1st Bn The Winnipeg Grenadiers
General Information | ||
| Rank: | First Name: | Second Name: |
|---|---|---|
| Second Lieutenant | Richard | Wilfred |
| From: | Enlistment Region: | Date of Birth (y-m-d): |
| Winnipeg MB | Manitoba | 1907-06-24 |
| Appointment: | Company: | Platoon: |
| Transport Officer | HQ Coy | Tpt Sect |
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 | N/A |
Hospital Information
| Name of hospital | Date of admission | Date of discharge | Comments | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| HK-BMH | 09/19/1942 | 10/28/1942 | 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-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 |
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
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Other Military or Public Service
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Death and Cemetery Information
| Date of Death (y-m-d) | Cause of Death | Death Class | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1970-07-19 | Post War | ||
| Cemetery Location | Cemetery | Grave Number | Gravestone Marker |
| Winnipeg Manitoba Canada | Brookside Cemetery | MLTY-6835-0 | Last Post |
Gravestone Image
Obituary / Life Story
X69 Richard QUEEN-HUGHES - Associate editor dies, 62
WINNIPEG (CP) - R. W. Queen-Hughes 62, associate editor of the Winnipeg Tribune, died Sunday at his home.
Mr. Queen-Hughes, a native of London, England, joined the Tribune's editorial department in 1961 as an editorial writer and was made associate editor in 1966.He had spent 27 years as director of public relations for the Winnipeg Electric Co. before joining the public relations department of the Winnipeg and Central Gas Co. in 1954.
The Hong Kong veteran, who had been ill for some time prior to his death, was the author of one book, Whatever Men Dare, a history of the Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders of Winnipeg. He served with the Winnipeg Grenadiers during the Second World War and was taken prisoner in Hong Kong.
A member of the Canadian Institute of International Affairs, Mr. Queen-Hughes was one of four Canadians invited to the Nobel Institute's conference on Western democracies and world problems in Oslo, Norway, in 1955.
From Memorable Manitobans: Richard Wilfred Queen-Hughes (1908-1970) Public relations officer, journalist.
Born at London, England, he came to Manitoba in 1923 to farm in the Killarney area. Five years later, he moved to Winnipeg and spent 27 years as Director of Public Relations for the Winnipeg Electric Company. During the Second World War, he served with the Winnipeg Grenadiers. He was taken prisoner in Hong Kong and spent three and a half years as a prisoner of war. In 1954, he formed his own communications company specializing in employee relations, business management, and public relations.
In 1961, he joined the editorial staff of the Winnipeg Tribune and became its Associate Editor in 1966. For four years, he wrote a Times and Tides column on political, economic, social, and human problems. He was a member of the Winnipeg branch of the Canadian Institute of International Affairs for 34 years and served on its executive for 20 years. He wrote Whatever Men Dare, a history of the Queens Own Cameron Highlanders.
On 24 November 1931, he married Katherine Gloria Queen, daughter of John Queen, and hyphenated his surname with hers. They had a daughter. In 1956, they purchased 697 Wellington Crescent, which had previously been used as a boarding house, and restored it into a 22-room mansion with six fireplaces, parquet floors, glass conservatory, and grand staircase.
He died at his Winnipeg home on 19 July 1970 and was buried in Brookside Cemetery.
Sources: R. W. Queen-Hughes, editorial writer, dies - Winnipeg Free Press, 20 July 1970, page 20. Obituary, Winnipeg Free Press, 22 July 1970, page 32. We thank Joy Hodgkinson for providing additional information used here. This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough. Page revised: 1 February 2015
Links and Other Resources
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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.
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