Canadians in the Pacific Theatre

Background
The Japanese had invaded china in 1937 in order to expand their
influence and take control of key materials for their industry and military. In
the following years, many islands and European colonies in Asia were invaded
and occupied by the Japanese, the soldiers left to defend them and the
civilians living there were taken prisoner and often sent to harsh work camps.
The increasing militarism and expansionist actions of the Japanese led the
American president Roosevelt to place an embargo on oil exports to Japan.
Strained by this embargo and knowing that a war was inevitable with
America, the Japanese launched a surprise attack on Pearl Harbour in Hawaii
to sink the American naval fleet docked there. Fortunately for the Americans,
the fleet’s aircraft carriers were not present at the time of the attack.

Canadians in Hong Kong

During the Second World War, most of our country's overseas military
effort took place in Europe—Canadians also fought bravely elsewhere.
Canadian soldiers went to help form a defence force in Hong Kong in 1941,
just in time for the outbreak of war in the Pacific.
By late 1941, the war in Europe had been going on for more than two years. In
the Far East, the Japanese were fighting in China—in this part of the world,
the real war for the Allies had yet to begin. This changed as the political
situation grew more strained between Japan, on the one hand, and the United
States and Britain on the other. It became clear that the British Crown colony
of Hong Kong was vulnerable and had to be protected. Britain decided to
reinforce the colony with more troops in the hope this would deter Japan from
attacking or at least delay any Japanese advances. Canada was asked to
contribute to this effort.

The Canadians Arrive

 Canada selected the Royal Rifles and the Winnipeg Grenadiers to help
defend Hong Kong. In late October 1941, 1,975 Canadian soldiers set sail for
the Far East from Vancouver on board the Awatea, escorted by HMCS Prince
Robert.

The Canadians arrived in Hong Kong on November 16. They joined the
14,000-strong Hong Kong defence force, made up of troops from Britain,
India, Singapore and Hong Kong. Although sent to a part of the world still at
peace, they quickly began training and prepared for active defence of the
colony under the command of Brigadier J.K. Lawson. Only three weeks would
go by before they would find themselves in combat.

The Defence of Hong Kong

On the morning of December 8, Japan attacked Hong Kong. Japanese
warplanes pounded the airport and their ground forces poured across the
frontier from China and into the mainland portion of the colony.
Demonstrating an unexpected skill at night fighting, the Japanese kept
advancing. After three days of combat, the defenders had been pushed from
the mainland and back to Hong Kong. It was during this time that Canadian
soldiers from D Company of the Winnipeg Grenadiers engaged the enemy,
becoming the first Canadian Army unit to fight in the Second World War.

On December 13, and again on the 17th, the Japanese demanded the
defenders' surrender only to be quickly rejected. During this time, the
Canadians and other defending troops prepared for the inevitable Japanese
assault on Hong Kong. On December 18, the Japanese crossed from the
mainland in the darkness and invaded the island. The Allied defence
positions quickly became overwhelmed and had to draw back into the
mountains to the south.

Over the coming days and nights of heavy fighting, the Allies offered
brave resistance and took part in many counter-attacks. However, the
Japanese were able to maintain the offensive due to their greater numbers,
battle experience, access to reinforcements and armaments, and total air
domination. By contrast, Canadians and other Allies were relatively
inexperienced, exhausted from continual battle and bombardment, and had
no hope of receiving additional supplies or reinforcement. The Canadians
suffered many casualties, including the death of Brigadier Lawson. It was
during this fighting that Company Sergeant-Major John Robert Osborn of the
Winnipeg Grenadiers won the Victoria Cross, the highest award for military
valour a Canadian can win. Despite fighting to the end, by Christmas Day
1941, the battered Allies had no choice but to surrender.

Prisoners of War
The Canadians in Hong Kong had held out with heavy losses against
impossible odds for more than 17 days before laying down their weapons.
However, the ordeal for the surviving Canadians was far from over. They
would become prisoners of war (POWs) for more than three-and-a-half years,
first in Hong Kong until early 1943, and then in Japan until their liberation in
September 1945.

In the prison camps, Canadian POWs became weak and malnourished

from a starvation diet made up of a bit of rice, and some occasional greens and
scraps of meat or fish. They lived in primitive, vermin-infested huts, that were
often cold and damp in the winter. They were forced to work long and hard at
slave labour in construction projects, shipyards and mines. The POWs
endured great abuse and mistreatment by their guards. They were wracked by
diseases like diphtheria and beriberi. Many died from these plagues, as the
Japanese rarely supplied them with any medicine. More than 260 Canadian
POWs died before they could be liberated. Those who survived left the labour
camps gaunt, their rail-thin bodies demonstrating just how harsh their
experiences had been.
Sacrifice
 The defence of Hong Kong was a brutal chapter in Canada's military
history. Of the almost 2,000 Canadians who sailed to Hong Kong in late 1941,
more than 550 would never see Canada again. Many would die in the fierce
combat of December 1941. Others would perish in the grinding conditions of
the Japanese prison camps throughout the rest of the war. Many of those who
did survive would return home with their health broken and their lives
shortened by their experiences, forever shaken by their experiences and the
extreme hardships they endured.

The Legacy
As the Canadians who fought in the defence of Hong Kong
demonstrated so clearly, the men and women of our country have often put
themselves in harm's way, even offering their lives, in the worldwide quest for
peace, freedom and the preservation of human values. The experiences of the
Canadians in Hong Kong serve as a lasting reminder of the high price of war
and the incredible effort and sacrifice that Canadians and the Allies would put
forth to eventually triumph in the Second World War. Canada and the world
recognize the great effort and sacrifices made by these brave Canadians, an
effort that lives on in our hearts and minds.

Canadians in South East Asia

Canadian involvement in Asia during the Second World War consisted
primarily of participation by the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF).
Although a few Canadians did serve in Royal Navy ships, no units of the
Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) served in this area.

Two dozen Canadian Army officers were attached to the British 14th
Army in Burma and South East Asia Command Headquarters as observers
during the latter part of 1944. In addition, 18 Canloan officers – infantry
subalterns borrowed by the British to make up the recurring loss of combat
leaders – arrived on the scene in the summer of 1945.

About 40 Canadians, half of them primarily linguists of Chinese or

Japanese descent, also served in Force 136, a British intelligence organization
that operated behind Japanese lines. These men were involved in recruiting
and training native guerrillas, engaging in sabotage, ambush and deception,
and transmitting information about enemy activities. A number of Canadians
served in a Combined Operations' Sea Reconnaissance Unit (SRU) as the
"frogmen of Burma," spearheading 14th Army's crossings of the Irrawaddy
River in February and March 1945.

Perhaps the most unlikely Canadian unit represented in South East

Asia was the Veteran's Guard of Canada. In the summer of 1944, and again in
the spring of 1945, contingents of the Veterans were employed as mule
skinners, escorting shiploads of mules from the United States to India and
eventually the jungles of Assam and the Arakan where they were much
needed for transportation.

One Canadian, who had left British Columbia at the age of 21 to take up
a regular commission in the British Army, deserves special mention. Charles
Ferguson Hoey of the Lincolnshire Regiment won a Military Cross in Burma
in 1943 and then a posthumous Victoria Cross on February 16, 1944 for his
"outstanding gallantry and leadership" in taking a Japanese strongpoint.

Canadian airmen were in the South East Asia theatre even before the
initial Japanese attacks of December 1941. When war broke out in 1939, few
skills had been in greater demand among the Allied armed forces than those
associated with radio operation and maintenance – skills which were valuable
not only for their own sake, but which could be readily be applied to the new
and still mysterious arts of Radio Detection Finding, or RaDar as it was
subsequently called. By the end of 1940, Canada had added several hundred
trained radiomen to the strength of the Royal Air Force (RAF). These men
had been hurriedly enlisted in the RCAF and sent to England for courses
which qualified them as radar operators and mechanics. A number of
graduates in electrical engineering had also been commissioned and loaned to
the RAF to command or administer the stream of radar and signals units that
were constantly being formed.

Many of these radio personnel were then posted overseas, to the Middle
or Far East. By December 1941, about 350 RCAF other ranks and 50 officers
were serving in the RAF's Far Eastern Command. A month later, at least 35
Canadian aircrew, early graduates of the British Commonwealth Air Training
Plan, were also serving in RAF squadrons in South East Asia. By April 1942,
this number had more than doubled as the British and Dutch were driven out
of Malaya, Singapore, the Netherlands' East Indies (now Indonesia), and
much of Burma.

Some of the Canadians flew Consolidated Catalina flying-boats on

maritime reconnaissance patrols, an occupation that soon had to be largely
abandoned in face of Japanese air superiority.

Most of the Catalinas were then diverted to night bombing operations.

Some Canadian fighter pilots accompanied 50 Hawker Hurricanes from the
Middle East which arrived in Singapore on January 13, 1942. The Hurricanes
were expected to all before them but, although they could match the enemy's
speed and carried a heavier armament, they proved unable to turn with the
Japanese in dogfights and were further handicapped by an inadequate ground
control system. Singapore surrendered on February 15, 1942, and two
Canadian radar technicians were among the 70,000 Commonwealth troops
taken prisoner there. Only 18 or 20 Hurricanes (plus 24 obsolete American
fighters) were left to continue the battle from Sumatra and Java.
 The Japanese attack on Sumatra began on February 14, 1942, with
paratroop landings on the airfields at Palembang. Two Canadian pilots were
captured while leading a makeshift force of RAF ground crew, British Army
anti-aircraft gunners and Dutch colonial infantry in hand-to-hand fighting
against the invaders. By the time Java fell on March 8, 1942, an indeterminate
number of Canadians had been wounded and 26 taken prisoner.

Questions:

Hong Kong

1) Why was Hong Kong a vulnerable area?

Hong Kong was very far away from other british colonies and was at the time
surrounded by japanese held land.

2) How did Canadians contribute to the war effort in Asia?

Canadian troops largely acted in support roles, airmen or even as spies

recruiting guerillas though some did serve in front line combat positions
3) What was significant about the Canadians fighting in Hong Kong?

it was Canada's first battle of the second world war and a very valiant last
stand, a true show of canadia bravery in the face of insurmountable odds

4) Why did the Japanese have the advantage in the fight for Hong Kong?

They had more men and munitions in addition to experience and air
superiority.

5) How did Prisoners of War live after surrendering?

The POWs were forced to live in squalor and as slaves without proper meals

for 31/2 years.

South-East Asia

6) Who served in the Canadian forces sent to South East Asia?

Radio men, pilots and even veterans of the first world war all fought alongside
british troops in the pacific theatre
7) What significance did radio operators play?

they were useful as ground crew as their radar equipment were capable
administering commands to pilots and as well as locating enemy aircraft

8) What was the Catalina and how was it used?

The Catalina was a American bomber capable of landing on water, it was used
for supply drops and night bombing raids.

9) Why were the Canadian’s fighter planes at a disadvantage against the

Japanese?

Hawker Hurricanes were at a massive disadvantage against the Mitsubishi

Zeros as the where slower and more heavily armed and thus less capable of
turning at high speeds.