Canadian Involvement

The employment of Canadian soldiers at Hong Kong has been a long standing matter of controversy; in fact a Royal Commission was launched to investigate the matter as early as 1942.

The British Government called on Canada to assist in the defence of Hong Kong in September 1941. Canada at that time had three divisions and a tank brigade in the United Kingdom, with another division preparing to move to the UK in short order.

The British felt that a reinforcement of the garrison at Hong Kong was justified, in order to reassure the Chinese that the Allies had a genuine intention to hold the colony, and as a boost to morale throughout the Far East. Canada agreed to send two battalions. Upon request for a brigade headquarters and other specialists such as signallers, Canada agreed to this as well.

It will be noted that neither in Ottawa nor in London (from which Ottawa derived most of its intelligence on such matters) was there at this time any apprehension of immediate war in the Pacific.¹ Japan's diplomatic position was seen as "weakening", in fact, and it was felt an aggressive stance in the Pacific might actually deter hostile action by the Japanese. A change in government in October 1941, however, saw the militarist General Tojo become Prime Minister of Japan. The effect his assumption of power would have on Japanese foreign policy was not known to the Allies.

"C" Company of The Royal Rifles of Canada disembarks at Hong Kong on 16 Nov 1941. LAC Photo.

The two battalions selected were The Winnipeg Grenadiers, recently returned from garrison duty in Jamaica, and The Royal Rifles of Canada, recently returned from garrison duty in Newfoundland. The former had mobilized on 1 Sep 1939 and the latter on 8 Jul 1940. Colonel J.K. Lawson, a Permanent Force officer serving as Director of Military Training at Ottawa was promoted to Brigadier and given command of the Canadian force, which eventually included 1,973 officers and men. Two members of the Auxiliary Services also accompanied the force to Hong Kong. That approximately 120 men who had considerably less than 16 weeks of training (the prerequisite at that time for being sent overseas) were attached to the force is an indication of how small the prospect of hostilities was felt to be.

The force sailed from Vancouver on 27 Oct, without the 212 vehicles the force would use as transport, and landed at Hong Kong on 16 Nov 1941.

The Battle

A Japanese attack on Hong Kong began shortly after 0800 on 8 Dec 1941 (local time), less than eight hours after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Allied forces commanded by Major-General Maltby, supported by the local Militia (Hong Kong Volunteer Defence Forces), were hard pressed by the Japanese 38th Division as they were outnumbered two to one and lacked the recent combat experience that the Japanese had.

The Japanese achieved air superiority on 8 Dec, as four of the only five military aircraft at Hong Kong were destroyed on the ground by Japanese bombers. Resistance on the mainland was quickly overcome; the Sham Chun River was forded by the Japanese using temporary bridges. Three battalions emplaced in a defensive position known as the Gin Drinkers' Line were breached early on 10 Dec 1941. The mainland force withdrew to the island on the 11th under aerial and artillery bombardment. The last British soldiers had left the mainland on 13 Dec.

Defending the Island

The forces on the mainland were organized into a West Brigade and an East Brigade, and Canadian battalions were split between the two. Bombardment of the north shore of the island by the Japanese began on 15 Dec. Two demands for surrender of the island were rejected, and landings on the north-east shore were effected by the Japanese on the evening of 18 Dec. The Allied troops could only inflict light casualties on them. The first of several atrocities on the island occurred that night when 20 soldiers of the Sai Wan Battery were murdered after surrendering.

The first Canadians to see action were "C" Company of the Royal Rifles, in reserve near the landing areas. They delivered an unsuccessful counter-attack, suffering heavy loss but also inflicting casualties on the Japanese. Other companies attempted to drive the enemy from Mount Parker but were similarly unsuccessful. The East Brigade, to whom the Rifles belonged, were ordered to withdraw the next morning, towards Stanley Peninsula. It was recognized that scattered actions, such as the Rifles were engaging in, were accomplishing little and it was hoped to concentrate the force in preparation for an effective counter-attack. By the time the brigade had reached positions at Stanley Mound, the Royal Rifles and some companies of the Volunteer Defence Corps were all that was left; an Indian battalion (5/7 Rajput) had been virtually destroyed in the earlier fighting at the landing zones. The brigade was without artillery (having destroyed their own mobile guns through a misunderstanding of orders) and cut off from the other Allied forces on the island.

In the west, three platoons of the Winnipeg Grenadiers had been organized as "flying columns" designed to swiftly counter-attack where needed. All three platoons went into action on the night of 18-19 Dec. Two saw combat at Jardine's Lookout and Mount Butler where they were repulsed by the enemy, with both platoon commanders being killed. Early on the morning of the 19th, "A" Company of the Grenadiers were sent forward to Jardine's Lookout, ordered to engage the enemy there and keep going to Mount Butler. The company was surrounded and outnumbered, and only a handful escaped death, injury or capture. Every officer was killed or severely wounded. The Company Sergeant Major, John Osborne, was awarded the Victoria Cross posthumously for actions in the fighting on Mount Butler, including the act of covering a Japanese grenade with his body, giving his life to save those of several other soldiers nearby.

By 10:00, the Japanese overran the West Brigade headquarters at Wong Nei Chong Gap, and Brigadier Lawson reported by radio to his superiors that he was "going outside to fight it out." He was killed shortly afterwards. "D" Company of the Grenadiers held their position in the gap for nearly three more days, denying the Japanese the use of a main north-south road and killing approximately 200 Japanese soldiers. A series of unco-ordinated attacks by the other companies of the Grenadiers and a battalion of the Royal Scots of the British Army failed to relieve "D" Company.

Final Battles

The Royal Rifles of Canada had little sleep and no hot food in the days leading to the Japanese attack. Nonetheless, attempts were made to counter-attack to the north and link up with forces of the West Brigade. An attempt on 20 Dec to skirt Repulse Bay and contact the other brigade at Wong Nei Chong Gap was stopped after the Repulse Bay Hotel was taken. One company of the Rifles was left in place to hold the hotel and thereby isolated. Another attack was made the next day, also running into heavy Japanese opposition. Attacks on Japanese forces on high ground around the Tai Tam Tuk Reservoir managed to defeat some Japanese forces and drive them from their positions, but a Japanese counter-attack by tanks stalled any further advance.

On the evening of the 21st, the company of Rifles at the hotel managed to move north and contact a group of British soldiers only a few hundred yards from the Wong Nei Chong Gap, holding the position until 22 Dec. After dark on 22 Dec, this group withdrew to the hotel, which was ordered evacuated during the night. Approximately a platoon of soldiers managed to slip through the enemy's positions and rejoin the main force at Stanley. The 22nd and 23rd saw constant attacks by the Japanese, and consequently, no further efforts to break out to the north. Sugar Loaf Hill fell to the Japanese on the 22nd and was retaken by the Rifles on the 23rd. Another company lost Stanley Mound, and it could not be retaken. By the late afternoon of 23 Dec the entire force pulled back further onto the Stanley Peninsula. On the 24th the Royal Rifles were taken out of the line for a rest, and hurriedly thrown back in on the 25th. "D" Company made a counter-attack on the Stanley Prison in the early afternoon and were stopped with heavy losses. Evening brought news of the surrender.

In the west, the Winnpeg Grenadiers occupied Mount Cameron on the morning of 21 Dec, and followed their orders to hold it in the face of dive-bombing and mortaring until a night attack by the Japanese on the night of 22-23 Dec. The goal of the West Brigade was to hold a continuous line from Victoria Harbour to the south shore. On 23 Dec, the line was still holding; the left was held by remanant of a battalion of the Middlesex Regiment on Leighton Hill, two Indian battalions, the Royal Scots who stabilized the line on the western slopes of Mount Cameron, and the Winnipeg Grenadiers on the right holding the line from Cameron to Bennet's Hill. The 24th saw Leighton's Hill fall, and later portions of the Mount Cameron defences. The Grenadiers also lost ground at Bennet's Hill while standing firm on the south slopes of Mount Cameron, and counter-attacks on the 25th regained some of the positions lost on Bennet's Hill before word of the surrender came.

Climax

On the afternoon of 25 Dec 1941, the Governor of Hong Kong officially surrendered to the Japanese, ending 18 days of fighting and marking the first occasion on which a British Crown Colony had to surrender to an invader.

Aftermath

Canadian and British prisoners-of-war awaiting liberation by the landing party from HMCS Prince Robert, Hong Kong, ca. 30 August 1945. LAC Photo.

The island fell under Japanese occupation for three years and eight months. Looting and rape of the civil population by Japanese soldiers was common. The Canadians lost 23 officers and 267 other ranks killed, died of wounds, or murdered in the fighting. The survivors were captured to the last man, and remained in prison camps on Hong Kong until 1943.² Four officers and 125 other ranks died in these camps in poor conditions (four of them shot without trial after escaping). In Jan 1943, 1 officer and 1,183 other ranks of the remaining survivors were sent to Japan, and lived in equally bad conditions where a further 135 men died. In total, 555 of the 1,975 man contingent had died before the end of the war.

Battle Honours

The following Canadian units were awarded the Battle Honour "Hong Kong" for participation in these actions:

• The Royal Rifles of Canada

• The Winnipeg Grenadiers

Notes

1. Stacey, C.P. The Canadian Army 1939-1945: An Official Historical Summary (King's Printer, Ottawa, ON, 1948) p.274

2. One soldier was held in a civilian prisoner of war camp. Rifleman James Riley absented himself from duty while his unit occupied the hotel at Repulse Bay. Passed out drunk, he was put into a room pending disciplinary action and accidentally left behind when the unit left. He was discovered by civilians, given a change of clothes, and went into custody as Mister James Riley Ryan. He was returned to Canada in the autumn of 1943 with other Canadian and US civilians in an exchange. Riley's case was raised with the Judge Advocate General after his comrades returned to Canada, but his discharge had been granted approximately two years prior, and was thus no longer subject to military justice. Greenhous, Brereton "C" Force to Hong Kong: A Canadian Catastrophe 1941-1945 (Canadian War Museum, 1997) ISBN 1550022679 pp.102-103