The Battle of Hong Kong The Royal Rifles of Canada, The Winnipeg Grenadiers.
The saga is told from a Canadian perspective, using the words of those soldiers who fought that, long ago, almost forgotten battle.
Ronald C. Parker, the son of a WWll Hong Kong veteran, has written a book that tells the wrenching story of one of the great battles of World War ll , “The Battle of Hong Kong ”.
He is the son of Major Maurice A. Parker, Commanding Officer of “D” Company, The Royal Rifles of Canada.
Available at www.lulu.com/content/561522 for download or purchase. $19.95 plus shipping.
Quote from the jacket: This book assembles a phase-by-phase, day-by-day, hour-by-hour account of the battle. It considers the individual actions that made up the fighting as well as the strategies and plans and the many controversies that arose.
Years of research, and superb writing skills, have made this is the book by which all other books on The Battle of Hong Kong will be measured.
Tony Banham
Website
0-7748-1044-0
UBC Press
The Sinking of the Lisbon Maru is Tony Banham's second book. It is more narrative in style, and documents the fate of all aboard the Lisbon Maru from the fall of Hong Kong through to death or liberation - and for many of the survivors, beyond.
An associated website, the Lisbon Maru, documents that ship and its fateful voyage. This book, "The Sinking of the Lisbon Maru", was printed at the end of March 2006, and is now orderable from Hong Kong University Press and Amazon. Web Site Click Here
Again Tony Banham proves to be a master of research, a wizard with words. and sets the bar a notch higher for authors who tackle the story of The Battle of Hong Kong and it's aftermath.
Another forgotten chapter of the Battle of Hong Kong and the suffering of those who fell captive to the Japanese
The Battle of Hong Kong took place between 8th December and 25th December 1941. This is the tale of the Stanford family and how they were affected by this battle.
It tells of life in the Army, life in the colonies, the battle, the infamous Lisbon Maru, and how the family coped with the war, evacuation, repatriation, and post war.
The book is available through Lulu Publishing in 3 foremats.
The book shown is approx.$20 Can.
ISBN 978-1-84753-966-3
This book has not been published and is available only as a cerlux bound document (81/2 x 11) It is the story of Michael's grandfather's Journey from Prince Edward Island to Omine Camp in Japan and back home.
It is a well researched, informative account of a member of "C" Force to Hong Kong written through the eyes of a grandson. Buy at HKVCA
Awards and Honours
by Vincent Lopata
The book documents the decorations, medals, awards and honours including citations given to soldiers of the Canadian Army that fought at the Battle of Hong Kong, December 1941. Following the battle they became Prisoners of War of the Japanese from January 1942 until August 1945.
Lulu Publications
(164 pages) Paperback: $17.81 Download: $10.00
1941 - 1945
This reprint contains a few more photographs than the original and it has a foreword by the author of Part 1, Grant Garneau.
For those unfamiliar with this book, Part 1 deals with the historical aspects of the reforming the Royal Rifles in 1939; the Crown Colony of Hong Kong; the battle as seen by the RRC; and the imprisonment following the surrender. Part 2 is illustrations and photographs supplied by the veterans. Part 3 is mainly personal accounts.
Royal Rifles in Hong Kong
1941 - 1945
($50, all costs included)
Canadians who were sent to Hong Kong with only the munitions they carried off the troop ships and without any air or naval support, after seventeen days of battling overwhelming enemy numbers, soon found themselves as prisoners-of-war in Japanese camps.
Many POWs have taken different routes in coming to grips with the memories that haunt them still. Sgt. George MacDonell wrote a book.
Brings together the micro details surrounding a military action which took place during the battle for Hong Kong in December 1941
George MacDonell
1550024086
Dundurn Press
($20 plus $3 postage)
Available at HKVCA
(1941-1945)
À 19 ans Bernard s’engage volontairement dans le régiment des Royal Rifles du Canada, dont 35 à 40% sont des Canadiens-français bilingues.Un an plus tard, son régiment est envoyé à la défense de Hong Kong. Ils ont eu à peine trois semaines pour se préparer à la bataille. Malgré une résistance courageuse contre toute attente de victoire possible, après dix-huit jours de combat féroce ils se sont rendues le jour de Noël 1941.Les pertes canadiennes étaient lourdes.
Les survivants des Royal Rifles et les Winnipeg Grenadiers demeureront aux mains des Japonnais comme prisonniers de guerre durant 3 ans et 8 mois.
Bernard à tenu son journal presque quotidiennement pendant toute cette période. Dans ce journal Bernard nous raconte ce qu’il a vécu au jour le jour.
Bernard Castonguay, auteur Renée Giard, rédactrice
*Not available in book stores*
($20 plus $3 postage) HKVCA
ISBN 2-9808972-0-5 (Jun 05)
Hong Kong and South/East Asia 1941-45. Quote from the jacket cover:
"the first factual account of what happened to the allied prisoners and to the British, American and Dutch families who were subjected to the callous brutality of their captors for almost four years. It also covers the activities of the British Intelligence Organisation in China which was initially extraordinarily successful in establishing contact with the POWs and internees..."
Published: 1981
Oliver Lindsay
0-241-10542-0
Published by: Hamish Hamilton, London, England
HKVCA
Canadian Prisoners of War 1939-45
Daniel G. Dancocks
0-88830-240-1
HKVCA
The Battle for Hong Kong
Based on interviews with survivors of the battle and the POW cages, Desperate Siege is a powerful tale of human courage in the face of impossible odds.
Published: 1980
Ted Ferguson
0-385-14694-9
HKVCA
The Fall of Hong Kong 1941
Published: 1978
Oliver Lindsay
Available at The HKVCA
The diary of a Hong Kong Prisoner of War
Thomas S. Forsyth
Published: 1995
No longer available through the HKVCA. Look for it at used book stores.
This book, long out of print, has been called the best book written about Canada's involvement in the defence of Hong Kong. It covers the background of the regiments; the politics involved; the battle; years of imprisonment; and the return to Canada.
No library on the subject on Hong Kong is complete without this book! There are a limited number - new condition - available. It is a hard cover edition but without a dust jacket.
Carl Vincent
HKVCA
0-920002-12-9
Published: 1981 by Canada's Wings Inc, Stittsville, ON
Camp Life A visual record of the conditions in which the prisoners of war of the Japanese lived in Hong Kong. Alexander Skvorzov, risking his life, secretly sketched and hid his work during his imprisonment in Shamshuipo and Argyle Street camps. Lieut. A.V. Skvorzov
The Royal Rifles of Canada in Hong Kong
Based on the Thesis of Captain Grant Garneau,CD, B.A. M.A. LL.B.
($50.20, postage incl)
A Handful of Rice
Canadian Prisoners somewhere in Malaya
William Allister
Martin Secker & Warberg Ltd. London Eng.
Hostages to Fortune
The fall of Hong Kong...The horrors of Shamshuipo Camp...The tragedy of the Lisbon Maru...The last days before the atom bomb.
Tim Carew
241 02001 8
Hell On Earth
Aging faster, dying sooner; Canadian Prisoners of the Japanese during WWII, painting a vivid picture of the experiences of the Canadian POWs and their brutal treatment at the hands of the Japanese
Dave McIntosh (Edited by Legion Magazine) 0-07-552821-5
Diary of a Prisoner of War in Japan 1941-1945
Available in English and French, the author's journal portrays the harrowing experience of Canadian POWs in Hong Kong and Japan, and a strong French Canadian perspective of the war that is both moving and informative. The author was one of them. The English edition is available from: VERO, 400 Saint-Eugene, Apt #5, Rimouski, Quebec, Canada, G5L 8S3 or phone 418-723-1423
Georges "Blacky" Verrault
English Edition
2-9804980-1-7
French Edition
2-9804980-0-9
"C" Force to Hong Kong;
a Canadian Catastrophe Recounts the formation of "C" Force in WWII and its departure to Hong Kong as well as the story of life and death in the prison camps of Hong Kong and Japan Brereton Greenhous 1-55002-267-9
The Ruins of War Full of interesting pieces of information and history which appears in narratives on pill-boxes, gun emplacements, batteries, shelters, casualty lists, buildings and more Ko Tim Keung and Jason Wordie
Escape to Life A novel, in which patriotic guerillas liberate 1000 human guinea pigs from a Japanese run experimental death camp. Please remember, it is an historical fact that NO ONE escaped from the hideous camps. Jan J Solecki
Videos
Canada's Hong Kong Veterans:
The Compensation Story
Hosted by Cliff Chadderton, War Amps CEO and Patron of the Hong Kong Veterans Association of Canada. It was Chadderton who started the claim, marshalling the strength of six Allied nations and the Human Rights Community in Geneva
Cliff Chadderton
To order these books through The Hong Kong Volunteers Commerative Association click this line.
