Transportation - Home Base to Hong Kong

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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

Hospital Information

POW Camps

Transportation SE Asia to Home

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Post-war Photo

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Other Military or Public Service

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Death and Cemetery Information

Gravestone Image

Obituary / Life Story

JOHN ALBERT BAILIE, E.D - On January 6, 1974 at Victoria, B.C. John Albert Bailie, aged 66 years, beloved husband of Eva Bertha Bailie of Victoria, B.C., loving father of Janeva Lawson of Toronto and Jackie Wilson of Vancouver, B.C. Mr. Bailie was born in Winnipeg and lived all his life in Winnipeg until 1967 when he retired as manager of operations from the Manitoba Liquor Control Commission for health reasons after 44 years of service and came to Victoria. He was an ardent oarsman and served as past president of the Winnipeg Rowing Club, the N.W.I.R.A. and was an executive officer of the C.A.A.O. He was OC Winnipeg Grenadier Cadets from 1924 to 1930 when he joined the parent regiment as a subaltern. He served overseas with his regiment in Jamaica and Hong Kong where he was held a POW for four years. In 1946, he was appointed OC Canadian War Graves Unit as Col. and served in South Asia for approximately a further two years. He was past president of Crescentwood-River Heights Branch, Royal Canadian Legion. He was a Master Mason and long time member of Fort Osborne Lodge A.F. and A.M., G.R.N. Besides his wife and daughters, Mr. Bailie is survived by his mother Mrs. A.J. Bailie of Victoria and two brothers Walter of Vancouver, B.C. and Norman of Winnipeg. Funeral service Wednesday, January 9, 1974 at 11:00 a.m. in the Cunningham Funeral Chapel, Victoria, B.C. Flowers gratefully declined, should friends desire donations may be sent to the Hong Kong Veterans Association, Victoria, c/o Mr. L. Spellor, 3828 Saanich Ave., Victoria, B.C. For further information please contact the Bardal Funeral Home at 774-7474.

Links and Other Resources

The task of burying the Canadian war dead in the Pacific fell to one individual, former pow, Lt. Col. J.A. Bailie. This paper investigates Bailie’s experience that began with his pow journals and ended with the consecration of the Yokohama and Sai Wan Military Cemeteries in Japan and Hong Kong. Bailie’s efforts and the relationships he developed with Canada’s allies heralded successful results, despite meagre resources and support.

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

Canadians Bare Jap Brutalities
Evidence of Horrors Given At Hong Kong
HONG KONG, Aug. 30 — (B.U.P.)- Canadian and British prisoners of war were kicked into the water by Japanese sailors when they tried to climb aboard Japanese ships after their prison "hell ship" Lisbon Maru was torpedoed in October, 1942, it was testified before the war crimes court here today.
Lieut. Geoffrey Hamilton, Second Battalion, Royal Scots, said the prison ship appeared to be an ordinary armed transport.
His affidavit was read at the war crimes trial of Genichiro Niimori, Japanese civilian interpreter, charged with direct responsibility for the death of 846 Canadian and British prisoners of war.
Aboard the "hell ship" on which 1,816 prisoners of war were being transported from Hong Kong to Japan, Hamilton testified, "the air soon became absolutely foul and acrid, with the stench of sweating bodies packed closely together, and also due to the fact that there were no sanitary arrangements whatsoever." Only 970 survived the voyage. Hamilton's affidavit said several of the sick were in a dying condition and that "two died during one night after screaming for water and air."
Canadian Affidavits
Testimony in the form of affidavits by Canadian soldiers highlighted the trial, telling of Japanese atrocities against Canadians, including the hanging of one man for three hours by his hands. Niimori, a small horse-faced man of 40 years, is being tried on 11 counts of war atrocities.
Robert H. Challis, formerly RSM, Middlesex Regiment, England, testified that Niimori ordered Japanese sentries to open fire on prisoners of war when they broke out of the hold of the sinking prison ship after it was torpedoed.
Sapper Arthur P. Noxby, London, in an affidavit, swore that Japanese patrol boats opened rifle fire on prison ship survivors struggling in the water. He said that after being picked up from the water by Japanese ships Niimori took all the survivors' clothing.
Niimori kicked several men from the Second Battalion, Royal Scots, who were unable to stand due to dysentry, the court was told in further sworn statements. The survivors later were transferred to a prison camp at Kobe, Japan.
Brutalities to Sick
Aboard the prison ship before it was torpedoed, prisoners testified that a number of men were sick with dysentry and diphtheria, and when they asked the Japanese guards for water they were handed down a bucket of urine.
"I was one of the men who actually handled this bucket of urine," a statement from George A. Haywood, Pilsley, Derbyshire, said.
The brutally-treated Canadian and British prisoners who survived the torpedoing were forced to work in Nagoya steel mills in Japan, the war crimes tribunal was told. Kenneth Muir, Windsor Mills, Quebec, testified that he and 50 other survivors were jammed into a 20-by-30-foot hold in the Tokyo Maru for the trip back to Japan. He said the box-like room was filled with vermin and the weakened prisoners could not all lie down at the same time.
Other testimony was given concerning alleged filthy conditions aboard the prison ships and Niimori's alleged order to Japanese guards to fire on prisoners who tried to escape when the ship was torpedoed. Niimori denied all knowledge of the execution of four Winnipeg Grenadier members who escaped from North Point camp, Hong Kong, in August, 1942, according to his affidavit introduced at the trial here.
Other affidavits sent from Canada by fellow prisoners of war stated the escapees were last seen in the custody of Japanese gendarmes after being recaptured.
Helped Escape
Corp. George Cyril Meagher, Winnipeg, swore he helped four men successfully escape during a typhoon on the night of Aug. 19 despite the heavy guard and an electric fence.
Pte. Alexander Baraskiwich, Fox Warren, Man., stated that he learned the men were later seen in the custody of gendarmes, after which they were not seen. Niimori testified he did not know who executed them.
Maj. John Albert Bailie, Winnipeg, testified that four escapees were picked up by a Japanese patrol boat when the sampan in which they were fleeing began to sink. Bailie said the escapees subsequently were court martialled. The proceedings of the court martial were held in Japanese without benefit of an interpreter.
Other affidavits from members of the Royal Rifles of Canada testified to various brutalities, beatings and bad treatment they underwent during their imprisonment and transfer to Japan or within Japan.
Cpl. Wilfrid Maloof, Noranda, who was imprisoned at the Narumi camp in Japan declared that an American soldier there died within two weeks, during which time he was given one spoonful of rice and one thimbleful of tea three times daily.
George Clarke, Ottawa and Leo Edward Portersfield, Noranda, stated that one prisoner was brutally beaten with fists, tools and rifle butts for trying to sell a portion of his clothing during the trip to Japan aboard the Toyama Maru.
Victim Succumbed
This man subsequently died in Japan, Muir testified. He said when the prisoners reached Japan they were forced to work in the foremost war plant, the Nagoya steel mills. No prisoners were injured when American planes bombed Nagoya, he told the court.
Muir's testimony was further rconfirmed by Murdo Neil MacArthur, Milan, Que., and Renwick Lynn Thompson, Sawyerville, Que.
Corp. James Thomas Murray, East Kildonan, Man., said he was brutally beaten while interned at Bowen Road hospital, and was hung for three hours by his hands when the Japanese accused him of stealing. Similar testimony was given in affidavits by Rifleman James William Archibald, now a patient at Sussex Military Hospital in New Brunswick, by Rifleman Clifford Roye, Bury, Que., and Sgt. Arthur Edward Budd, Winnipeg. Testimony from Corp. Samuel Kravinchuck, Winnipeg Grenadiers, now in Regina, told of a long series of brutalities inflicted on him and other prisoners, and similar evidence was heard from Pte. John Frankiewicz, Fort Whyte, Man.
Maj. Cecil Boon, RASC, now facing a court martial in London, regularly permitted Japanese guards to beat and mistreat British and Canadian prisoners at the Shamshuipo camp here, it was alleged in an affidavit.
Corp. Kenneth Stanley Vincent, formerly of the Royal Rifles of Canada, now living in York County, N.B., swore that whenever prisoners complained to Boon about sickness or bad treatment Boon acquiesced in their beating by the Japanese.

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End of Report.

Report generated: 27 Apr 2025.