World

Canadians in Battle of Hong Kong honoured

by Karl Gotthardt - albertacowpoke | August 15, 2009 at 02:10 pm

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Canadians finally showed gratitude to a small forgotten group of 2000 soldiers, 68 years later. Hong Kong was under British rule in 1941 and when the Japanese invaded , 2000 Canadians battled them against all odds.

When it was all over, 290 had been killed and the remainder were captured by the Japanese and held in horrible conditions, which included torture and starvation. Another 300 died in capture and many died shortly after they returned home four years later.

In a ceremony today, a granite was unveiled that had every participant's name inscribed on it. Minister Stockwell Day, whose grandfather fought in Hong Kong, was in attendance for the ceremony. It is estimated that around 90 survivors of this battle are still alive, of which some 30 were expected to attend the cereomony.

The Minister said that he felt a strong bond with the veterans, many of them knew his grandfather.

Although it took 68 years to honour these men, at least a wrong has now been corrected.

Canadians gathered in Ottawa for a solemn ceremony today, to recognize the nearly 2,000 men who fought to protect Hong Kong during the Second World War.

In 1941, the island was under British rule when the Japanese military invaded. The Canadian soldiers were vastly outnumbered and faced insurmountable odds -- about 290 died in the fighting.

The rest were held captive under horrible conditions. Another 300 died as they were starved and tortured by their captors until the war ended four years later.