The Battle of Hong Kong
Dawn breaks through the skies of Hong Kong, ushering in a warm tropical morning. Yet, as the city awakens, an unforeseen danger lurks on the horizon. In the early morning of December 8th, 1941, mere hours after the attack on Pearl Harbour, Japanese forces struck Hong Kong. The fearsome Japanese 38th Division launched a relentless assault on Gin Drinker’s line, one of Hong Kong’s mainland defences, igniting a brutal 17-day battle in which many Canadian soldiers were killed.
Tensions:
To acquire vital resources for its rapidly growing empire, Japan invaded the northern Chinese region of Manchuria (i.e. northeastern China) in 1931. That invasion would foreshadow Japan’s ambition to expand their footprint on the continent. During the Second World War, Hong Kong was a British colony that served as a strategic trading gateway between the Eastern and Western World. With the war raging in Europe, the British realized that they could not defend Hong Kong if it were to be attacked by the Japanese. However, Britain still sought to reinforce its troops stationed there, hoping to deter any Japanese aggression. On September 19th, 1941, Britain asked Canada to provide additional troops for reinforcement. Without much hesitation, Canada answered the call and began searching for units to send.
C-Force:
After careful consideration, the Department of Defence (DND) selected the Winnipeg Grenadiers and the Royal Rifles of Canada to form “C-Force,” a group comprised of 1,973 mostly inexperienced soldiers that were put under the command of Brigadier John K. Lawson. The brave troops departed from Vancouver, BC, on October 27th, 1941, aboard HMT Awatea. After a gruelling two-week journey crossing the Pacific, the Canadian reinforcements arrived in Hong Kong (on Nov. 16, 1941).
Canadian troops disembarking from HMCS Prince Robert. (Credit: Canada Department of Defence/ Library and Archives Canada/ PA-114820)
Defences:
At the time, Hong Kong consisted of Hong Kong Island, Kowloon, and the New Territories. The Hong Kong garrison, under the command of British General Michael Maltby, was tasked with defending land dominated by mountainous terrain. For the colony’s defence, Hong Kong had a total of 14,000 soldiers; they were underequipped. The garrison included a diverse variety of troops from Britain, India, China, and the Hong Kong Volunteer Defence Corps. Hong Kong lacked any significant air and naval defences as most of the Commonwealth’s firepower was focused on Europe. In fact, the Kai Tak Royal Air Force consisted of only five planes and was staffed by 115 personnel. An additional fighter squadron was requested but was denied (the nearest fully operational squadron was RAF Kota Bharu over 2,000 km away in modern-day Malaysia). As for naval defences, Hong Kong only had a handful of vessels. One positive was that an additional 212 ground vehicles would arrive concurrently with the Canadian reinforcements, but the vehicles were mistakenly sent to Manila and were reassigned to the Americans stationed there to help defend the Philippines.
The Battle:
In the weeks prior to the invasion, there were reports of Japanese troops to the north of Hong Kong, but they were met with scepticism. However, in the early hours of December 7th, the defending garrison mobilized to its battle stations, and by that evening, all of Hong Kong’s defences were ready for battle.
On the morning of December 8th, 1941, the Japanese 38th Division began their attack on Hong Kong. Japanese aircraft first targeted, and then swiftly destroyed, the Royal Kai Tak Air Force. Simultaneously, Japanese soldiers attacked Gin Drinker’s Line, Hong Kong’s mainland defensive boundary. Under the cover of night on December 9th, the Japanese captured Shing Mun Redoubt, an advantageous high ground towering over Gin Drinker’s Line. D Company of the Winnipeg Grenadiers was dispatched as reinforcement for the mainland defenders, and on December 10th they became one of the first Canadian Army units to engage in direct combat during the Second World War.
During the next few days, the Japanese successfully advanced on the mainland, forcing the defenders to retreat to Hong Kong Island. The defenders aimed to hold off the Japanese for at least a few weeks, but they were continuously forced to give up ground to the attackers. At midday on December 11th, General Maltby ordered his troops to withdraw from the mainland. As the troops retreated to Hong Kong Island, a new strategy was implemented. The Garrison was divided into two brigades: The West Brigade, led by Brigadier Lawson, and The East Brigade, led by British Brigadier Cedric Wallis. The Winnipeg Grenadiers joined the West Brigade while the Royal Rifles joined the East Brigade.
Map of Hong Kong, 18-25 Dec.,1941. (Credit: Jean-Pail Dallain/The Memory Project via The Canadian Encyclopedia)
For the next two weeks the fighting was ferocious. The Japanese shelled the island constantly and with little to no supplies, the exhausted defenders did whatever was necessary to hold their position. In the late hours of December 18th, the 229th Japanese Infantry Regiment made landfall on the northeast coast of the island.
The most intense fighting was experienced at the Wong Nei Chong Gap, in the central part of Hong Kong Island. Its strategic position made it a key target for the Japanese and the West Brigade’s Headquarters, well stocked with weapons and ammunition, was based there. On the morning of December 22nd, the Japanese charged the building and took control of it. Uninjured Canadians and those with minor wounds were taken as prisoners while the rest were murdered. Several attempts to retake Wong Nei Chong Gap were attempted but all failed.
Despite the tremendous losses experienced by the defenders during that portion of the fighting, several stories of bravery and honour still prevailed. Company Sergeant Major John Osborn of the Winnipeg Grenadiers sacrificed his life to save his men from a grenade –Osborn received the British Empire’s highest award, the Victoria Cross.
Yet the battle for the island continued. The defenders lost ground rapidly, and with little to no hope of escape or assistance, the Japanese took crucial positions. On the afternoon of Christmas Day, Hong Kong was surrendered by Maltby. However, atrocities committed by Japanese forces did not end with the surrender. Later that day, Japanese soldiers invaded a hospital in Hong Kong where they assaulted, raped, and murdered nurses. Many wounded soldiers were also killed in their beds.
Japanese artillery firing at Hong Kong. (Credit: Veterans of Foreign Wars via Wikipedia)
Aftermath:
The seventeen and half days of fighting left 493 Canadians wounded and 290 Canadians killed. The captured were sent to POW camps in Hong Kong and Japan; the horrendous conditions and gruesome treatment experienced in those camps caused many more die over the course of the next three and a half years. Some Japanese soldiers continued to commit numerous atrocities and war crimes throughout Asia and the Pacific until their country’s official surrender on September 2nd, 1945. The actions, resilience, and sacrifice, of the soldiers involved in the fight for Hong Kong remain a stark reminder of the brutality of war.
The surrender of British forces in Hong Kong, December 25th, 1941. (Hong Kong Museum of History via Wikipedia)
After the war ended, a memorial was built at the Sai Wan War Cemetery on Hong Kong Island; it was dedicated to those who died in the defence of Hong Kong. The Stanley Military Cemetery on the Tai Tam Peninsula is another nearby burial site. In Japan, the Yokohama British Commonwealth War Cemetery holds the remains of Canadian soldiers who perished in Japanese POW camps.
Main photo: Japanese Army assault on Tsim Sha Tsui Station. (Credit: Hong Kong Museum of History)
Liberation of Hong Kong. (Credit: Wikipedia)
Sources
“Canada and the Battle of Hong Kong.” The Canadian Encyclopedia, February 7, 2006. https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/battle-of-hong-kong.
“Canada in the Second World War.” Juno Beach Centre. Accessed July 26, 2024. https://www.junobeach.org/canada-in-wwii/articles/the-battle-of-hong-kong/.
Canada, Veterans Affairs. “Canadians in Hong Kong.” Veterans Affairs Canada, January 12, 2024.https://www.veterans.gc.ca/en/remembrance/wars-and-conflicts/second-world-war/defence-of-hong-kong/the-canadians.
“Study.Com.” Accessed July 31, 2024. https://study.com/academy/lesson/the-japanese-invasion-of-manchuria-in-1931.html.