Hong Kong in ww2

The fighting in Hong Kong ended with severe Canadian casualties: 290 killed and 493 wounded. The death toll and hardship did not end with surrender.  For more than three and a half years, the Canadian POWs were imprisoned in Hong Kong and Japan in the foulest of conditions and had to endure brutal treatment and near-starvation.  Many did not survive. In all, more than 550 of the 1,975 Canadians who sailed from Vancouver in October 1941 never returned.

A memorial has been erected at the Sai Wan Bay War Cemetery on the island of Hong Kong to honour those who died in its defence. On this memorial, made of white granite, are inscribed the names of over 2,000 people, 228 of them Canadian, who died in Hong Kong and who have no known grave. Included is the name of Company Sergeant-Major John Robert Osborn, Winnipeg Grenadiers, who was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross.  Below the memorial, the Sai Wan Bay War Cemetery slopes toward the sea, with a magnificent view of the coastline and distant hills. Here 283 soldiers of the Canadian Army are buried, including 107 who are unidentified.

Stanley Military Cemetery is situated just beyond the small fishing village of Stanley in the southern part of Hong Kong island, on the Tai Tam Peninsula. Twenty Canadians are buried here, including one unknown.