Submissions and Links

Note: as of May 2023 many of the pages linked here have yet to be updated to our current look and feel. This is an ongoing task.

Recent Additions

(additions will be listed below for about a month, newest at the top, then moved to the appropriate category elsewhere on the page).

Added in August 2024 - Official History of the Canadian Army in the Second World War. Information specific to Hong Kong may be found starting on page 437. (22MB download)

Scroll down for Site Links and Media Links

Please note: this page will almost certainly contain broken external links due to restructuring of external web sites and services. If a link is broken our policy is to leave it in place along with the accompanying information. This will help visitors in focusing their web search with the understanding that the article once existed.

Submissions

Several members or members' families have submitted articles, poems and other documents which are available below. Some entries which focus on an individual have been moved to the Individual Reports on our 'C' Force site. Entries are listed in order received with the latest one last in the list.

Canada's part in the Defence of Hong Kong- by C.R. McGuire

Prisoner of War by Liana Frenette

Faded Glory by Claire Hachey

The Veterans of Hong Kong - Parliament Statement

Christmas, 1941 by Ron Parker

Heads Held High:  The Battle of Hong Kong, 1941 and Beyond - an essay by Darleen Keith

Canada’s Recipients of the Victoria Cross by Ron McGuire

Oriental Odyssey (Poems) by Sid Varcoe H6725 (Link removed, but book available through edmontonbookstore.com)

Memorial Services in Hong Kong Commemorating the 60th Anniversary of the Liberation of "C" Force by Murray Doull has moved

Speech by David Frenette, Great Grandson of John Edward James, H 6912, Winnipeg Grenadiers

Statement about Canada's Hong Kong veterans and the Memorial Wall by The Honourable Vivian Poy to the Senate - 8 Dec '09 (PDF)

PDF Winnipeg Grenadiers Honoured in Names Throughout the Whiteshell by Vince Lopata. (See also our 'C' Force site for more.)

Anna May Waters "In May 1940, May Waters was appointed to the nursing service, Royal Canadian Army Medical Corp. (RCAMC) and in October 1941, she left Canada with another nursing sister, Kay Christie and “C” Force Battalion to serve in Hong Kong..."

Hong Kong Vets from Pilot Mound - newspaper columns, interviews and submissions from family members.

Hong Kong Reunion - Colin Standish. Colin retraces the steps of his grandfather, Colin Alden Standish, RRC.

PDF Communique - The Hong Kong Veterans Memorial Wall - Linda Stewart, Nov '09

Shortwave recordings of Pte Downie, WG and images.

Nov 2011 - I Remember by Austen Cambon

8 December 2011: Japan Apologizes For Treatment of Hong Kong POWs.

Army Cadet History: Page of photos showing the Hong Kong Veterans in Hong Kong when Prime Minister Chretian was on a visit to Southeast Asia. Also shows the Winnipeg Grenadier Cadet Corps at Sai Wan Cemetery for the wreath laying ceremony.

PDF The Story of Hal Shepherd and the effects of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) suffered at Hong Kong and his years as a POW. Written by Winston Smith.

The Canadian War Crimes Liaison Detachment – Far East and the Prosecution of Japanese “Minor” War Crimes by Mark Sweeney (PDF). A thesis presented to the University of Waterloo in fulfillment of the thesis requirement for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in History.

Plaque was mounted by the Royal Rifles of Canada in 1991 in memory of its members who defended Hong Kong from the Japanese army during the siege of that territory in the Fall of 1941.

Speech PDF by Prof Farquharson, Burma vet, at Remembrance Ceremony in Ottawa, August 2015.

Captain Lionel Hurd's Story by his son Fred.

Added in May 2020: Compliments of Colin Standish: Charles G. Roland interviews with HK veterans (Dr. Roland wrote Long Night's Journey into Day).

"Dropped Messages" (PDF) From the archives of Alex Nolan: USAF texts to POWs as part of re-supply drops to the POW camps after VJ day.

Sweeney, Mark (2018) "“Representing Canadian Interests in all Matters Relative to Canadian War Dead:”PDF Lt. Col. J.A. Bailie and the
Recovery, Concentration and Burial of the “C” Force Casualties in Japan and Hong Kong," Canadian Military History: Vol. 27 : Iss. 1 ,
Article 14. Available at: http://scholars.wlu.ca/cmh/vol27/iss1/14

Added in Jan 2020: PDF Tactical Map and Timeline of the Battle of Hong Kong submitted by John Russell

Added in May 2020: Len Birchall's Address to the HKVA in the year 2000 (four years before his death) submitted by Derrill Henderson

Added in Oct 2020: "Shadow Lights of Shamshuipo Hong Kong" by Staff Sergeant H.P. McNaughton, Winnipeg Grenadiers. Poems and Memories of a POW in Hong Kong. Link to external site Link to document at archive.org.

Received in January 2021 from Eugene Labiuk: They Came Home Via the Phillipines - Parts 3 and 4. Updated in August 2024 with a web-friendly version.

Received in January 2021 from Eric Gyselman (son): Letter home from Harry Gyselman, WG, dated November 1941 (PDF): Page 1 | Page 2

Published in March 2021. Online edition of Margaret Dennis Owen's book: The Home Front: Hopscotch and Heartache While Daddy was at War

Received in January 2021 and posted in Feb: "Forty Miles from Freedom" - experiences of Ernest Charles Rogers, Royal Engineers as a POW and escape planner. A different point of view from a British Army NCO.

Commemorating Winnipeg Grenadiers Through Geography by Hope Hinchey who is a student in Winnipeg. The web site she created describes the Canadian participation in the Battle of Hong Kong, focusing on the Winnipeg Grenadiers, and displays a Google Earth map illustrating commemorative features related to members of 'C' Force, Winnipeg Grenadiers.

Received from David Lee in December 2021:

A few months ago, I came across two books about the battle of Hong Kong in the public library in Hong Kong, they are "Captive Christmas" and "Captive Years".   I read the introduction of the books and realized that they are based on the script of the radio dramas broadcast by the Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK) in 1978.  After the dramas were broadcast, RTHK received many requests for dubbing of audio cassettes and therefore the books were published.

The dramas are available to listen online in the Hong Kong Public Library's website:

(Note from webmaster: sign-in required)

Books available through University of Toronto Library, (The Richard Charles Lee Canada Hong Kong Library) for in-library use only: Captive Christmas | Captive Years

From Alan Sandeman: Here is the YouTube link to my song" Never Grow Old".  I wrote it around 2013 to honour veterans in general and  particularly Lance Ross, my father-in-law, and all the Hong Kong Veterans.

The Victors, Not the Vanquished: A conversation with Hong Kong Veteran George MacDonell by Brad St. Croix. © Canadian Military History 2021

(February 2023) - The three battles of Canada's Hong Kong Veterans. An article written for The Globe and Mail by historian Tim Cook, and reproduced with permission on our website.

Added in June 2023 - War Crimes trial evidence transcript

Added in November 2023 - Edison Yeadon's Account. He was not a member of 'C' Force, but due to capture by the Germans he joined 'C' Force members in a POW camp. Very interesting story.

Audio/Video Interviews

Heroes and Heartbreak - Ray Zinck, Interviews of Six Veterans in Hong Kong - Dec 06  (Audio)

Interview with Phil Doddridge and Derrill Henderson - Maritime Morning - Radio Station News 95.7 Halifax

The Manitoba Museum - In 1971, the Manitoba Museum of Man and Nature (as it was then known) in Winnipeg interviewed over 150 members of the Winnipeg Grenadiers who survived Hong Kong. 90 of the interviews have been converted to MP3 digital format and have been made available to HKVCA for educational purposes and for use on our web site. Each interview is typically between 10 and 50 MB in size. If you wish to know more, please contact us using the Contact link at the top of this page. Our thanks to the Manitoba Museum for making these interviews available.

Peter Silverman, a Toronto TV and radio personality, recorded a video with John Stroud, Jim MacMillan and George MacDonell in 2007. (In August 2022 we removed the link as it was no longer valid.)

Veterans Affairs Interviews - Veterans Affairs Canada - Hosts videos of approximately 35 Hong Kong veterans. Eventually the site will have about 115 interviews. See below in Site Links for suggestions on accessing them.

"I am Remembered... Canada's Hong Kong Veterans" - War Amps Video filmed, in part, at the Memorial Wall.

Site Links

  • Veterans Affairs Canada - The continual growth of stories and videos related to World War II makes it difficult for us to specify specific links within the VAC site. Your best bet is to go to the VAC home page and use the search utility with keywords such as "hong kong heroes remember" Also make sure to visit the video gallery- choose Heroes Remember and enter "hong kong" in the search box.
  • Canadian Military History - includes article by Tyler Wentzell - Brigadier J.K. Lawson and Command of 'C' Force at Hong Kong.
  • http://www.cecm.sfu.ca/~msmackle/Sid/index.htm
    Sidney Arthur Vale - In Memoriam (link broken as of May 2019)
  • Canada's Hong Kong Veterans: The Compensation Story - from the War Amps site (DVD and PDF) (As of March 2024 it is not clear if the DVD is still available)
  • Canadian Veterans Hall of Valour: as of June 06, there are five 'C' Force inductees with three more next year and at least one each year in the future
  • Centre for Research- Allied POWs Under the Japanese - Roger Mansell. This is an impressive site, well worth a visit.
  • Photos and Text: Camp Nigata 5b.
  • C.O.F.E.P.O.W: The Children (& Families) of the Far East Prisoners of War
  • Dicken Medal Presentation - Oct 2000: Accounts of the ceremony and of "Rimshot" the canine stand-in.
  • Listen to wartime messages from POWs and an excellent interview with the daughter of Joseph Frenette RRC, Mona Thornton, on Peach City Radio (look in the Programs section for a keyword search box, then search for "Messages from a Prisoner of War").
  • Belleisle Regional High School, Springfield, NB: Projects from Grade 11 and 12 history students which include biographies and videos on local men who have died serving their country during the First and Second World Wars. Two soldiers from 'C' Force were selected: Sgt Elmer Cole and Frederick William Pollock. Go to the Project List page and you'll see these names listed among many others.
  • Added in June 2023 to our website. Quatre Ans d'Enfer- Four Years of Hell A tribute to 'C' Force member Robert McGinn by his great-granddaughter Sadie, who is currently finishing Gr 8. Amazing work. Highly recommended.

Media Links

The following are perishable links and may not work due to target page deletion.

Newspapers and Magazines

Note: entries may have broken links, but we leave them here as their existence is of value to researchers.

TV/Video

Note: entries may have broken links, but we leave them here as their existence is of value to researchers.

Miscellaneous

Images of the 'C' Force panels on display at the Niagara Military Museum

HMS Thracian and Maj Parker - submitted by John Eckersley in Mar '09

Video of Japanese Surrender. (YouTube) This is an actual film made of the surrender ceremony of Japan to McArthur in Tokyo Bay in September 1945.  Actual voice of the General. 

Burke Penny's Blog - An occasional blog about the book, Beyond the Call, and the men of the Royal Canadian Corps of Signals in Hong Kong and Japan, 1941-45

 

If you would like to make a submission, please contact us by using the link found at the top of this page.