"Ours is a war of survival and independence. We will never submit...we will resist to the very end." - Generalissimo Chiang Kai Shek, Nationalist Dictator
The British Colony in Hong Kong was seen as invalid and expendable to British leaders. Soldiers stationed here were constantly terrified of an attack as they would be vastly outgunned. The British leaders did not care of the soldiers feelings, and paid little attention to the colony until 1941. It was in November of this year that 1,975 young Canadian soldiers were sent to Hong Kong as reinforcements, just in case the Japanese decided to attack. This large battalion consisted of the ‘Royal Rifles of Canada’ and the ‘Winnipeg Grenadiers’. On the arrival of the Canadians, the British soldiers breathed a sigh of relief knowing that the Colony would be well prepared for an attack. Or at least that was what they hoped.
Late November, 1941. Japanese forces moved suspiciously along the China/Japan border. On December 8th, the Japanese bomb Pearl Harbour, only eight hours later they invade Hong Kong. The attack on Pearl Harbour came quite unexpectedly, however the attack against Hong Kong was expected due to the suspicious movements of the Japanese prior to the attack. Even with the prediction of an attack, the British and Canadian forces were underprepared for the ferocity of the Japanese soldiers. Warfare in Japan was much different from that of the British. Even after WWI the British liked to remain organized during a fight, and they fought like ‘gentlemen’. The Japanese however were much different. They had a history of being extremely violent during war. From ripping flesh of the bodies of living men, to eating human flesh, the Japanese were to be feared by all.
|
Hong Kong, and all of China in general, was not faced with much war before WWII. The Battle of Hong Kong was one of the first battles of WWII that they were involved in. Canadians were sent to join a British Colony in Hong Kong as they were lacking men, and even with the Canadian, British, and Indian forces helping the Chinese they could not hold the Colony. A massacre of Allied forces was brought by the Japanese.
The Allies put up a good fight against Japan. They stayed strong, and refused to surrender twice. After the second refusal of surrender there was 290 Canadian casualties and over 400 men injured. Even with all the casualties, the thought of surrender was nowhere to be seen among the Allies. It was not until an Allied hospital was attacked by a squadron of Japanese soldiers that they thought about surrendering. During this attack the Japanese assaulted and killed nurses, and bayoneted injured soldiers in their bed. This was too much for the Allies and they surrendered on Christmas Day. Once surrendering the survivors of this brutal attack were taken as prisoners of war. Many did not make it out of the Japanese work camp due to the conditions they were under. They suffered through harsh, cold weather, working twelve hour days, and only being fed 800 calories a day.
"The whole nation must rise as one and fight these Japanese bandits." - Generalissimo Chiang Kai Shek, Nationalist Dictator |
Of the 1,975 Canadians that went to Hong Kong, more than 560 died. The survivors ended up in war camps, and most of them died there. Canadians showed their strength as a country through this battle and gained even more of a reputation for being a moderately formidable force, but was it worth the cost of losing nearly a third of their men?
Major General Christopher Michael Maltby (1891-1980)
M.G. Christopher M. Maltby (left) was commissioned into the Indian army in 1911. He fought through WWI and the Persian Gulf (1913-14), as well as the North-West Frontier (1923-24). In July 1941 he was assigned to Hong Kong.