Canadian Soldiers During Pacific Theater

by Emma Jacobs

Canadian soldiers joined Allied forces in Hong Kong during World War II. Serving under British command, Canada brought its experience from previous world wars. Although not widely recognized for its training, Canada demonstrated its military capability by imprisoning over 40,000 German soldiers. However, by World War II, Canadians also faced the harsh reality of their Japanese adversaries, who were adept at capturing and holding prisoners. Tragically, many of these prisoners suffered and died from slow starvation (Cook 641).

Like most nations, Canada’s ideological motivations for joining the war related to defending democracy. Hitler’s regime embodied the totalitarianism Canadians feared would enter their political domain, so swaths of eligible men entered combat (Huard 69). Although Canadians showed specific disdain for European Axis powers, traveling to Asia provided soldiers with the chance for adventure: Hong Kong seemed “distant and exotic [enough] to capture the imagination” of those arriving in late 1941 (Macri 239). Stationed in China only weeks before the Battle of Hong Kong, Canadian men quickly recognized that Japan also posed a great threat to the Allied forces. 
    Canada’s biggest contribution to the war effort was manpower. However, Dorotea Gucciardo, a history professor at Western University, points to various technological initiatives that occurred throughout Canada. Citizens, engineers, and politicians submitted various proposals for new weaponry. Newspapers published their ideas, and the Toronto Star even hosted the “Hit-Hitler” contest “whereby readers could win the war ideas” for a small cash prize (173). Most of the aerial or naval inventions were highly imaginative. One example is the “Habakkuk,” an aircraft carrier made of ice and wood pulp to use against German U-boats during WWII (174). Such innovation seems unfeasible, but Canada’s National Research Council funded the project in 1942. While these innovations provide insight into Canada’s technological understanding, they explain only a small portion of the country’s response to World War II. 
    Canada’s largest response was enlistment, with around one million Canadians, primarily men, entering the war. Nearly all soldiers were volunteers and “by and large eager to fight the Japanese” (Macri 239). Women also played a crucial role, with around 50,000 serving in support roles, including the Canadian Women's Army Corps, the Royal Canadian Air Force Women's Division, and the Women's Royal Canadian Naval Service" (The Canadian Encyclopedia, 2023). Joining the Pacific Theater meant joining forces with British soldiers, which mounted tension within infantry battalions because Canadians held resentment toward the colonialism in their homeland and became critical of their British counterparts. Their insults towards the British usually related to their unkemptness or arrogance, with one soldier reporting, “the English … are underhand … because they are only trying to look down on the Canadians … they [the English] are very slow to act … [and] are very cold and consider us Colonials, coming from an uncivilized country” (Carroll 19). Their entwined history presented challenges, but as warfare with Japan intensified, they overlooked such conflicts within their unit to look at the greater picture instead. 

Three weeks before the battle, a Canadian military contingent arrived to reinforce the garrison

When thinking about Canadians in the Pacific Theater, the Battle of Hong Kong reflects the nature of their undermanned and underfunded yet persistent defense against Japanese attacks. The primary Canadian troops were the Winnipeg Grenadiers, the Royal Rifles of Canada, and the British and the Indians. By December 19, 1941, Japanese troops reached the Canadian-held Wong Nai Chong Gap, a strategically important area defended by Allied forces, including British, Indian, and Canadian troops. Within six days, Japan captured Hong Kong. Most scholarship defames Canadian efforts there. 
Starting at the Wong Nai Chong Gap dispute, France David Macri, a military historian,  stated how effectively the Winnipeg Grenadiers, a Canadian infantry battalion, held off their opposition despite their lack of gunpowder. On December 8, 1941, just hours after the attack on Pearl Harbor, Japanese forces launched an invasion of Hong Kong. The Winnipeg Grenadiers, along with other British, Indian, and local forces, were tasked with defending the island. For three days, the Winnipeg Grenadiers blocked the advance, inflicting and enduring many casualties. With little formal training, the Canadians could not overwhelm the Japanese and eventually retreated to Mount Cameron (Macri 242). The bonds between the Winnipeg soldiers stand out because not only were the military personnel closely connected, but the troop included five sets of brothers, all of whom died at Wong Nai Chong Gap. The badly wounded were stabbed with a bayonet, and the remaining were imprisoned (Macri 246). Their strategy, though ultimately unsuccessful, should be commended for its resolve because their resistance lasted three days despite being outnumbered. 
Japanese victory appeared inevitable, but the Canadians continued the fight. On December 23, 1941, Brigadier John K. Lawson, who was in command of the Canadian forces, was killed in action, and command passed to British officers.
General Wallis, a British officer in China, ordered a final counterattack by the Royal Rifles of Canada on December 23, 1941, as part of the broader efforts to defend the island from the advancing Japanese forces. The attack was a desperate attempt to push back the Japanese troops who had gained significant ground on Hong Kong Island. Unfortunately, the counterattack did not succeed, and the situation for the Allied forces continued to deteriorate. (Macri 246). By December 25, 1941, Japan seized Hong Kong, 290 Canadians died, and the other 1,685 Canadians became war prisoners of Japan. Canadian soldiers were obedient even when they were overpowered and out-strategized. 

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Infantrymen of C Company, Royal Rifles of Canada, aboard H.M.C.S. PRINCE ROBERT en route to Hong Kong, 15 November 1941. The black dog at the center was the famous Gander. They already entered Hong Kong waters and landed the next day. Three weeks later, many died in the Battle of Hong Kong, including Gander the dog for picking up a Japanese grenade thrown toward the Canadians., Date 15 November 1945, Source: Library and Archives Canada

The Canadian military played a crucial role in the Pacific Theater, with the Royal Canadian Air Force actively participating in operations across Asia. Squadron Leader Leonard Birchall, often referred to as the "Savior of Ceylon," played a key role in defending Sri Lanka (then Ceylon). On April 4, 1942, Birchall’s reconnaissance flight spotted a large Japanese fleet approaching Ceylon, and he managed to send a warning before being shot down, which allowed Allied forces to prepare and prevent a surprise attack (St. Laurent 120). 
Additionally, Canadians contributed to the defense of key regions such as North Burma, and HMCS Uganda was notably the only Canadian warship to engage the Japanese navy in the Pacific ("Canada and the War in Asia and the Pacific"). While Canada’s contribution of one million fighters may seem modest compared to the 18 million American and British troops, their efforts were instrumental in bolstering the defenses of Sri Lanka, Malaysia, and Hong Kong, ultimately contributing to the Allied victory over Japan.

 



Works Cited
Canada, Veterans Affairs. “Canada and the War in Asia and the Pacific.” Veterans Affairs Canada, 13 July 2020, https://www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/remembrance/history/second-world-         war/southeast-asia/asia-and-pacific. 
The Canadian Encyclopedia. (2023). Canada and the Second World War, https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/women-in-the-military
Carroll, Andrew. “Canadian Troops Sound Off--And Keep Censors on Their Toes.” World War         II, vol. 25, no. 5, Jan. 2011, pp. 19–20. EBSCOhost, https://search-ebscohost-com.rocky.         iona.edu/ login.aspx?direct=true&db=ulh&AN=56457688&site=ehost-live& scope=site.
Cook, Tim. "The Politics of Surrender: Canadian Soldiers and the Killing of Prisoners in the         Great War." The Journal of Military History, vol. 70 no. 3, 2006, p. 637-665. Project         MUSE, doi:10.1353/jmh.2006.0158.                        
Gucciardo, Dorotea. “‘Another of the Mad, Wild Schemes’: Canadian Inventions to Win the         Second World War.” Icon, vol. 14, 2008, pp. 169–78. JSTOR,                     http://www.jstor.org/stable/23787167. Accessed 13 Jul. 2022.            
Huard, Victor. “Canadian Ideological Response to the Second World War.” Peace Research, vol.     25, no. 2, 1993, pp. 67–81. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/23607274. Accessed 13         Jul. 2022.                                        
Macri, Franco David. “Canadians under Fire: C Force and the Battle of Hong Kong, December         1941.” Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society Hong Kong Branch, vol. 51, 2011, pp.         237–56. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/23891942. Accessed 13 Jul. 2022.

*This blog post was updated on September 13th to rid of an error of "Saviors of Ceylon" 

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