As the train steamed out and they waved good-bye, little they thought that they were to be one of Canada’s Lost Battalions, the other being the Royal Rifles of Canada.
They were to disappear, every man of them (except a few that skipped the boat at Vancouver) for four long years. Four hundred disappeared forever.
Those who returned, we welcomed as returning from the dead. As you read my son’s story you will admit it was a miracle that as many did survive.
It was not by the grace of the Japs they did so but only by their own courage and intestinal fortitude, for which the fighting men of Canada are noted and of which all Canadians can feel justly proud.
With this short introduction I leave my boy Tom to tell his own story as he told it to us at home. I know you will find it very enlightening and interesting.
T.G. Marsh Sr.
Explanation and Apology
As my friends have insisted that this book be written in the first person, to make it more authentic, I have constantly used the personal “I”. I trust this will be forgiven, as no one knows better then myself that there were many at Hong Kong who shared my experiences and had more harrowing ones. It is certain that many died and we, the survivors, were the fortunate ones, we lived, to be reunited with those we love.
Thomas George Marsh Jr.
