1st Bn The Winnipeg Grenadiers
General Information | ||
| Rank: | First Name: | Second Name: |
|---|---|---|
| Lieutenant | David | Aaron |
| From: | Enlistment Region: | Date of Birth (y-m-d): |
| Winnipeg MB | Manitoba | 1920-02-22 |
| Appointment: | Company: | Platoon: |
| Adjutant | Bn HQ | |
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
| Name of hospital | Date of admission | Date of discharge | Comments | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| HK-BMH | 09/13/1942 | 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 | 45 Sep 10 | ||
| HK-SA-02 | Shamshuipo | Kowloon, Hong Kong | 43 Aug 19 | 44 May 11 | ||
| HK-SA-02 | Shamshuipo | Kowloon, Hong Kong | 44 May 11 | 45 Sep 10 |
Transportation SE Asia to Home
| Transport Mode | Arrival Destination | Arrival Date | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| USS Admiral Hugh Rodman | Vancouver, BC | 1945-10-07 | Manilla to Vancouver, 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 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2012-07-20 | Post War | ||
| Cemetery Location | Cemetery | Grave Number | Gravestone Marker |
| Victoria British Columbia Canada | Congregation Emanu-El Cemetery | Row A - 11 | |
Gravestone Image
Obituary / Life Story
David A. Golden Born 22 February 1920 at Sinclair MB, died 20 July 2012 at Victoria Hospice, Royal Jubilee Hospital, Victoria. LL.B., LL.D. (Carleton, Manitoba, Winnipeg), Order of Canada, Queen's Diamond Jubilee Medal; Rhodes Scholar, prisoner of war at Hong Kong (1941-45), Deputy Minister of Defence Production and Industry, president of the Air Industries Association of Canada, founding president of Telesat Canada, member of the Canadian Telecommunications Hall of Fame and many community and corporate boards, recipient of the John H. Chapman Award for contributions to Canada's space program. David was devoted to his family, his people and his country, wise, loyal, generous and an inexhaustible supply of stories. He was predeceased by his beloved daughter Sari and his granddaughter Katie Rose, survived by his wife of 65 years, Molly, sons Mark (JoAnne) and Peter (Charlotte), grandchildren Julia, Darcy and Max, siblings Don, Esther Carr and Frances Miles, many nieces and nephews and a rich legacy of memories and achievements. The family thanks Dr Stephen Starr, Victoria Hospice and the staff of Sunrise Senior Living. No long goodbyes, Dad. Rest easy
Memorable Manitobans: David A. Golden (1920-2012)
Lawyer, civil servant, telecommunications pioneer.
Born at Sinclair on 22 February 1920, one of four children of Russian immigrants Sholem Wilfrid Golden (1885-1970) and Rose Perlman (18901987), he spent his early childhood in Vancouver and Montreal before returning to Winnipeg at the age of 11. He attended public school in Winnipeg and also the I. L. Peretz Folk School. To raise money for university education, he borrowed money from his uncle Sam Perlman and enrolled in the Law School of the University of Manitoba, graduating in 1941.
He was selected a Rhodes Scholar in 1941 but enlisted in the Canadian Army rather than attending Oxford University. He joined the Winnipeg Grenadiers as an intelligence officer, rising to the rank of Captain. He was in Hong Kong when it was invaded by the Japanese army and spent the next three years and eight months in a prisoner-of-war camp. On returning to Winnipeg after the war, he was admitted to the Manitoba Bar and travelled to England to take up his Rhodes scholarship. He spent eight months in England then returned to Winnipeg in 1947. He practiced law with Samuel Freedman and also taught at the University of Manitoba Law School.
In 1951, he accepted an invitation to join the legal branch of the federal Department of Defence Production, which necessitated a move to Ottawa. He rose quickly, to Branch Director, then to General Counsel, then Assistant Deputy Minister. In September 1954, at the age of 34, he became the youngest Deputy Minister in Ottawa. It was during his tenure with the Department that the Avro Arrow project was cancelled.
He resigned from the federal civil service in 1961 and spent a year at the Air Industries Association of Canada (AIAC) before returning to government for a year as Deputy Minister in the newly-created Department of Industry. In July 1962, he became President of the AIAC. In 1969, when the federal government created Telesat Canada consortium with private industry to develop a communications satellite system for the country, Golden became its Founding President. The firm launched its first Anik A1 satellite in November 1972 and he received the first long-distance telephone call carried by satellite in Canada, from Resolute to Ottawa. He stepped down as President in 1981 but remained Chairman and a full-time employee until retirement in 1985.
In recognition of his service to Canada, he was inducted into the Order of Canada in 1977. He received honorary doctorates from the University of Manitoba (1986), Carleton University, and University of Winnipeg (2011). He was inducted into the Canadian Telecommunications Hall of Fame and received the Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal (2002) and Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal (2012).
He died at Victoria, British Columbia on 20 July 2012
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
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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.