The Canadian Hong Kong Veterans have suffered from lack of understanding of their experience since their return home after the war. The Hong Kong Veterans Commemorative Association has chosen not to edit or censor their voices in any way. These stories are personal. They are written about a time that affected these soldiers deeply. Some of the stories are raw and use terms that are considered highly derogatory today. All are moving. We invite you to meet the men behind the soldier’s uniform, and hear what they have to say to you.
Personal Accounts and Interviews
The personal accounts of our veterans provide a valuable and unique view of the battle and aftermath. These pages will collect their accounts so all may benefit.
If you wish to publish a personal account of a veteran please contact us and we'll either include it on this site or link to your site.
On This Site
Accounts and interviews that are hosted on this site or sub-sites are available below.
Those that have been translated or partially translated display a bilingual title or an asterisk (*).
Sorted by last name
- Harry Atkinson's Story
- Entrevue - Harry Atkinson Interview
- Alfred Babin*
-
Robert Barter Part 1 (PDF)
Robert Barter Part 2 (PDF) - William Bell*
- Charles Birch Diary (this is a 123MB zipfile, composed of photos of the original diary. Hard to read.)
- Bruce Cadoret's Story / Récit de Bruce Cadoret
- Vince Calder's Account*
- Kenneth Cambon - Guest of Hirohito
- Arnold Carrier's Story / Récit d'Arnold Carrier
- Frank Christensen's Story / Récit de Frank E. Christensen
- Kay Christie's Story / Récit de Kay Christie
- Typical Speech by Kay Christie
- René Charron's Story
- Bob Clayton's Story / Récit de Bob Clayton
- George Churchill's Story
- Leonard Corrigan's Story
- H/Capt F .J. Deloughery
- Phil Doddridge: Memories Uninvited
- Stanley Edgar
- Ken Ewing's Story
- Tom Forsyth*
- Gerry Gerrard's Story
- Ernie Hodkinson
- Récit de John James' (WG) Story
- C. Douglas Johnston's Story / Récit de C. Douglas Johnston
- R. T. Johnson's Story
- Padre Laite
- George S. MacDonell - Liberation Day
- George S. MacDonell - Clark and Cameron - Unsung Canadian Heros
- Ralph MacLean's Story / Récit de Ralph MacLean
- Don MacPherson's Memoirs
- Tom Marsh
- Donald McLeod
- George Peterson's Story / Récit de George Peterson
- K.E. Porter
- Lance Ross
- Ed Shayler's Story Day 1 / Récit d’Ed Shayler - Jour 1
- Ed Shayler's Story Day 2 / Récit d’Ed Shayler – jour 2
- Jack Smith’s Story / Récit de Jack Smith
- Larry Stebbe's Story / Récit de Larry Stebbe
- Randy Steele's Story
- Edward L. Terry
-
WOII John Thomson (
PDF ) A post-war account (late 1945) dealing in detail with the transfer from Hong Kong to Japan, and the voyage back to Canada. There are duplicate pages. Published with permission of the Canadian War Museum
Accession No. 19800485-009
George Metcalf Archival Collection - Charles Richard (Dick) Trick (WG)
- Dick Wilson's Story / Récit de Dick Wilson
External Links
- Maj Maurice A. Parker: compiled by his son, Ron
- Gordon Bell's Biography: listed on the Canadian Virtual War Memorial Site (VAC)
- Georges "Blacky" Verreault - Diary - book excerpts. Written by his son, Michel Verreault. (As of April 2023, the link was not working)
- John (Jack) Laing, RRC - short biography (awaiting new location)
Other Links
Veterans Affairs Canada - Heroes Remember Video Archive - Personal accounts on video. Search using the individual's last name plus "battle of hong kong".
At the HKVCA Gallery site there are various scans of newspaper and magazine articles where veterans have provided personal accounts and insights.
You can also check out the Links part of this site, available from the Reference Library link at the top of most of our pages, and our book list.