1st Bn The Winnipeg Grenadiers
General Information | ||
| Rank: | First Name: | Second Name: |
|---|---|---|
| Captain | Alexander | William |
| From: | Enlistment Region: | Date of Birth (y-m-d): |
| Winnipeg MB | Manitoba | 1910-07-05 |
| Appointment: | Company: | Platoon: |
| Platoon Commander | A | 7 Plt |
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 |
|---|---|---|
| 41/12/22; 41/12/25 | shrapnel wound in his hand |
Hospital Information
| Name of hospital | Date of admission | Date of discharge | Comments | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| HK-BMH | 04/09/1942 | 04/20/1942 | 118 |
POW Camps
| Camp ID | Camp Name | Location | Company | Type of Work | Arrival Date | Departure Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| HK-NP-01 | North Point | North Point, Hong Kong Island | 41 Dec 20 | 41 Dec 22 | ||
| HK-AS-01 | Argyle Street | Kowloon, Hong Kong | 41 Dec 22 | Dec 26 | ||
| 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 Gosper | Victoria | 1945-10-12 | Manila to Victoria, BC 1936 British and CDNS |
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 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1984-11-04 | Post War | ||
| Cemetery Location | Cemetery | Grave Number | Gravestone Marker |
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
At his residence in Mississauga on Sunday, Novermber 4, 1984, Alec Prendergast, beloved husband of Dorothy; dear father of Judith (Mrs. R. T. Welfare); loved grandfather of Dorothy Anne, Jennifer, Thomas and David Welfare; dear brother of Bernice Dulmarge, John, Richard and Brent Prendergast.
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
The following was submitted in Oct 2016 by Kathleen Kristjansson (1st cousin, 2x removed)
Alex was born 1910 Jul 05 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. I have a copy of his birth certificate. The website information lists Killarney as his place of birth. This is probably because his first wife was from Killarney, and newspaper accounts of the day listed her, residing in Killarney. In actual fact, after his tour of duty in Jamaica and prior to departing for Hong Kong, divorce proceedings had already been started. The actual divorce did not take place until his return from Hong Kong. I have a newspaper report of his sister going to Vancouver to accompany him home, and his being met at the CPR Station in Winnipeg by three of his brothers. (19 Oct 1945 Winnipeg Free Press) (Three of Alex’s brothers also went to war.)
I was unable to document his entire trip, however, I have a newspaper account (Winnipeg Free Press 20 Sep 1945) that Alex was one of “16 officers and 31 other ranks” to set sail on the SS Gander from Manila bound for San Francisco. He was later, as in the paragraph above, on the CPR home to Winnipeg, arriving 19 Oct 1945 about 6:45 p.m.
Alex did not remain in Winnipeg. He returned to Jamaica, where he married his second wife in 1946. A couple of years later he relocated to Ontario, and with his wife raised a family there.
He died November 4, 1984 in Port Credit, Ontario. He was cremated. I am attaching a copy of the obituary that appeared in the Winnipeg Free Press Tuesday, 6 Nov 1984 page 43. Many Prendergast family members still lived in Winnipeg at the time.
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.
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