Army Hong Kong

[Victorino Eagle]

Inthe Second World War, Canadian soldiers first engaged in battle while defending the British Crown Colony of Hong Kong against a Japanese attack in December 1941. The Canadians at Hong Kong fought against overwhelming odds and displayed the courage of seasoned veterans, though most had limited military training. They had virtually no chance of victory, but refused to surrender until they were overrun by the enemy. Those who survived the battle became prisoners of war (POWs) and many endured torture and starvation by their Japanese captors.

In October 1941, the Royal Rifles of Canada and the Winnipeg Grenadiers were ordered to prepare for service in the Pacific. From a national perspective, the choice of battalions was ideal. The Royal Rifles were a bilingual unit from the Quebec City area and, together with the Winnipeg Grenadiers, both battalions represented eastern and western regions of Canada. Command of the Canadian force was assigned to Brigadier J.K. Lawson. This was also a good choice because of Lawson's training and experience; he was a "Permanent Force" officer and had been serving as Director of Military Training in Ottawa. The Canadian contingent was comprised of 1,975 soldiers, which also included two medical officers, two Nursing Sisters, two officers of the Canadian Dental Corps with their assistants, three chaplains, two Auxiliary Service Officers, and a detachment of the Canadian Postal Corps. There was also one military stowaway who was sent back to Canada.

Prior to duty in Hong Kong, the Royal Rifles had served in Newfoundland and Saint John, New Brunswick, while the Winnipeg Grenadiers had been posted to Jamaica. In these locations, both battalions had received only minimal training. In late 1941, war with Japan was not considered imminent and it was expected that the Canadians would see only garrison (non-combat) duty. Instead, in December, the Japanese military launched a series of attacks on Pearl Harbor, Northern Malaya, the Philippines, Guam, Wake Island and Hong Kong. The Royal Rifles and the Winnipeg Grenadiers would find themselves engulfed in hand-to-hand combat against the Japanese 38th Division.

The defence of Hong Kong was made at a great human cost. Approximately 290 Canadian soldiers were killed in battle and, while in captivity, approximately 264 more died as POWs, for a total death toll of 554. In addition, almost 500 Canadians were wounded. Of the 1,975 Canadians who went to Hong Kong, more than 1,050 were either killed or wounded. This was a casualty rate of more than 50%, arguably one of the highest casualty rates of any Canadian theatre of action in the Second World War.

The British Crown Colony of Hong Kong consisted of Hong Kong Island and the adjacent mainland areas of Kowloon and the New Territories. The region is very mountainous, with a total area of about 1,060 square kilometres.

British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and his chiefs of staff recognized that, in the event of a war with Japan, it would be impossible to hold Hong Kong. Churchill and his army chiefs designated Hong Kong an outpost, and initially decided against sending more troops to the colony. In September 1941, however, they reversed their decision and argued that additional reinforcements would provide a military deterrent against the Japanese, and reassure Chinese leader Chiang Kai Shek that Britain was genuinely interested in defending the colony. Canada was asked to provide one or two battalions for that purpose.

To defend the colony, General C.M. Maltby had only a total force of some 14,000 soldiers and a token number of naval and air force personnel. Along with the Canadians, the military force included the 8th and 12th Coast Regiments, the 5th Anti-Aircraft Regiment of the Royal Artillery (RA), the 1st Hong Kong Regiment, the Hong Kong and Singapore Royal Artillery, the 965th Defence Battery, RA, and the 22nd and 40th Fortress Companies, Royal Engineers. Most of these units were military personnel from either India or China. There was one battalion of British infantry (the 2nd Battalion, Royal Scots), one British machine gun battalion (the 1st Battalion, Middlesex Regiment), and two Indian infantry battalions (5th Battalion, 7th Rajput Regiment and the 2nd Battalion, 14th Punjab Regiment). Indian and Chinese soldiers accounted for 35% of the entire force.

The colony had no significant air or naval defence. The Kai Tak Royal Air Force (RAF) base on Hong Kong had only five airplanes: two Walrus amphibians and three Vickers Vildebeeste torpedo bombers, flown and serviced by seven officers and 108 airmen. An earlier request for a fighter squadron had been rejected, and the nearest fully-operational RAF base was in Kota Bharu, Malaya, nearly 2,250 kilometres away.

The arrival of the Canadians changed the plans for the defence of the colony. The original strategy had called for the main defence to be on the island with only one infantry battalion deployed on the mainland for demolition duties and for delaying purposes. The two additional battalions enabled General Maltby to assign three battalions to the mainland. These battalions would fight from the "Gin Drinkers' Line", 18 kilometres of defences stretching across rugged hill country and studded with trenches and pillboxes (concrete bunkers). It was hoped that these additional battalions would protect Kowloon, Victoria harbour, Lye Mun Passage, and the northern areas of Hong Kong Island from artillery fire launched from the mainland. If the enemy launched a major offensive, the mainland battalions would be ordered to complete demolitions, clear vital supplies and sink any remaining ships in the harbour so they would not fall into enemy hands. The remaining forces on Hong Kong Island were to prepare against any Japanese attack from the sea.

The Mainland Brigade, commanded by Brigadier C. Wallis, was composed of the Royal Scots and the two Indian battalions. The Canadian signal section was allotted to this brigade. The Island Brigade, under Brigadier Lawson, consisted of the two Canadian battalions and the Middlesex Regiment. The Canadian units, facing the sea, were assigned the task of defending the island's beaches as their primary role, while the Middlesex unit had the task of holding the system of pillboxes around the island.During the three weeks between their arrival and the outbreak of war, the Canadians stationed on the mainland engaged in intensive training on the island to familiarize themselves with the ground they would be defending. Although the preparation was for beach defence, the reconnaissance and exercises provided some knowledge of the difficult terrain, and would later prove valuable against the enemy.

Through late November and early December, life in the colony went along as usual. Reports of Japanese troops massing to the north of the Chinese border continued to be reported, but there had been many false alarms and an air of optimism prevailed. As late as December 7, a report of Japanese concentrations in the area was described as "certainly exaggerated" and "deliberately fostered by the Japanese."

The Japanese attack did not take the garrison by complete surprise; the defence forces were prepared. On the morning of December 7, the entire garrison was ordered to war stations. The Canadian force was ferried across from Kowloon to the island, and by 5 p.m. the battalions were in position and Brigadier Lawson's headquarters was set up at Wong Nei Chong Gap in the middle of the island. Fifteen hours before the Japanese attacked, all Hong Kong defence forces were in position.

On December 8, at 8 a.m., Japanese aircraft attacked the Kai Tak airport and easily damaged or destroyed the few aircraft of the Royal Air Force. The nearly-empty camp at Sham Shui Po was the next target, where two men of the Royal Canadian Signals were wounded. They were the first Canadian casualties in Hong Kong.

That same morning, the Japanese ground forces moved across the frontier of the New Territories and met resistance from the forward forces of the Mainland brigade. In the face of strong enemy pressure these advance units fell back to the Gin Drinkers' Line. The defenders hoped to defend the line for a week or more but, on December 9, the Japanese captured Shing Mun Redoubt, an area of high ground and the most important strategic position on the left flank of the Gin Drinker's Line. The Japanese had launched their attack under cover of darkness and there was fierce fighting, but in the end the Japanese were victorious. Their victory at night revealed how General Maltby had completely underestimated his enemy. In a dispatch he had noted that "Japanese night work was poor." But within hours of their first attack, Shing Mun Redoubt was in enemy hands.

On December 10, "D" Company of the Winnipeg Grenadiers was dispatched to strengthen the remaining defenders on the mainland. On December 11, this company exchanged gunfire with the enemy and became one of the first Canadian Army units to engage in combat in the Second World War.

Further Japanese attacks followed and the Gin Drinkers' Line could no longer be held. Midday on December 11, General Maltby ordered the mainland troops to withdraw from the mainland. The Winnipeg Grenadiers covered the Royal Scots' withdrawal down the Kowloon Peninsula. The Punjabs moved at night and the Rajputs, who had been left to guard Devil's Peak, followed. The evacuation was successful and most of the Brigade's heavy equipment was saved.

Wong Nei Chong Gap, scene of one of the fiercest encounters in the battle for Hong Kong. Here a company of the Winnipeg Grenadiers held out for several days and inflicted much delay and many casualties upon the Japanese. The Island's main north-south road runs from right to left across the picture. (Canadian War Museum J-2055312)

3a8082e126