetery	Grave Number	Gravestone Marker
Calgary Alberta Canada	Eden Brook Memorial Gardens	Field of Honour

Gravestone Image

Obituary / Life Story

SMITH, Jack October 25, 1921 - June 17, 2010 Jack Smith passed away peacefully on June 17, 2010 at the Foothills Hospital at the age of 88 years. Born in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, Jack served with the Winnipeg Grenadiers in WWII defending Hong Kong. Jack was captured by the Japanese and was a prisoner of war in Japan for four and a half years. Jack is lovingly remembered by his wife of sixty-three years Elsie, his children Sharron, Robert, Patricia, and Randal, their spouses Brian, Lori, Will, and Jocelyne, grandchildren Brice, Robert, David, Jacklyn, Jovien, Michael, and Chloe, their spouses Jodie, Natalie, and Daniela, and great-grandchildren Madysyn, and Maddex. The family wishes to especially thank all the staff at the Dialysis Unit at the Foothills Hospital for their years of dedication to Jack and the staff on Unit 37. Funeral Services will be held on Wednesday, June 23, 2010 at 11:00 a.m. at LEYDEN'S FUNERAL HOME on 17 Avenue and 2 Street S.W. In lieu of flowers or gifts, contributions to the Hong Kong Veterans Association ( www.hkvca.ca ) would be appreciated. Condolences may be forwarded to the family by visiting www.leydens.com . Arrangements entrusted to LEYDEN'S FUNERAL HOME, RECEPTION & CREMATION CENTRE. Telephone: 403-228-4422. (Published in Calgary Herald - 21 Jun '10

Links and Other Resources

Jack Smith: A Day in a POW Camp at Nigata Japan

General Comments

No comments found.

End of Report.

Report generated: 27 Apr 2025.

Back to 'C' Force Home Page

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.