1st Bn The Winnipeg Grenadiers
General Information | ||
| Rank: | First Name: | Second Name: |
|---|---|---|
| Private | Henry | Andrew |
| From: | Enlistment Region: | Date of Birth (y-m-d): |
| Kindersley SK | Saskatchewan | 1919-03-27 |
| Appointment: | Company: | Platoon: |
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 |
|---|---|---|
| 41/12/19 | 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 | 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 May 13 |
| JP-Se-1B | Yumoto | Fukushima-ken, Iwaki-gun, Yumoto-cho, Mizunoya, Japan | Joban Coal Mining Company | 45 May 13 | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| NATS 90411 | Oakland | 1945-09-25 |
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 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000-10-22 | Post War | ||
| Cemetery Location | Cemetery | Grave Number | Gravestone Marker |
| Edmonton Alberta Canada | Beechmount Cemetery | Yes | |
Gravestone Image
Obituary / Life Story
HLADYCH, Henry On October 22, 2000, Mr. Henry Hladych of Edmonton passed away at the age of 81 years.
He is survived by his daughter, Diana and partner Peter Turnbull; two brothers and three sisters; his aunts, Doris Yanda of Edmonton and Julia Chownick of Calgary; also numerous nieces, nephews and cousins. Predeceased by his wife in 1992, Rozelle.
Henry served his country in WWII with the Winnipeg Grenadiers. He was captured during the fall of Hong Kong on December 25, 1941 and was interred in Japanese prison camps for the remainder of the war.
Funeral Rite Friday, October 27 at 2:00 p.m. at St. John's Ukrainian Orthodox Cathedral, 10951-107 Street. Very Reverend Stephan Semotiuk officiating with interment in Beechmount Cemetery. In lieu of other tributes, donations may be made to the Edmonton and District Historical Society, Box 1013, Edmonton, AB, T5J 2M1. Park Memorial Ltd. Funeral Administrators and Directors (The Chapel on the Boulevard) 426-0050.
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.
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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
CONVICTED ON AFFIDAVITS OF CANADIAN VETS
OTTAWA June 24 (CP)-Affidavits of 16 Canadian veterans of Hong Kong have helped convict three Japanese Overseers of a mining company, charged with brutal treatment of Allied war prisoners working at the mine, army headquarters announced today.
Sentences of imprisonment at hard labour were imposed on Tsurugi Komatsu, Masao Suzuki and Ken Suzuki.
Komatsu, nicknamed "Bulldog" by prisoners, was civilian overseer of the Kashima coal mine. He was found guilty of 33 charges, including beating prisoners with a mine hammer, shovel, pick handle and other weapons, and was sentenced to 25 years in prison.
The other two were mine foremen under Komatsu, and received sentences of 13 and four years respectively.
Employed in the mine were Canadian, Dutch and English prisoners of war from Sendai area camp 1-B, at Yumoto, Island of Honshu.
The Canadian veterans supplying affidavits describing brutal treatment in the mine were: Matthew William Murray Oshawa, Ont.; John T. Ferrigan Campbell's Bay, Que; Henry Hladych, Kindersley, Sask; Jack Rose, Vancouver, B.C.; Robert C. Stager Ayr, Ont.; Leo Paul Berard, Winnipeg; Ralph D. Alley, Trent River, Ont.; John D. Caruso, Fort William; James H. Stewart, Albert Delbridge and John Kitt, all of Winnipeg; Sylvere Arsenault Atholville, N.B.; James A. Flanagan, Joseph Frenette and Joseph A. Dempsey all of Jacquet River, N.B.; and William J. Overton, Toronto.
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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