My father (Canadian) was wounded in action in The Battle for Hong Kong and spent four years in a brutal Japanese prison camp in China , he was 19 years old when captured and survived the camp while his comrades died around him , my Dad is gone now and while he rarely spoke of those hellish times he did , once in a while tell us kids a few stories about those times . R I P Dad , Canadian hero !!
My great-uncle, Paul Ferrace, was a Canadian soldier who was taken prisoner in Hong Kong on Christmas Day 1941. He was one of the prisoners that eventually made it home. He lived another 20 years but was frequently hospitalized due to complications from being a P.O.W. He was one of the prisoners mentioned in this video who built runways and was then sent to Japan in the hold of a ship to work in the coal mines. He liked to draw and he somehow managed to get rice paper and charcoal and brought home several drawings he made of the camps he was a prisoner in. He said that men would try to survive by being picked for work duty outside the camp where they could catch snakes and grubs to eat. He was a wonderfully kind, caring man who loved to tell jokes. His hobby was wood working and he enjoyed making toys for hospitalized children. May all who sacrificed so much for our freedom in WWII Rest In Peace. You will never be forgotten. 🙏
My Grandfather was a member of the Hong Kong Volunteer Defence Corps (HKVDC) and after doing his duty during the battle, spent years in a POW camp. His father was later executed for aiding the resistance during the occupation. My Grandfather often spoke fondly of the Canadian’s he met in camp and how wonderful they all were and the fun they managed to have together. Sometimes I come and watch this video and I am so amazed and remarkably proud of him and his compatriots (both local and foreign) for standing their ground and the irrepressible spirit they showed.
I watched this documentary. I am a hongkonger. I truly wanna to say thank you to you Canadian soldiers. You did a contribution to HK, and your gallantry will never be forgotten.
freddy freddy I really liked this documentary too. My only major criticism is that although it mentions the British Empire forces, it never mentions the local Chinese volunteers who also fought and died valiantly alongside them. This in no way takes away from the contribution of the Canadians, but I do think Hong Kongers have something to be proud of. The true Lion Rock Spirit.
Sophie Karenina this is true also in the singapore and thailand and burma campaigns. Sadly most Australian soldiers in singapore were delivered there without arms. Some clown thought it better that the arms should go no a seperate ship. Many chinese suffered also and helped the allied cause
***** I guess u are a mainland Chinese. It is meaningless to bad mouth the British, and debase their statuses in the mind of Hongkongers. Though their mistakes could be found if one tries to be fastidious, their track record in facilitating the Island of Hongkong cannot be diluted. Save your breath, chinaman. After 1997, the Island has been ruined very much. You cannot divert others attention from china's milti-incapabilities. Save your breath, mainland chinaman.
***** hahahaha, chinaman, stayed back in your communist barbed wire. The exterior is dangerous to you. Do not cross the border to watch youtube since it is illegalised by your mob regime.
***** do not try to pretend as others. I know very well that u r a chinaman. It is meaningless to stir up, u cannot change the fact that your stupid chinaman regime has ruined the Island very much after occupying her. To countless Hongkongers, chinaman = cashytrash (people just too poor that what they left wth is solely money)
My father served in India and Burma, he would never forgive the enemy he saw to much of their cruelty. He passed last year aged 95 and did not regret his refusal to forget he lost many friends and saw to many things.
they were europeans..what were they doing in a land that wasn't theirs to begin with..were they there to help the ppl or exploit them..most likely to exploit them bc you europeans wouldn't let a chinaman live in ur country
My mom and dad made it to Calcutta, British India as refugees from Hong Kong. Dad, later was dispatched to fight along side with British Commonwealth Forces in China/Burma (ChinDits). My mom is Chinese Canadian so we ended up in Vancouver, BC.
Somehow, this video has reached all the way to a 60 year old Australian housewife's RUclips. I can't thank you enough for such a moving and personally difficult account of the battle for Hong Kong. I have to admit to being ignorant about this part of WWII but no more. I am proud of watching this movie all the way to the end, even though at times I wanted to stop, or to smash the screen in anger. I cant imagine the terror and hunger you felt every day. The two gentlemen in the video have opened their painful memories to us so that we will never forget. Thank you so much. I won't forget. A Mum in Melbourne
My father lived through the 3 years and 8 months of Japanese occupation in Hong Kong. One time he said the Canadians tried to defend the city but so outnumbered that there was no chance. Hats off to all allied soldiers who fought during WWII.
Thank you for sharing your tragic story. My father was an American soldier who fought in the European Theater and was wounded in the Battle of the Bulge and would never speak of what he saw or endured. May your fallen brothers rest in peace. American and Canadian soldiers have stood shoulder to shoulder proudly over the years. Thank you for your service.
Robert ( Bob ) Clayton passed away in 2015. My dad Ernest passed away in March 1991 just weeks after his 69th birthday. The only time he ever revealed any of what happened was at Christmas time of 1990...showing me the 2 wounds on his leg and then lifting the hair near his right temple to show where a bullet had grazed him and the scar that remained.
I enjoyed hearing their stories. And that they survived the battle and the prison camps. My grandfather served in the Perth Regiment of Canada and fought in Italy. 01 January, 1945 he was injured by a short shot by Canadian Artillery. (He was quite upset with me for a bit when he heard I joined the Army and was in a Artillery regiment...lol) My grandfather told me the occasional story about his action in the war. But I knew he kept most of what he witnessed to himself. One thing he did tell me was that he remembered the faces of every enemy soldier he had to kill. My grandfather continued to serve Canadians after the war. He became an OPP officer. I never served in combat. While as an ex soldier I can relate to their suffering, but I will never be able to fully understand it. Thank you gentlemen for your service. Canada owed you a debt we would never be able to repay. I just hope that after they returned home, we were able to pay some of that debt.
Hearing Bob Clayton recount his stories is truly amazing. How much strength it took to go back into old st Stephens college. Thank god for men like him. Rest In Peace Lieutenant Scott.
Grown man here in tear's watching this. I didnt know too much about the history of Canada in the battle of Hong Kong. This was very well made, and I feel i've gained something by watching it.
This documentary touched my heart, as a former infantry soldier during the 1960s I felt the pain of the two veterans from Canada. We must never forget. I resided in central Philippines for several years where terrible atrocities were carried out by the Japanese forces against the population as well as POWs. Us older people are well aware of what took place in South East Asia under the guise of warfare by the Japanese Military against innocent civilians. In conversations with various Filipinos I was very disappointed to find that many citizens of the Republic of the Philippines, know nothing of the atrocities inflicted on their population by the Japanese Army during the early 1940s. Lest We Forget. Robert Wilson. New Zealand.
Never forget. This is what I tell my neighbor every Veteran's day when I cut his grass in gratitude. Not a veteran myself, just a son of one of the Hong Kong Veterans.
I’m truly touched by the sacrifice the Canadian soldiers gave, New found respect ! I’m a Chinese Canadian and my parents are from Hong Kong, I remember my father told me when he was born in 1941, his mother (my grandma) would have him on her back hiding in the mountains from the Japanese soldiers, his mouth would be taped to prevent him from crying, and I credit my grandmother for protecting and raising him or I would not be here, she died in 1971 and to the time my dad died in 2012, he would walk a bit bull legged because as a child his bones in the pelvic area was not yet developed. I went back to Hong Kong for the first time and looked at the ancestral home last year.
Wow that's so amazing. Your grandmother and all the Chinese people were very brave to endure the invasion by the Japanese. Thank goodness she was able to hide and keep your father alive too! She was a hero!
I was a Chinese boy living through those days during the war. I know the Anglican priest and headmaster of the St. Stephen's Boys' School that was converted into a temporary hospital in those war time. This is real history and the atrocity that happened there is truthfully told. Now more than 70 years since, human beings have never learned to avoid war. Much cruelty is happening right now all around the world! The irony was that the Japanese were so advanced technologically in those days thanks to learning from the Brits before the war. They had a huge navy and air force and they were totally underestimated by their enemies.
Sorry I cannot answer that. I was in Kindergarten then, so I cannot give you any honest recollection. That whole period is now a blur except a few impressions of special significance to a 5 year old boy.
This is a very important documentary. Such Valor! I consider myself very fortunate having viewed this film. All in the free world owe those brave Canadians a debt we can never repay. God bless Canada. ( I'm American).
Hi i am from Liverpool UK now in retirement,living here Thailand i thank ALL men /women from the western world for my FREEDOM to be able to spend out my life.
Thank you Canada for protecting Hong Kong, it's the 70th Aniversay oft he Liberation of Hong Kong yesterday. I went to the war memorial monument for the Glorious dead in Central to paid my respects. Planning to do it every year from now on
@@jnagarya519 Like the part @50.51 Thats the ruling class formally surrendering . Only after losing all those men fighting a lost cause. Look at them , they managed to keep a stiff upper lip.
Deeply moving. I couldn’t watch it all the way through and had to come back to it in tribute to those who suffered. My father was in the US Navy and would have been part of the invasion of Japan. God bless our parents and grandparents who were indeed the Greatest Generation. Here’s to an end to all war....
A gripping story. I cried more than once for these brave men. I am American. My grandparents were of Irish ancestry born in Canada. My grandfather fought in World War 1. I was hoping the documentary would tell how many survivors there were of the 2,000 men.
My Mum (a Highland Scot) was a Nurse (14th Army, Territorial Nursing Corps) and served throughout Asia. A Theater Sister (Kings Nursing Medal) she NEVER spoke of the war. At the end of her life, aged 96 and in the grip of dementia, her last words were `India, Malaya, Burma, Hong Kong'.
These Canadian soldiers were basically civilians with uniforms and rifles they hardly trained with. Yet they so bravely put up a hell of a fight against impossible odds.
No, it was not blind faith. It was the misplaced belief that the enemy would cower by simply showing their white skins. Europeans and Americans never believed that an Asian army would have the gall to face a white Army. The Canadians were sent to intimidate the Japanese with their White skins. All these recriminations about how the Japanese treated them are uncalled for. War is war and the duty of every soldier in war is to destroy the enemy. Cruelty? well, how can that be more cruel than the 2 atomic bombs dropped to kill thousands of civilians (women and children, the sick and the elderly)? Don't tell me about atrocities when you have committed the most atrocious act of all.
The British officers were grossly underestimating the Japanese soldiers which were war hardened with a culture for sacrificing their lives for their Emperor with no comprehension of surrender.
My grandfather was from Lin Ma Hang, in the New Territories. He left his home before the Japanese invasion of Hong Kong and didn't return until 1946, he had little news of what was happening in HK under the Japanese occupation. He wasn't a soldier but a sailor in the British merchant navy and was a young crew member on the cargo ships that brought the troops and the tanks and equipment from the USA and Canada across the North Atlantic, risking submarines attacks and air attacks on a regular basis. Even in port in the UK he was in danger from the regular Luftwaffe air attacks. One of the many thousands of Chinese seamen who took part in the Second World War, which too many people have no idea about their own sacrifices. (BTW this video seems to be from the 1980's, because some of the narrative seems to be quite obsolete/outdated to a modern day person).
I live in Hong Kong and have hiked to those mountain bunkers many times, saw the ruins but could not imagine that there were actually such intense battles around them. This documentary opened my mind on what happened in those mountains, in those bunkers, places that today are popular recreational areas.. Crazy to see the people who committed the atrocities will never regret what they did, and the people who suffered them kept being respectful.
My great uncle fought with the Winnipeg grenadiers, I showed a lovely Hong Kong gal a statue in central Hong Kong with a canadian patch on the statue. Blew her mind.
A riveting doc. When this was first shown I had been in the PPCLI🇨🇦 for 7 years. These men are remarkable everymen and examples that Canadians and soldiers all ought to look up to.
This was so hard for me to watch as my grandfather was out in Hong Kong and survived he was captured on Christmas day as well. He was in a Scottish Regiment. My Grandad told my father that the Japanese broke his legs regular because he didn't bow to the officers.
I am sorry that this was hard to watch. My grandfather served in WWII. But he fought in Italy. He received horrible treatment. But know that even though he was a prisoner, he still fought. I hope that he received good treatment when he returned home.
Blessed beyond words to have Bob Clayton as a dear friend for many, many years. We sure do miss you and your beautiful bride, another hero, Jessie. Rest in peace with your men and family, Flash, never forgotten.
Excellent documentary. In my time in the U.S. Army I met a few of your boys in Afghanistan. They were very professional and lots of fun to work with. They represented you well Canada. It was an honor to know them.
My father in law was a H K Veteran Winipeg rifles We heard some of the stories but not allot of them he kept them to himself He was a very proud Veteran
While I (as a Canadian) appreciate your sentiment, It does a disservice to the fine Australian troops who fought in North Africa. Everything I read about them was glowing. Also the Indian troops who served in Burma and other places gave their all in very tough circumstances. South African pilots did a splendid job in the RAF as did many of the commonwealth pilots during thye battle of Britain... There are so many examples of valor in that global conflict that singling out one particular country is rather misleading...
@@andreraymond6860 Not really. If you remove Canada from the war and its lost before it gets started. Canada kept britain alive from 1939 till D-day from the food supplies and when we we shipped to the navel escorts we provided american merchant ships sending supplies to britain to the thousands of faulker hurricane aircraft manufactured in thunderbay ontario that help britain to maintain control of the skies. Canada had the second most powerful Navy by the end of the war. The war was won because Dday was a success. Dday was a success because of Canada !
@@5Cdarkwing Third most powerful navy at the end of the war. Not the second. The Royal Navy and US Navy were bigger. The RCN did not have carriers, cruisers or battle ships. It was a large anti submarine force that very effectively fought in the western half of the Atlantic.
@@5Cdarkwing It’s also something of a stretch to say that D Day succeeded because of Canada. Without a doubt Canada played a key role, but British code breaking, the Royal Navy, American air power, and American logistics were what made it possible.
That NKK employee who showed those vets propaganda pictures of how well they were treated in the camps. I do not know how they resisted punching that man in the fucking face for such an insult.
All of the Canadians who served in Hong Kong, living and departed, are due so much respect not only from their own people and government, but from all freedom loving people everywhere.
I met a man in London in 1969. He had been a Major in The British Commandoes, so a tough guy. He hated the Japanese with a vengeance I had never seen before. He described them as the most brutal and cruel people on the planet. I don't think he could ever find forgiveness because he was traumatised by his experience.
My grandfather (died 2004) was apart of the Canadian royal rifles and he was captured from the Japanese as a POW. Thank god he survived or else I would Not be here and be free. Least forget❤️.
As a British Forces child I lived in Hong Kong for 5 years from early to mid 1970's and knew all about this. Any Allied forces stood no chance at all with the overwhelming force of the Japanese and it was not just Canadians who suffered, many Brits, Aussies and NZ suffered. There are countless books about this period and within you will find all people who were fought and died in most bravely. If the US could be beaten in Philippines then the weak forces in Hong Kong stood no chance at all. Not just Canadians who died but many others. The civilians suffered horribly, I know of one Eurasian lady, a friend of the family who was married to a British soldier witnessing him being bayoneted to death even though he was wounded. She was raped and abused but bravely helped he POW's by smuggling in food and medicines to POW's. She married another British soldier after the war until her death in 1997.
The Rape Of Nanking is a terrible story too. I've seen pics of Japanese bayoneting baby's. They killed all the Chinese soldiers who gave up, telling them they were cowards.
Awful times and it appears that humans have learnt nothing from the past or it seems that we like war rather more than peace. Utter shame for all those who died. When I was a lad in HK I visited the CWWG on Hong Kong Island and read countless books on it, retracing the the fight. I remember reading one account of a a British soldier who could not fire his pistol as his hand and fingers were cut to the bone by a Japanese officers sword and he could not pull his finger. In the end he grabbed the sword with his other hand and killed the Japanese officer. Brave men all of them and so sad when one reads their words.
horrible - thanks for enlightening me on what happened though. Really happened. My family worked on the Burma Railway and my uncle survived a Japanese Camp as a child. Nobody else survived though. - I am finding all of this is still not cool with me now, 75 years later.
This documentary. This history. This story. This sacred and honoured sacrifice must be taught to every Canadian high school student. God bless the Canadian soldiers that served in HK and may they rest in peace and glory for all eternity.
@@jobertlocsin3245 God ain't sat beside you in a foxhole with large calibre guns raining down "Fire & Brimstone, as well as a determined person baying for your blood by any means to hand. Then sat watching helpless sering your mates at best being vapourised or having limbs taken away and dieing or at worst having to live life without. So no god isn't good at all in my eyes or cancer would be sorted! If anything a 7.62mm FNL with sweet sights and a full ammo count is god in my books.
Deeply moving documentary. Japan should formally apologize for its atrocities and begin to teach the truth about the war it conducted in China and the Pacific, not to inflict guilt on the currently young generations, but to set the record straight. And this goes for America, Britain, Turkey, and Russia too. All countries still hide the truth of what actually happened. It would give future generations the truth on which to build their cultures, not the lies, myths, and wishful thinking.
Those countries that you mentioned are not hiding the truth. In fact their all busy teaching the truth around the world. They're busy teaching young folks how jesus and mama mary saved a lot of people during world war 1 and 2. God is good, right?
This is an excellent Canadian documentary. It neither glorifies war nor sanitises it. It describes Japanese atrocities without revelling in the horror or expressing a thirst for vengeance. War brutalises men and it should be the absolute last resort. God Bless Canada.
Actually at the time of its airing on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation it and its two sister documentaries were hugely controversial. The reputations of the McKenna brothers has never fully recovered. Look up The Valor and The Horror on Wikipedia for the story of how Canadian veterans associations spoke out against this series. It went all the way to parliament, I believe.
This documentary was made quite a while ago, and I wish I could have had the opportunity to thanks these brave men. This Memorial day, I will say a prayer for all of them, and their fallen comrades.
I had the privilege of becoming friends with Bob Clayton in 2002. He and his wife Jessie, also a WWII veteran, spoke with my History classes in Orillia many times until 2010.
I am from India & I have a great respect for all the men who fought against the Axis powers (& also their stories). This is one of those typical stories that could make a man's blood boil. When armies behave with such savagery & disregard for life there is no longer any honour in them. They are absolute cowards! True courage & valour is seen not in cruelty, but in kindness, justice & mercy. I believe Germany, Japan & any country who participated in such dispeakable atrocities should apologise not just to the ones these acts were perpetrated against, but to the whole world. As we all live on the same planet & are humans first before we can identify ourselves according to our ethnicity. Though Japan didn't ask for forgiveness I forgive her. In India the Muslim rulers were nastier than the British masters. But wrongs were done, as there are cowards in all nations. And no one is perfect. If we need to move forward, the rule of "an eye for an eye" must to be put to rest! (I also recommend that anyone reading my comment to also read Mr Kevin Sealy's comment below).
My Mum and Dad were friends with a Priest that was taken at Singapore, they never talked about anything happened to him, but in the 1990's there was a big earth quake I think at Kobe, I was at the house and the news was talking about it and my Mum said," good, to bad it didn't happen in 1942, we could have used a good laugh". She got up and when to the liquor cabinet poured a glass of rum and toasted the earth quake, she never spoke about it to me and I never questioned her about.
As a Hongkonger born in Hong Kong, I am proud and saddened by this piece of history. I am proud that my city once stood up against the Japanese invasion, but also am saddened by the fact that we lost. However, I do not hate the Japanese, as every nation must had gone through a dark history, with the Japanese being the Imperial era.
My father and two uncles spent 4.5 years in the hands of the Japanese. My father always said if they hadn't dropped the bomb they wouldn't have survived another winter. The two things that make me really angry are that Churchill told the Canadian government NOT to send troops to Hong Kong as he knew it was indefensible but the government wanted to 'get in the war' right away. This was the first battle Canadians fought in in WWII. The second thing was that the troops were under the command of Major General Maltby a British officer who claimed the only reason he surrendered Hong Kong (despite the fact that untrained Canadian troops were facing battle hardened Japanese Vets who had been fighting through out China for years and their supplies had failed to come ashore. My father told me he threw away his rifle because he had no ammunition) was because the 'Canadians' wouldn't fight. The man was just looking for excuse for 'losing Hong Kong'. My father and uncles came home broken men. My father had been 19 years old and lost his sight due to malnutrition. He was never able to drive or work full time and got a pittance for disability benefits form the government. despite what one of the commentators here have said Canadians near got one cent in compensation from the Japanese for their slave labour, starvation and torture. Finally after decades of lobbying from their veterans group the Canadian government gave the surviving Hong Kong vets 20,000. each. None of the widows got a dime. If you ever fly to Hong Kong take a good look at their airport. It was built on top of the airport built by the slave labour and death of their POWs.
I think the Canadian Government were in a way forced to make the decision to send troop to Hong Kong.It was Churchill wanted to let Hong Kong go.Major general Maltby was just following order from the British Empire.The most death during hte defense of the colony were the Panjab troops and the local chinese gurillas. Is it Kai Tak airport you are referring to or the Chak Lap Kok airport on Lantau Island ? The old Kai Tak airport was not intended to be an airport in the first place. The orginally developemnt paln was a recreation centre in 1923 but later turn into the airport in 1926. The airport remained the same all the time to the Japanese invasion of the colony after Pearl Harbor on Dec 8,1941. Most of the death and hard labor were in Shamp Sui Po concentration camp where most canadian were.They were treated brutally because the one in charge knew a lot about canadian because he himself is a canadian of Japanese decend who spoke accent free canadian English but very sadly his growing up period in British Columbia canada was suffered under the highly discriminatory government policy of the asian exclusion act and the violence and vandalism the white anglo saxon canadian did on Japan town in Vancouver BC.Their shops were looted and damaged and people were beaten.
May be your father didn't tell you that the one Japanese hated him and his fellow soldiers the most was the second in command of the Shamp Sui Po POW camp who grew up in British Columbia who spoke 100% pure canadian accent English.The one canadian fear the most is home grown.
Sorry.The Kai Tak airport wan't buit top of the airport built by the slave labour and death of Pows.All of them were sent on the Bataan Death March from all over the asia pacific.The Hong Kong Kai Tak airport was initially intended for the leisure Centre when the idea came in around the late 1910s.It was named after two people , a welknown chinese local Ho Kai , and a ambitious business person Au Tak. When the invasion of Hong Kong began, the airport was bomed after they occupied the Kowloon hospital when Dr. Newton was their head , later on the central market was bombed and then came to the airport.The most plane at the airport was destroyed by the Japanese fighter plane.There is only one slave labour camp for the POWs , it is in Shamp Sui Po situated at the north west of the Kowloon Peninsula.
The combat was 5 to 1 , 5 Japanese to 1 British defense allied.Very sad that most canadian soldiers were untrained and why they were sent ot fight in a land which is totally foreign to them at that time (unlike the late 1980s where you get the name like little Hong Kong in Toronto and Hongcouver in Vancouver) ?
I was born in Hong Kong 64, as I can remember at school never been told about how the Brave Canadians army was defending Hong Kong in ww2 ..after watching this documentary.I was shock ! How can our education systems is so mislead us to our Hong Kong history during ww2 ! God bless all the brave Canadians.
I can confirm: - even under British rule, our textbook never mention Canadian deaths in HK; - but our marital war museum did exhibit Canadian fighting for us; - in recent years, China is trying play down Colonial and Commonwealth military's fighting against Japanese in HK.
The British school history curriculum never taught anything about recent events, with 50 years being the cutoff. Anything less than 50 years in the past was considered "a burning issue" and was off limits. Anything we learned about the Invasion and Occupation of HK in 1941 we learned from our parents and their friends, some of whom had been interned in camps like Sham Shui Po. Some of my school friends had been born in such camps. We most certainly heard about the Canadians - and the numerous instances of help from the local population at great risk to themselves; the Japanese could shoot or bayonet you on a whim - as they had proven in the rest of occupied China.
It is Aug 15, 2020 75th anniversary of VJ Day. Thanks for all you did for Hong Kong in WWII. I was born in HK and now serving in the US Navy. I salute each one of the Canadian soldiers defending my home town. You are always our best ally and friend. Then, now and forever!
My most grateful to these fallen young heros! Many of them were not prepared to see the brutality of Japanese army! They fought for a land that actually has nothing have to do with Canada except an obligation to the crown! They can rest in Hong Kong soil, in Stanley beach! They deserve the honor and respect from Hong Kongers!
Very sadly most of these canadian soldiers did not know why the Japanese hated them so much in the first place and this documnetary failed miserably to deliver the truthful answer to this most fundamental question. It all began with the introduction of the asian exclusion act on Japanese and chinese canadian and the former took up arm to fight back.This is where tragedy started to happen.
This is an extremely moving testament to the courage of the Canadians who fought and died during the battle for Honk Kong The level of brutality meated out to the captured allied troops after the fall of Hong-Kong,Singapore and Malaysia is beyond belief. The sheer incompetence of the British high command should have also been called into question even when Hong Kong had fallen Singapore didn't appear not to have the threat of invasion taken seriously
As a Canadian, we generally didn't like the British High Command. That's why General Currie formed the Canadian divison in WWI the division still had a British General in charge. We still had to follow BHC directives. But we fought as a single cohesive and uniquely Canadian formation with an equally Canadian way of fighting.
@@gryph01 That's absolutely correct. The Gallipoli campaign was also another example of a British general in charge of not only British troops but also the ANZACS.
@@chrisholland7367 I have a great, great Uncle who lived in Australia. I recently found his WWI enlistment papers. He joined an Artillery Battery as a Driver (now called Gunners). I will have to research to see where that battery fought during the war. The uncle, along with my great grandfather were born in Benchley, Tunbridge Wells, Kent. My uncle was in the 8th Hussars and left the British Army in Australia. My great grandfather was a home child and was sent to Canada when he was 12. It makes me proud that both brothers fought in the war. One for Australia and on for Canada. I'm sure that their brothers still in the UK fought in the Britiah Army. It made me happy to find that I a a family connection to Australia and the UK. I'll have to do some more digging to see if I have a family connection to New Zealand to make it complete.
@@gryph01 They certainly did ,but mainly the populations of both those countries combined were small so the casualtie rates were high .But the British Army took higher casualty than the ANZAC forces put together. Amphibious operations were a completely new form of warfare. I doubt any preparation was made before any allied troops went ashore. To make things worse the Turks prepaered their defences well .
Time is running out for reporting this sacrifice Canadian made and the atrocity committed by the Japanese. Nowaday, Japan goes further to position itself as a victim of war. Thanks for setting history straight.
Several times during this film I became quite choked up. A couple of times I even felt tears run down the proverbial cheeks at the suffering those two Canadians (in particular) suffered and are likely still suffering too. I'll admit that when I hear of the Japanese Govt refusing any compensation for the treatment of their POW's, it makes the blood boil. But for the Canadian Govt to block all future claims by handing over what amounts to a "get out of jail free" card to them Japanese Govt, I cannot help but wonder who's palms have been greased to make that happen and how much they earned from it too. At such times, I would love to see an independent war crimes commission put together, even this late after the war. To hunt down and all those responsible and subject them to a long, slow and deeply suffering death. But what would it serve to do? Sure, those with the commuted sentences should end up on the end of a rope - if they're still alive - and the families of all those prisoners of war receive fair compensation. Whether they were taken as such by Japan, Germany or any other country who have not been treated as a human being and given free access to food, clothing, medical help and sanitation. Part of me knows that this world of ours will never get anywhere unless we learn to forgive the past and start anew. But for those still surviving these horrors, their families and even those on the other side of that coin too, the truth should always be remembered if for no other reason than avoiding it happening again! I'm not sure if there is a "race" of peoples out there who can claim that when they took over a given place and captured POW's, that all those who'd survived the battle to get it were treated properly on all occasions. No matter which 20th / 21st century war we are referring to. I now that us, the British, cannot claim to have done so. Neither can the Yanks, the Germans, the French etc. That said, not all people who to go off to war are bad people by any means. Although I do believe that All forces did have their own evil elements who would excel at torture, rape and inflicting any other kind of suffering that they could / can think of. As I have no doubt at all, the powers that be within our world still have those uniquely qualified people who specialise in inflicting terrible horrors upon on whatever person(s) they deem to be the enemy.
"I am very very proud to serve in this brigade. Both in the fighting and in the prison camp. And I'd like to say to them. Where ever you are. Where ever you go. You can say. I'm a Hong Kong veteran and hold your head up tight" -Bob Clayton- Touches me really hard
an excellent doc, however, it always irks me a little when they show the modern Canadian flag during ww2 docs. my father and his comrades fought under the Red Ensign
Back in the early 80's I was a 15yo boy and a cadet. One day at a check out in front of me was a short old man. He wore a denim jacket, and that caught my eye as mostly that was for the 'young people'. As he turned I saw his small arm patch that said, Hong Kong Vet. I was immediately in awe of this man, and I wanted to speak with him, ask questions, and just let him know that this kid knew the history. As he paid I let him walk away saying nothing. I've had a some regrets in life, and not at the very least thanking him, remains one of the biggest regrets of my life.
@@danzel1157 well that same argument can be made for people put into slavery 300 years ago by people long dead but thats a topic on everyones lips today.
@@danzel1157 well can you take that as a no? slave traders are not forgiven for their atrocities so why should Mitsubishi and the Japanese be forgiven for their atrocities?
@@insertnamehere5146 Shall sanctions be imposed on Japan and Germany? Would that satisfy your sense of justice? Plainly you're out of touch with how the world works.
My father, Sargent Alfred Hoe, was part of the Hong Kong Volunteer defenders. His experience was horrific. He witnessed the Japanese Imperial Army officers killing Chinese soldiers with their kitana sword, slicing body in half as the fell down hill. My dad's shell shock lasted thrugh most of his life with night mares, screaming. Dad was wounded by machine gun fire. He was evacuated to a hospital where my uncle was a surgeon. Dad met my mom and Doctor Wong arranged to burn dad's uniform and gave mom and dad chinese clothing. My dad past away in Ottawa and is buried with my mom in Ottawa.
The words of the Commonwealth soldiers was unbelievable cruelty of the Japanese Imperial Soldiers. My dad said I shall forgive, never forget until he died.
Whatever the specious comments and arguments here these two survivors have the greatest respect for enduring the suffering of a lifetime of nightmares.
Kin Wa Li And you're a little idiot that has no clue about WWII and your own race of people and thinks that you're a POS Nazi Fuehrer! You're grand parents must be so proud of you! Yeah! I know you're a Honger! But you know nothing! Probably the only thing you know is you want HK to be independent! It's never going to happen moron!
My relatives used to say that the family mansion was haunted because the Japanese would behead people in the backyard. I'm still scared to enter the neighborhood.
My heartfelt appreciation for the sacrifice of Canadian soldiers who defended HK. My parents were there during the 3yr 8mo occupation, my grand mother died in the Japanese bombing and I got to hear first hand from my family the horrible experience living through war. Today is Canada Day and I wish no one will ever have to go through this again. Thanks for the fight for our freedom and RIP. 🙏 Proud to be a Canadian.
Very, very, very, underrated documentary. I had no idea until I saw this documentary of the scale of the Canadian sacrifice in the pacific. Brave men, good and true. I'm a Kiwi, we did our bit, but the back bone of the Britsh Empire rested a hell of a lot on the manpower, bravery, and industry of the Canadians.
My father (Canadian) was wounded in action in The Battle for Hong Kong and spent four years in a brutal Japanese prison camp in China , he was 19 years old when captured and survived the camp while his comrades died around him , my Dad is gone now and while he rarely spoke of those hellish times he did , once in a while tell us kids a few stories about those times . R I P Dad , Canadian hero !!
Ohh really cool story you might copy it
One word for your father, "hero"!!!
Thank you for serving and sacrificing in Hong Kong!
I'm appreciative for My peaceful life .Thanks to Brave men like Him.
My salute to your father.
My great-uncle, Paul Ferrace, was a Canadian soldier who was taken prisoner in Hong Kong on Christmas Day 1941. He was one of the prisoners that eventually made it home. He lived another 20 years but was frequently hospitalized due to complications from being a P.O.W. He was one of the prisoners mentioned in this video who built runways and was then sent to Japan in the hold of a ship to work in the coal mines. He liked to draw and he somehow managed to get rice paper and charcoal and brought home several drawings he made of the camps he was a prisoner in. He said that men would try to survive by being picked for work duty outside the camp where they could catch snakes and grubs to eat.
He was a wonderfully kind, caring man who loved to tell jokes. His hobby was wood working and he enjoyed making toys for hospitalized children.
May all who sacrificed so much for our freedom in WWII Rest In Peace.
You will never be forgotten. 🙏
My Grandfather was a member of the Hong Kong Volunteer Defence Corps (HKVDC) and after doing his duty during the battle, spent years in a POW camp. His father was later executed for aiding the resistance during the occupation. My Grandfather often spoke fondly of the Canadian’s he met in camp and how wonderful they all were and the fun they managed to have together. Sometimes I come and watch this video and I am so amazed and remarkably proud of him and his compatriots (both local and foreign) for standing their ground and the irrepressible spirit they showed.
Your grandfather was an honourable man with strong convictions.
Thank you for sharing his story.
I watched this documentary. I am a hongkonger. I truly wanna to say thank you to you Canadian soldiers. You did a contribution to HK, and your gallantry will never be forgotten.
freddy freddy I really liked this documentary too. My only major criticism is that although it mentions the British Empire forces, it never mentions the local Chinese volunteers who also fought and died valiantly alongside them. This in no way takes away from the contribution of the Canadians, but I do think Hong Kongers have something to be proud of. The true Lion Rock Spirit.
Sophie Karenina this is true also in the singapore and thailand and burma campaigns. Sadly most Australian soldiers in singapore were delivered there without arms. Some clown thought it better that the arms should go no a seperate ship. Many chinese suffered also and helped the allied cause
***** I guess u are a mainland Chinese. It is meaningless to bad mouth the British, and debase their statuses in the mind of Hongkongers. Though their mistakes could be found if one tries to be fastidious, their track record in facilitating the Island of Hongkong cannot be diluted.
Save your breath, chinaman. After 1997, the Island has been ruined very much. You cannot divert others attention from china's milti-incapabilities.
Save your breath, mainland chinaman.
***** hahahaha, chinaman, stayed back in your communist barbed wire. The exterior is dangerous to you. Do not cross the border to watch youtube since it is illegalised by your mob regime.
***** do not try to pretend as others. I know very well that u r a chinaman. It is meaningless to stir up, u cannot change the fact that your stupid chinaman regime has ruined the Island very much after occupying her. To countless Hongkongers, chinaman = cashytrash (people just too poor that what they left wth is solely money)
My father served in India and Burma, he would never forgive the enemy he saw to much of their cruelty. He passed last year aged 95 and did not regret his refusal to forget he lost many friends and saw to many things.
So did mine. He passed away in 2008, aged 84.
they were europeans..what were they doing in a land that wasn't theirs to begin with..were they there to help the ppl or exploit them..most likely to exploit them bc you europeans wouldn't let a chinaman live in ur country
My mom and dad made it to Calcutta, British India as refugees from Hong Kong. Dad, later was dispatched to fight along side with British Commonwealth Forces in China/Burma (ChinDits). My mom is Chinese Canadian so we ended up in Vancouver, BC.
Somehow, this video has reached all the way to a 60 year old Australian housewife's RUclips. I can't thank you enough for such a moving and personally difficult account of the battle for Hong Kong.
I have to admit to being ignorant about this part of WWII but no more. I am proud of watching this movie all the way to the end, even though at times I wanted to stop, or to smash the screen in anger. I cant imagine the terror and hunger you felt every day.
The two gentlemen in the video have opened their painful memories to us so that we will never forget. Thank you so much. I won't forget.
A Mum in Melbourne
You can't be 60 years old!! You look Sue Young!
Bless you Sue....trust you and everyone close is well.🪔
There still are plaques and memorials in Hong Kong commemorating the various locations of this battle. That's how I found out about it.
The Australian's suffered atrocities at the hands of the Japanese too. Who didn't?
My father lived through the 3 years and 8 months of Japanese occupation in Hong Kong. One time he said the Canadians tried to defend the city but so outnumbered that there was no chance. Hats off to all allied soldiers who fought during WWII.
@andrewchin2350 Canada fought mostly in Europe against Germany and Hitler like Britain France and the soviet union did
Thank you for sharing your tragic story. My father was an American soldier who fought in the European Theater and was wounded in the Battle of the Bulge and would never speak of what he saw or endured. May your fallen brothers rest in peace. American and Canadian soldiers have stood shoulder to shoulder proudly over the years. Thank you for your service.
My uncle Harold Haupt was killed on Christmas Eve in the Same battle. My father flew the Hump in china
Robert ( Bob ) Clayton passed away in 2015. My dad Ernest passed away in March 1991 just weeks after his 69th birthday. The only time he ever revealed any of what happened was at Christmas time of 1990...showing me the 2 wounds on his leg and then lifting the hair near his right temple to show where a bullet had grazed him and the scar that remained.
RIP to 2 great Canadian heros 🙏
I enjoyed hearing their stories. And that they survived the battle and the prison camps.
My grandfather served in the Perth Regiment of Canada and fought in Italy.
01 January, 1945 he was injured by a short shot by Canadian Artillery. (He was quite upset with me for a bit when he heard I joined the Army and was in a Artillery regiment...lol)
My grandfather told me the occasional story about his action in the war. But I knew he kept most of what he witnessed to himself. One thing he did tell me was that he remembered the faces of every enemy soldier he had to kill.
My grandfather continued to serve Canadians after the war. He became an OPP officer.
I never served in combat. While as an ex soldier I can relate to their suffering, but I will never be able to fully understand it.
Thank you gentlemen for your service. Canada owed you a debt we would never be able to repay. I just hope that after they returned home, we were able to pay some of that debt.
Hearing Bob Clayton recount his stories is truly amazing. How much strength it took to go back into old st Stephens college. Thank god for men like him. Rest In Peace Lieutenant Scott.
Well the indian who fought in Hong Kong don't have a voice. The rajput who acted as rare guards for evacuation are forgotten.
Very sad that canada sent these regiments to be whipped out over politics didn't we learn about British stupidity in ww1
Grown man here in tear's watching this. I didnt know too much about the history of Canada in the battle of Hong Kong. This was very well made, and I feel i've gained something by watching it.
I had many tears myself 😢.
The Canadians were sacrificial lambs for the British Empire.
This documentary touched my heart, as a former infantry soldier during the 1960s I felt the pain of the two veterans from Canada. We must never forget.
I resided in central Philippines for several years where terrible atrocities were carried out by the Japanese forces against the population as well as POWs. Us older people are well aware of what took place in South East Asia under the guise of warfare by the Japanese Military against innocent civilians. In conversations with various Filipinos I was very disappointed to find that many citizens of the Republic of the Philippines, know nothing of the atrocities inflicted on their population by the Japanese Army during the early 1940s.
Lest We Forget.
Robert Wilson.
New Zealand.
Never forget. This is what I tell my neighbor every Veteran's day when I cut his grass in gratitude. Not a veteran myself, just a son of one of the Hong Kong Veterans.
I’m truly touched by the sacrifice the Canadian soldiers gave,
New found respect !
I’m a Chinese Canadian and my parents are from Hong Kong, I remember my father told me when he was born in 1941, his mother (my grandma) would have him on her back hiding in the mountains from the Japanese soldiers, his mouth would be taped to prevent him from crying, and I credit my grandmother for protecting and raising him or I would not be here, she died in 1971 and to the time my dad died in 2012, he would walk a bit bull legged because as a child his bones in the pelvic area was not yet developed.
I went back to Hong Kong for the first time and looked at the ancestral home last year.
Wow that's so amazing. Your grandmother and all the Chinese people were very brave to endure the invasion by the Japanese. Thank goodness she was able to hide and keep your father alive too! She was a hero!
I was a Chinese boy living through those days during the war. I know the Anglican priest and headmaster of the St. Stephen's Boys' School that was converted into a temporary hospital in those war time. This is real history and the atrocity that happened there is truthfully told. Now more than 70 years since, human beings have never learned to avoid war. Much cruelty is happening right now all around the world!
The irony was that the Japanese were so advanced technologically in those days thanks to learning from the Brits before
the war. They had a huge navy and air force and they were totally underestimated by their enemies.
we are doing a research on the black christmas and I just want to know when did all the schools shut down during the occupation in dec8-dec 25
Sorry I cannot answer that. I was in Kindergarten then, so I cannot give you any honest recollection. That whole period is now a blur except a few impressions of special significance to a 5 year old boy.
aegeanbo
Don't worry. God is watching y'all, right?! 😬
Amazing men, and the nurses. The fortitude, bravery, no words to describe this. God bless you and your families.
This is a very important documentary. Such Valor! I consider myself very fortunate having viewed this film. All in the free world owe those brave Canadians a debt we can never repay. God bless Canada. ( I'm American).
Hi i am from Liverpool UK now in retirement,living here Thailand i thank ALL men /women from the western world for my FREEDOM to be able to spend out my life.
Thank you. Canadians and Americans stand together my friend.
Thank you Canada for protecting Hong Kong, it's the 70th Aniversay oft he Liberation of Hong Kong yesterday. I went to the war memorial monument for the Glorious dead in Central to paid my respects. Planning to do it every year from now on
I wish we could help liberate you now!
@@keithwatson1384 dude you're so nice, you want to help liberate hong Kong today!?!
See the Canadian Military are Allies to Communist TOO!!! ruclips.net/video/6CJJhqSXSuQ/видео.html
this documentary is so inspiring i usually get bored watching documentaries but this one was intriguing
Very interesting program.
My grandfather was killed here. It has taken a long time but this storey should have been told along time ago god bless those who served here
Instead of god blessing them, why don't you damn the ruling class elitists of Britain for sacrificing their lives.
@@redwater4778 This is a song by Bob Dylan about shared responsibility -- and avoiding it. Note how at the end "responsibility" is slipped onto "God" -- a too-common escape:
Who Killed Davey Moore?
Written by Bob Dylan
Who killed Davey Moore
Why an’ what’s the reason for?
“Not I,” says the referee
“Don’t point your finger at me
I could’ve stopped it in the eighth
An’ maybe kept him from his fate
But the crowd would’ve booed, I’m sure
At not gettin’ their money’s worth
It’s too bad he had to go
But there was a pressure on me too, you know
It wasn’t me that made him fall
No, you can’t blame me at all”
Who killed Davey Moore
Why an’ what’s the reason for?
“Not us,” says the angry crowd
Whose screams filled the arena loud
“It’s too bad he died that night
But we just like to see a fight
We didn’t mean for him t’ meet his death
We just meant to see some sweat
There ain’t nothing wrong in that
It wasn’t us that made him fall
No, you can’t blame us at all”
Who killed Davey Moore
Why an’ what’s the reason for?
“Not me,” says his manager
Puffing on a big cigar
“It’s hard to say, it’s hard to tell
I always thought that he was well
It’s too bad for his wife an’ kids he’s dead
But if he was sick, he should’ve said
It wasn’t me that made him fall
No, you can’t blame me at all”
Who killed Davey Moore
Why an’ what’s the reason for?
“Not me,” says the gambling man
With his ticket stub still in his hand
“It wasn’t me that knocked him down
My hands never touched him none
I didn’t commit no ugly sin
Anyway, I put money on him to win
It wasn’t me that made him fall
No, you can’t blame me at all”
Who killed Davey Moore
Why an’ what’s the reason for?
“Not me,” says the boxing writer
Pounding print on his old typewriter
Sayin’, “Boxing ain’t to blame
There’s just as much danger in a football game”
Sayin’, “Fistfighting is here to stay
It’s just the old American way
It wasn’t me that made him fall
No, you can’t blame me at all”
Who killed Davey Moore
Why an’ what’s the reason for?
“Not me,” says the man whose fists
Laid him low in a cloud of mist
Who came here from Cuba’s door
Where boxing ain’t allowed no more
“I hit him, yes, it’s true
But that’s what I am paid to do
Don’t say ‘murder,’ don’t say ‘kill’
It was destiny, it was God’s will”
Who killed Davey Moore
Why an’ what’s the reason for?
Copyright © 1964, 1965 by Warner Bros. Inc.; renewed 1992, 1993 by Special Rider Music
_____
It's so easy to avoid responsibility by placing it where it doesn't belong.
@@jnagarya519 Like the part @50.51 Thats the ruling class formally surrendering . Only after losing all those men fighting a lost cause. Look at them , they managed to keep a stiff upper lip.
@@redwater4778 right...they just should have surrendered right away? Without fighting maybe?
@@davidlouis1068 Totally. They knew to odds were against them. They should have pulled out of Hong Kong completely. Live to fight another day .
Thank you dear Canadian soldiers. You will never be forgotten here in Hong Kong.
Thank god. 😄
Thank you for honouring us. We would willing do it again, lady.
Deeply moving. I couldn’t watch it all the way through and had to come back to it in tribute to those who suffered. My father was in the US Navy and would have been part of the invasion of Japan. God bless our parents and grandparents who were indeed the Greatest Generation. Here’s to an end to all war....
A gripping story. I cried more than once for these brave men. I am American. My grandparents were of Irish ancestry born in Canada. My grandfather fought in World War 1. I was hoping the documentary would tell how many survivors there were of the 2,000 men.
My Mum (a Highland Scot) was a Nurse (14th Army, Territorial Nursing Corps) and served throughout Asia. A Theater Sister (Kings Nursing Medal) she NEVER spoke of the war. At the end of her life, aged 96 and in the grip of dementia, her last words were `India, Malaya, Burma, Hong Kong'.
Be proud of her .
sorry for your loss . sincerely mate . sne must have been a great woman .
Thank you for your service 🇨🇦🇬🇧🇭🇰
Thank god. 😷
This is the second time I have watched this!!! God bless Canada!! Lest we forget. Best wishes from your cousin in Australia!!
And to you as well. I hope our bonds never fray.
These Canadian soldiers were basically civilians with uniforms and rifles they hardly trained with. Yet they so bravely put up a hell of a fight against impossible odds.
blind faith
No, it was not blind faith. It was the misplaced belief that the enemy would cower by simply showing their white skins. Europeans and Americans never believed that an Asian army would have the gall to face a white Army. The Canadians were sent to intimidate the Japanese with their White skins. All these recriminations about how the Japanese treated them are uncalled for. War is war and the duty of every soldier in war is to destroy the enemy. Cruelty? well, how can that be more cruel than the 2 atomic bombs dropped to kill thousands of civilians (women and children, the sick and the elderly)? Don't tell me about atrocities when you have committed the most atrocious act of all.
Hong Kong had to be defended. The soldiers followed their orders and did the best they could. Blind faith my a$$.
The British officers were grossly underestimating the Japanese soldiers which were war hardened with a culture for sacrificing their lives for their Emperor with no comprehension of surrender.
@@ihs51 Yes. I agree with you. Well said.
My grandfather was from Lin Ma Hang, in the New Territories.
He left his home before the Japanese invasion of Hong Kong and didn't return until 1946, he had little news of what was happening in HK under the Japanese occupation.
He wasn't a soldier but a sailor in the British merchant navy and was a young crew member on the cargo ships that brought the troops and the tanks and equipment from the USA and Canada across the North Atlantic, risking submarines attacks and air attacks on a regular basis.
Even in port in the UK he was in danger from the regular Luftwaffe air attacks.
One of the many thousands of Chinese seamen who took part in the Second World War, which too many people have no idea about their own sacrifices.
(BTW this video seems to be from the 1980's, because some of the narrative seems to be quite obsolete/outdated to a modern day person).
I think it's from 1990? Only because when those two guys greet each other on the ship, they say, "it's been 45 years" i think.
I live in Hong Kong and have hiked to those mountain bunkers many times, saw the ruins but could not imagine that there were actually such intense battles around them. This documentary opened my mind on what happened in those mountains, in those bunkers, places that today are popular recreational areas.. Crazy to see the people who committed the atrocities will never regret what they did, and the people who suffered them kept being respectful.
My great uncle fought with the Winnipeg grenadiers, I showed a lovely Hong Kong gal a statue in central Hong Kong with a canadian patch on the statue. Blew her mind.
Every time I watch this video. the tears don't stop running.
My uncle was a Sgt in the Grenadiers ...
Thanks for sharing this episode of Horror and Valor.
phuktard Thank god. 😷
A riveting doc. When this was first shown I had been in the PPCLI🇨🇦 for 7 years. These men are remarkable everymen and examples that Canadians and soldiers all ought to look up to.
Fitting tribute to the Canadians that fought and died in Hong Kong.
unfortunately HK is now occupied by the CCP.
@@ttssinmood9677 Hong Kong has always been a part of China.
b
This was so hard for me to watch as my grandfather was out in Hong Kong and survived he was captured on Christmas day as well. He was in a Scottish Regiment. My Grandad told my father that the Japanese broke his legs regular because he didn't bow to the officers.
is he still aliv
I am sorry that this was hard to watch. My grandfather served in WWII. But he fought in Italy.
He received horrible treatment. But know that even though he was a prisoner, he still fought. I hope that he received good treatment when he returned home.
1:40:38 “Cut it out, bud.” The brotherhood between the two men. That says it all. So moving. We remember.
I knew Bob Clayton. He spoke with my History students many times in Orillia. That is the toughest part of the video for me to watch.
Blessed beyond words to have Bob Clayton as a dear friend for many, many years. We sure do miss you and your beautiful bride, another hero, Jessie. Rest in peace with your men and family, Flash, never forgotten.
Excellent documentary. In my time in the U.S. Army I met a few of your boys in Afghanistan. They were very professional and lots of fun to work with. They represented you well Canada. It was an honor to know them.
Thank you!
My father in law was a H K Veteran Winipeg rifles We heard some of the stories but not allot of them he kept them to himself He was a very proud Veteran
Canadians were the best troops in the British Commonwealth-their victories in France in 1944 are testimony to that.
While I (as a Canadian) appreciate your sentiment, It does a disservice to the fine Australian troops who fought in North Africa. Everything I read about them was glowing. Also the Indian troops who served in Burma and other places gave their all in very tough circumstances. South African pilots did a splendid job in the RAF as did many of the commonwealth pilots during thye battle of Britain... There are so many examples of valor in that global conflict that singling out one particular country is rather misleading...
@@andreraymond6860 Not really. If you remove Canada from the war and its lost before it gets started. Canada kept britain alive from 1939 till D-day from the food supplies and when we we shipped to the navel escorts we provided american merchant ships sending supplies to britain to the thousands of faulker hurricane aircraft manufactured in thunderbay ontario that help britain to maintain control of the skies. Canada had the second most powerful Navy by the end of the war. The war was won because Dday was a success. Dday was a success because of Canada !
@@5Cdarkwing
Third most powerful navy at the end of the war. Not the second.
The Royal Navy and US Navy were bigger.
The RCN did not have carriers, cruisers or battle ships. It was a large anti submarine force that very effectively fought in the western half of the Atlantic.
@@5Cdarkwing
It’s also something of a stretch to say that D Day succeeded because of Canada.
Without a doubt Canada played a key role, but British code breaking, the Royal Navy, American air power, and American logistics were what made it possible.
@@lawrencewright2816 Not a stretch at all. Completely true. Remove Canada and d day fails.
I just found your channel and this documentary.
Thank you for producing this.
That NKK employee who showed those vets propaganda pictures of how well they were treated in the camps. I do not know how they resisted punching that man in the fucking face for such an insult.
Thank you for the upload 😉
Watching from NSW Australia
HowdyRadio Thank god. 😷
I wish I had this history beforeI visited Hong Kong a couple of years ago. Here's to the brave Canadians.
All of the Canadians who served in Hong Kong, living and departed, are due so much respect not only from their own people and government, but from all freedom loving people everywhere.
I met a man in London in 1969. He had been a Major in The British Commandoes, so a tough guy. He hated the Japanese with a vengeance I had never seen before. He described them as the most brutal and cruel people on the planet. I don't think he could ever find forgiveness because he was traumatised by his experience.
The Japanese were particularly cruel. Just ask the Chinese.
My grandfather (died 2004) was apart of the Canadian royal rifles and he was captured from the Japanese as a POW. Thank god he survived or else I would Not be here and be free. Least forget❤️.
As a British Forces child I lived in Hong Kong for 5 years from early to mid 1970's and knew all about this. Any Allied forces stood no chance at all with the overwhelming force of the Japanese and it was not just Canadians who suffered, many Brits, Aussies and NZ suffered. There are countless books about this period and within you will find all people who were fought and died in most bravely. If the US could be beaten in Philippines then the weak forces in Hong Kong stood no chance at all. Not just Canadians who died but many others. The civilians suffered horribly, I know of one Eurasian lady, a friend of the family who was married to a British soldier witnessing him being bayoneted to death even though he was wounded. She was raped and abused but bravely helped he POW's by smuggling in food and medicines to POW's. She married another British soldier after the war until her death in 1997.
The Rape Of Nanking is a terrible story too. I've seen pics of Japanese bayoneting baby's. They killed all the Chinese soldiers who gave up, telling them they were cowards.
Awful times and it appears that humans have learnt nothing from the past or it seems that we like war rather more than peace. Utter shame for all those who died. When I was a lad in HK I visited the CWWG on Hong Kong Island and read countless books on it, retracing the the fight. I remember reading one account of a a British soldier who could not fire his pistol as his hand and fingers were cut to the bone by a Japanese officers sword and he could not pull his finger. In the end he grabbed the sword with his other hand and killed the Japanese officer. Brave men all of them and so sad when one reads their words.
Sid Kid I agree with you. WW3 starting already. Nothing has been learned..
sure they learned something,,,, WAR is Good for Bankers,, ole USN vet
if you were out at the barracks in fan kam road you might like to know the lotus café is still there and still open ….
horrible - thanks for enlightening me on what happened though. Really happened. My family worked on the Burma Railway and my uncle survived a Japanese Camp as a child. Nobody else survived though. - I am finding all of this is still not cool with me now, 75 years later.
ChinaReport.com Thank god. 😷
This is the most difficult war documentary I've ever seen.
I could not watch this in one shot as it was far too emotional for me to do so.
This documentary. This history. This story. This sacred and honoured sacrifice must be taught to every Canadian high school student. God bless the Canadian soldiers that served in HK and may they rest in peace and glory for all eternity.
This was a great documentary to bad they don't make em like this anymore
Romega Vadquez the emperor should be sentenced to death because they planned to take no prisoners
Dey dey dey dey dont make docs like this.
I am honoured to have had the opportunity to hear this. Thank you
Craig Macintosh No. Thank god. God i$ good, right?!
@@jobertlocsin3245 God ain't sat beside you in a foxhole with large calibre guns raining down "Fire & Brimstone, as well as a determined person baying for your blood by any means to hand. Then sat watching helpless sering your mates at best being vapourised or having limbs taken away and dieing or at worst having to live life without. So no god isn't good at all in my eyes or cancer would be sorted! If anything a 7.62mm FNL with sweet sights and a full ammo count is god in my books.
Deeply moving documentary. Japan should formally apologize for its atrocities and begin to teach the truth about the war it conducted in China and the Pacific, not to inflict guilt on the currently young generations, but to set the record straight. And this goes for America, Britain, Turkey, and Russia too. All countries still hide the truth of what actually happened. It would give future generations the truth on which to build their cultures, not the lies, myths, and wishful thinking.
I agree
@Robert Marshall they decided to cooperate and tell where all the loot they stole was hidden, amounts worth 100s of billions in dollars.
Those countries that you mentioned are not hiding the truth. In fact their all busy teaching the truth around the world. They're busy teaching young folks how jesus and mama mary saved a lot of people during world war 1 and 2. God is good, right?
The Japanese till this day don't do apoloogies. PM Abe did not apologize for the Korean attrocities and the enslavement of women.
@@jobertlocsin3245 Are you for real??? What are you talking about???
This is an excellent Canadian documentary. It neither glorifies war nor sanitises it. It describes Japanese atrocities without revelling in the horror or expressing a thirst for vengeance. War brutalises men and it should be the absolute last resort. God Bless Canada.
Actually at the time of its airing on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation it and its two sister documentaries were hugely controversial. The reputations of the McKenna brothers has never fully recovered. Look up The Valor and The Horror on Wikipedia for the story of how Canadian veterans associations spoke out against this series. It went all the way to parliament, I believe.
This documentary was made quite a while ago, and I wish I could have had the opportunity to thanks these brave men. This Memorial day, I will say a prayer for all of them, and their fallen comrades.
I had the privilege of becoming friends with Bob Clayton in 2002. He and his wife Jessie, also a WWII veteran, spoke with my History classes in Orillia many times until 2010.
Canada should never forget this. God bless them all for their service.
Great video! True soldiers don't die, they just fade away.
Thanks for uploading
I am from India & I have a great respect for all the men who fought against the Axis powers (& also their stories). This is one of those typical stories that could make a man's blood boil. When armies behave with such savagery & disregard for life there is no longer any honour in them. They are absolute cowards! True courage & valour is seen not in cruelty, but in kindness, justice & mercy. I believe Germany, Japan & any country who participated in such dispeakable atrocities should apologise not just to the ones these acts were perpetrated against, but to the whole world. As we all live on the same planet & are humans first before we can identify ourselves according to our ethnicity. Though Japan didn't ask for forgiveness I forgive her. In India the Muslim rulers were nastier than the British masters. But wrongs were done, as there are cowards in all nations. And no one is perfect. If we need to move forward, the rule of "an eye for an eye" must to be put to rest! (I also recommend that anyone reading my comment to also read Mr Kevin Sealy's comment below).
My grandfather was there, he belonged to the Canadian rifles of Canada and died as a pow
God bless them all
He was a hero
as a hongkongese i am glad that my grandfather is alive
Lest we forget!!! Love to my Canadian cousins from Australia. We will (hopefully) always remember your nations sacrifice for freedom..
I visited sai wan bay cemetary in Hong Kong , a very special place ,,i wept
My Mum and Dad were friends with a Priest that was taken at Singapore, they never talked about anything happened to him, but in the 1990's there was a big earth quake I think at Kobe, I was at the house and the news was talking about it and my Mum said," good, to bad it didn't happen in 1942, we could have used a good laugh". She got up and when to the liquor cabinet poured a glass of rum and toasted the earth quake, she never spoke about it to me and I never questioned her about.
As a Hongkonger born in Hong Kong, I am proud and saddened by this piece of history. I am proud that my city once stood up against the Japanese invasion, but also am saddened by the fact that we lost.
However, I do not hate the Japanese, as every nation must had gone through a dark history, with the Japanese being the Imperial era.
My father and two uncles spent 4.5 years in the hands of the Japanese. My father always said if they hadn't dropped the bomb they wouldn't have survived another winter.
The two things that make me really angry are that Churchill told the Canadian government NOT to send troops to Hong Kong as he knew it was indefensible but the government wanted to 'get in the war' right away. This was the first battle Canadians fought in in WWII. The second thing was that the troops were under the command of Major General Maltby a British officer who claimed the only reason he surrendered Hong Kong (despite the fact that untrained Canadian troops were facing battle hardened Japanese Vets who had been fighting through out China for years and their supplies had failed to come ashore. My father told me he threw away his rifle because he had no ammunition) was because the 'Canadians' wouldn't fight. The man was just looking for excuse for 'losing Hong Kong'. My father and uncles came home broken men. My father had been 19 years old and lost his sight due to malnutrition. He was never able to drive or work full time and got a pittance for disability benefits form the government. despite what one of the commentators here have said Canadians near got one cent in compensation from the Japanese for their slave labour, starvation and torture. Finally after decades of lobbying from their veterans group the Canadian government gave the surviving Hong Kong vets 20,000. each. None of the widows got a dime. If you ever fly to Hong Kong take a good look at their airport. It was built on top of the airport built by the slave labour and death of their POWs.
I think the Canadian Government were in a way forced to make the decision to send troop to Hong Kong.It was Churchill wanted to let Hong Kong go.Major general Maltby was just following order from the British Empire.The most death during hte defense of the colony were the Panjab troops and the local chinese gurillas.
Is it Kai Tak airport you are referring to or the Chak Lap Kok airport on Lantau Island ? The old Kai Tak airport was not intended to be an airport in the first place. The orginally developemnt paln was a recreation centre in 1923 but later turn into the airport in 1926. The airport remained the same all the time to the Japanese invasion of the colony after Pearl Harbor on Dec 8,1941.
Most of the death and hard labor were in Shamp Sui Po concentration camp where most canadian were.They were treated brutally because the one in charge knew a lot about canadian because he himself is a canadian of Japanese decend who spoke accent free canadian English but very sadly his growing up period in British Columbia canada was suffered under the highly discriminatory government policy of the asian exclusion act and the violence and vandalism the white anglo saxon canadian did on Japan town in Vancouver BC.Their shops were looted and damaged and people were beaten.
We people of Hong Kong have so much to thank for your very brave Canadian Soldiers.
May be your father didn't tell you that the one Japanese hated him and his fellow soldiers the most was the second in command of the Shamp Sui Po POW camp who grew up in British Columbia who spoke 100% pure canadian accent English.The one canadian fear the most is home grown.
Sorry.The Kai Tak airport wan't buit top of the airport built by the slave labour and death of Pows.All of them were sent on the Bataan Death March from all over the asia pacific.The Hong Kong Kai Tak airport was initially intended for the leisure Centre when the idea came in around the late 1910s.It was named after two people , a welknown chinese local Ho Kai , and a ambitious business person Au Tak. When the invasion of Hong Kong began, the airport was bomed after they occupied the Kowloon hospital when Dr. Newton was their head , later on the central market was bombed and then came to the airport.The most plane at the airport was destroyed by the Japanese fighter plane.There is only one slave labour camp for the POWs , it is in Shamp Sui Po situated at the north west of the Kowloon Peninsula.
The combat was 5 to 1 , 5 Japanese to 1 British defense allied.Very sad that most canadian soldiers were untrained and why they were sent ot fight in a land which is totally foreign to them at that time (unlike the late 1980s where you get the name like little Hong Kong in Toronto and Hongcouver in Vancouver) ?
I was born in Hong Kong 64, as I can remember at school never been told about how the Brave Canadians army was defending Hong Kong in ww2 ..after watching this documentary.I was shock ! How can our education systems is so mislead us to our Hong Kong history during ww2 ! God bless all the brave Canadians.
I can confirm:
- even under British rule, our textbook never mention Canadian deaths in HK;
- but our marital war museum did exhibit Canadian fighting for us;
- in recent years, China is trying play down Colonial and Commonwealth military's fighting against Japanese in HK.
The British school history curriculum never taught anything about recent events, with 50 years being the cutoff. Anything less than 50 years in the past was considered "a burning issue" and was off limits. Anything we learned about the Invasion and Occupation of HK in 1941 we learned from our parents and their friends, some of whom had been interned in camps like Sham Shui Po. Some of my school friends had been born in such camps. We most certainly heard about the Canadians - and the numerous instances of help from the local population at great risk to themselves; the Japanese could shoot or bayonet you on a whim - as they had proven in the rest of occupied China.
Bill Cheung God i$ good, right?! 🤑
It is Aug 15, 2020 75th anniversary of VJ Day. Thanks for all you did for Hong Kong in WWII. I was born in HK and now serving in the US Navy. I salute each one of the Canadian soldiers defending my home town. You are always our best ally and friend. Then, now and forever!
My most grateful to these fallen young heros! Many of them were not prepared to see the brutality of Japanese army! They fought for a land that actually has nothing have to do with Canada except an obligation to the crown! They can rest in Hong Kong soil, in Stanley beach! They deserve the honor and respect from Hong Kongers!
Impossible to click the "like" because it seems so wrong to like such a tragedy. Thank you for sharing an unknown piece of history.
God Bless each and every one of you. Your humanity shines brightly.
cariboupete Peterson God is good, right?! 🤑
Lest we forget. We have allowed them to rearm . I went to Repulse Bay and Port Stanley to remember them.
They are all Great Canadian heroes in my View . Great soldier courageous..
Very sadly most of these canadian soldiers did not know why the Japanese hated them so much in the first place and this documnetary failed miserably to deliver the truthful answer to this most fundamental question. It all began with the introduction of the asian exclusion act on Japanese and chinese canadian and the former took up arm to fight back.This is where tragedy started to happen.
I partly agree.... Heros and courageous, but great soldiers? They were misfits and deemed unfit for duty.... lol the poor bastards :(
Well done film on a little known episode in WW2. Worth watching if you are scrolling through RUclips
This is an extremely moving testament to the courage of the Canadians who fought and died during the battle for Honk Kong The level of brutality meated out to the captured allied troops after the fall of Hong-Kong,Singapore and Malaysia is beyond belief. The sheer incompetence of the British high command should have also been called into question even when Hong Kong had fallen Singapore didn't appear not to have the threat of invasion taken seriously
As a Canadian, we generally didn't like the British High Command. That's why General Currie formed the Canadian divison in WWI the division still had a British General in charge. We still had to follow BHC directives. But we fought as a single cohesive and uniquely Canadian formation with an equally Canadian way of fighting.
@@gryph01 That's absolutely correct. The Gallipoli campaign was also another example of a British general in charge of not only British troops but also the ANZACS.
@@chrisholland7367 Unfortunately, Gallipoli didn't work out well. And a lot of ANZACS paid the price for it.
@@chrisholland7367 I have a great, great Uncle who lived in Australia. I recently found his WWI enlistment papers. He joined an Artillery Battery as a Driver (now called Gunners). I will have to research to see where that battery fought during the war.
The uncle, along with my great grandfather were born in Benchley, Tunbridge Wells, Kent. My uncle was in the 8th Hussars and left the British Army in Australia. My great grandfather was a home child and was sent to Canada when he was 12.
It makes me proud that both brothers fought in the war. One for Australia and on for Canada. I'm sure that their brothers still in the UK fought in the Britiah Army.
It made me happy to find that I a a family connection to Australia and the UK. I'll have to do some more digging to see if I have a family connection to New Zealand to make it complete.
@@gryph01 They certainly did ,but mainly the populations of both those countries combined were small so the casualtie rates were high .But the British Army took higher casualty than the ANZAC forces put together. Amphibious operations were a completely new form of warfare. I doubt any preparation was made before any allied troops went ashore. To make things worse the Turks prepaered their defences well .
Time is running out for reporting this sacrifice Canadian made and the atrocity committed by
the Japanese. Nowaday, Japan goes further to position itself as a victim of war. Thanks for
setting history straight.
I had no idea this happened, those brave young boys bless your 💕 hearts!
This is very well done. Few war documentaries can compare.
thank you all for your service from a former navy man at 74
terrence gurnee Thank god. 😷
Thank you and you are my Hero
CHENG83 in 2020 No. Thank god. He i$ everybody's so real hero and saviour. 🤑
Several times during this film I became quite choked up. A couple of times I even felt tears run down the proverbial cheeks at the suffering those two Canadians (in particular) suffered and are likely still suffering too. I'll admit that when I hear of the Japanese Govt refusing any compensation for the treatment of their POW's, it makes the blood boil. But for the Canadian Govt to block all future claims by handing over what amounts to a "get out of jail free" card to them Japanese Govt, I cannot help but wonder who's palms have been greased to make that happen and how much they earned from it too. At such times, I would love to see an independent war crimes commission put together, even this late after the war. To hunt down and all those responsible and subject them to a long, slow and deeply suffering death. But what would it serve to do? Sure, those with the commuted sentences should end up on the end of a rope - if they're still alive - and the families of all those prisoners of war receive fair compensation. Whether they were taken as such by Japan, Germany or any other country who have not been treated as a human being and given free access to food, clothing, medical help and sanitation.
Part of me knows that this world of ours will never get anywhere unless we learn to forgive the past and start anew. But for those still surviving these horrors, their families and even those on the other side of that coin too, the truth should always be remembered if for no other reason than avoiding it happening again!
I'm not sure if there is a "race" of peoples out there who can claim that when they took over a given place and captured POW's, that all those who'd survived the battle to get it were treated properly on all occasions. No matter which 20th / 21st century war we are referring to. I now that us, the British, cannot claim to have done so. Neither can the Yanks, the Germans, the French etc. That said, not all people who to go off to war are bad people by any means. Although I do believe that All forces did have their own evil elements who would excel at torture, rape and inflicting any other kind of suffering that they could / can think of. As I have no doubt at all, the powers that be within our world still have those uniquely qualified people who specialise in inflicting terrible horrors upon on whatever person(s) they deem to be the enemy.
"I am very very proud to serve in this brigade. Both in the fighting and in the prison camp. And I'd like to say to them. Where ever you are. Where ever you go. You can say. I'm a Hong Kong veteran and hold your head up tight" -Bob Clayton- Touches me really hard
an excellent doc, however, it always irks me a little when they show the modern Canadian flag during ww2 docs. my father and his comrades fought under the Red Ensign
This is a great film/video. I had read the history and accounts before seeing this. Great men. Good men.
Lazoma Chavez And good god, right?! 😷
I think the Canadian soldier are the most courageous of all soldier you guys are so brave . You should be proud to be Canadian....
Back in the early 80's I was a 15yo boy and a cadet. One day at a check out in front of me was a short old man. He wore a denim jacket, and that caught my eye as mostly that was for the 'young people'. As he turned I saw his small arm patch that said, Hong Kong Vet. I was immediately in awe of this man, and I wanted to speak with him, ask questions, and just let him know that this kid knew the history. As he paid I let him walk away saying nothing.
I've had a some regrets in life, and not at the very least thanking him, remains one of the biggest regrets of my life.
70 years later Canadians and brits proudly polish their Japanese cars every Sunday morning.
Insert name here Were those Japanese cars made by the same men who committed the atrocities?
@@danzel1157 well that same argument can be made for people put into slavery 300 years ago by people long dead but thats a topic on everyones lips today.
@@insertnamehere5146 I'll take that as a 'no,' of course.
@@danzel1157 well can you take that as a no? slave traders are not forgiven for their atrocities so why should Mitsubishi and the Japanese be forgiven for their atrocities?
@@insertnamehere5146 Shall sanctions be imposed on Japan and Germany? Would that satisfy your sense of justice? Plainly you're out of touch with how the world works.
My father, Sargent Alfred Hoe, was part of the Hong Kong Volunteer defenders. His experience was horrific. He witnessed the Japanese Imperial Army officers killing Chinese soldiers with their kitana sword, slicing body in half as the fell down hill. My dad's shell shock lasted thrugh most of his life with night mares, screaming. Dad was wounded by machine gun fire. He was evacuated to a hospital where my uncle was a surgeon. Dad met my mom and Doctor Wong arranged to burn dad's uniform and gave mom and dad chinese clothing.
My dad past away in Ottawa and is buried with my mom in Ottawa.
The words of the Commonwealth soldiers was unbelievable cruelty of the Japanese Imperial Soldiers. My dad said I shall forgive, never forget until he died.
Whatever the specious comments and arguments here these two survivors have the greatest respect for enduring the suffering of a lifetime of nightmares.
Mac Brack They survived because god helped them. 😷
Movie sidenote. At 2:37 is a young David Hewlett, the actor that played Rodney Mckay on the television series Stargate SG-1.
Thank you for saving and serving Hong Kong!
We thank you for your sacrifice for your country and Hong Kong. Eternal grateful thank you.
My relatives most of them suffer the same tragedy in POW camps in the Philipiines I can feel what the Canadian veterans had gone through.
the Japanese will never admit the horrors of what they did even til this day .
they did every year and apologize. what u talking about?
So much hate...
Kin Wa Li can you blame them after watching this .
I am a Hongkonger and I know very well about this period of history but I feel that is is time to throw away the hate...
Kin Wa Li And you're a little idiot that has no clue about WWII and your own race of people and thinks that you're a POS Nazi Fuehrer! You're grand parents must be so proud of you! Yeah! I know you're a Honger! But you know nothing! Probably the only thing you know is you want HK to be independent! It's never going to happen moron!
Incredible personal stories highlighting acts a utter heroism and utter depravity
thank you Canadians
My relatives used to say that the family mansion was haunted because the Japanese would behead people in the backyard.
I'm still scared to enter the neighborhood.
My heartfelt appreciation for the sacrifice of Canadian soldiers who defended HK. My parents were there during the 3yr 8mo occupation, my grand mother died in the Japanese bombing and I got to hear first hand from my family the horrible experience living through war. Today is Canada Day and I wish no one will ever have to go through this again. Thanks for the fight for our freedom and RIP. 🙏 Proud to be a Canadian.
It's first this side . And then befitting reply from the other side with equal response in magnitude.
Very, very, very, underrated documentary. I had no idea until I saw this documentary of the scale of the Canadian sacrifice in the pacific. Brave men, good and true. I'm a Kiwi, we did our bit, but the back bone of the Britsh Empire rested a hell of a lot on the manpower, bravery, and industry of the Canadians.