Remembering the forgotten men

OTTAWA — They were the first Canadian ground units to see battle in the Second World War.

They counted among their ranks Canada’s first wounded, first killed and its first men taken prisoner.

And yet most Canadians have heard little about them.

"These are the forgotten men," said Derrill Henderson, president of the Hong Kong Veterans Commemorative Association.
But not any more.

Later this month, in Ottawa, the association will unveil a permanent memorial wall to the 1,975 men, two women and one dog who participated with Canada in the Battle of Hong Kong in December 1941.

The names of every one of them, including the 911 members of the Winnipeg Grenadiers, will be etched into the granite wall.

"The veterans that come to see it, they’ll know that what they went through is there for all the world to see," Henderson said.

The association needs help raising the last $150,000 to get the wall completed and landscaped.

It had already raised $150,000 when they were told by the National Capital Commission in Ottawa the design wasn’t innovative enough and had to be improved. The new design doubled the cost.

Henderson said it’s frustrating, but at least the wall is becoming a reality.

They’ve raised a few thousand in recent weeks with appeals to legion halls and veterans’ families. Now they’re appealing to MPs, all levels of government, private corporations and the public for help.

"We still have a long row to hoe," said Henderson.

Phil Doddridge, president of the Hong Kong Veterans Association, which also comprises the veterans’ kids and grandkids, said he’s not surprised the Hong Kong battle is so little known in Canada.

It began the day after the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor and battles were already raging all across Europe. A small number of soldiers fighting on an island in the Pacific didn’t warrant many headlines, Doddridge said.

But he said he couldn’t be happier to know this memorial will finally be real.

"This is something important to all of us," Doddridge said. "It will mark the efforts of all the people and be a permanent memorial to the effort we put forth."

The battle of Hong Kong spanned 18 days in December 1941. Two infantry units, 911 soldiers with the Winnipeg Grenadiers, 961 with the Quebec-based Royal Rifles of Canada and 106 members of brigade headquarters were sent by Canada to help Britain defend its colony of Hong Kong from the Japanese.

They fought alongside British and Indian soldiers to defend the colony, a 1,060-square-kilometre area including the island of Hong Kong and mainland areas of Kowloon and the New Territories.

Canada’s troops were inexperienced and even with the British and Indians were outnumbered three to one by the Japanese.

Despite this, they managed to hold off the Japanese for 17 1/2 days, surrendering on Christmas Day. The fact they held out for more than two weeks has long been held up as a sign of the Canadians’ courage and skill.

The battle left 290 Canadians dead and 493 wounded. Those who didn’t die were taken prisoner by the Japanese and would spend the rest of the war —- three years and eight months — in hellish conditions in Japanese prison camps. They subsisted on rations of 800 calories a day and were forced to work in mines or on the docks. Two hundred and sixty-seven Canadians died as prisoners.

Thus, almost 30 per cent of the soldiers who sailed for Hong Kong never returned. Those who did returned with illnesses and disabilities some never recovered from. Doctors in Canada were unfamiliar with some of the diseases caught in the Pacific. The veterans also battled for years for proper pensions and compensation for their suffering in the prison camps.

There are only 80 veterans of the Hong Kong battle still living, including 32 Winnipeg Grenadiers.

Veterans have always discussed the concept of some sort of memorial for the Battle of Hong Kong, memorial wall committee chairwoman Carol Hadley said.

"The veterans have always wanted this," she said. "Their dream is 64 years old."

But much of the work on this project has been done in the last six years.

The association initially hoped to build the wall near the new Canadian War Museum in Ottawa, but they were told there wasn’t suitable land nearby. Instead, the National Capital Commission, the Crown corporation that oversees government land and structures in the Ottawa area, agreed to offer a small piece of land along Sussex Drive.

It’s a prominent location, just a few blocks from the prime minister’s residence and Rideau Hall. Tour groups will frequently pass by it on guided tours.

The final design will be a six-metre concrete wall covered in granite. The names of the 911 Grenadiers will be etched on one side, the 961 Royal Rifles on the other and the 106 members of brigade headquarters, including doctors, dentists and chaplains, will go on either end.

It will be topped with mountain peaks, reminiscent of the topography of Hong Kong.

Henderson said it is unusual for Canadian war memorials, which tend to include only the names of the war dead, if they include any names at all.

But Henderson said the veterans themselves wanted all the names on it.

George Peterson, who was a 20-year-old corporal with the Winnipeg Grenadiers in 1941, has been waiting a long time for a memorial.

"People will pay more attention to what we actually did for our country," Peterson said.

Now 88, Peterson will travel to Ottawa next month for the unveiling.

The concrete foundation has already been poured and the engraved granite exterior should be completed in time for the unveiling Aug. 15. Henderson said he is now anticipating that more than 1,000 people will attend the ceremony.

Landscaping to turn the area around the wall into a park will come later, once the rest of the fundraising is finished.

Despite the frustrations of having to raise more money and change the designs, Henderson said it is all worth it because the veterans are so happy.

"When I speak with them about it, they get tears in their eyes," he said. "Is it worth it? Undoubtedly."

mia.rabson@freepress.mb.ca