The Bravest People I Have Ever Met
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It is the custom for enemies to attempt to diminish the other side by any means
possible in order to paint them as, despicable, hateful, less than human, cowardly
creatures, and so easier to face on the battlefield, and to kill. This has been done
since men threw stones at each other. It was done in Hong Kong, it is still done
today. Brigadier John Masters, DSO, OBE, said of the Japanese.
"... they are the bravest people I have ever met. In any armies, any one of them,
nearly every Japanese would have had a Congressional Medal or a Victoria
Cross. It is the fashion to dismiss their courage as fanaticism, but that only begs the
question. They believed in something and they were willing to die for it, for the
smallest detail that would help achieve it. What else is bravery?
They pressed home the attack when no other troops in the world have done so,
when all hope of success was gone, except that it never really is, for who can
know what the enemy has suffered, what is his state of mind? The Japanese simply
came on, using all their skill and rage, until they were stopped by death. In defense
they held their ground with furious tenacity that never faltered. They had to be
killed, company by company, squad by squad, man by man, to the last
By 1944 the number of Japanese captured unwounded, in all theatres of war,
probably did not total one hundred. For the rest, they wrote beautiful little poems
in their diaries and practiced bayonet work on their prisoners. Frugal, bestial,
barbarous and brave, artistic and brutal, they were the dushmen, (the enemy), and
we now set about, in all seriousness, the task of killing everyone of them."
These were the kind of men the Canadians faced on the morning of December
18th, 1941. Arthur G. Penny, author of the "Royal Rifles of Canada, a Short
History", published in 1962 for the l00th Anniversary of the Regiment said of
Brigadier John Masters words, "This evidence, as conclusive as it is
comprehensive, surely justifies me in stating--as I do without hesitation--that no
troops in the twentieth century--and certainly none in World War II--have been
tested more terribly, more searchingly than were the Canadians at Hong Kong:
men brave, intelligent, if you will, but all unused to combat and fighting within an
area to which they were complete strangers. Nor have any other troops met such
a test with greater credit to their country, to their military traditions and to
themselves."
These words will no doubt be challenged by anyone who fought, or was held
captive by the Japanese Imperial Army anywhere in the world. Anyone held by
them was subjected to the most terrible acts of inhumanity, made all the more
horrible by the callous indifference of those who tortured, mutilated, and killed
helpless people. The prisoners of the battle for Hong Kong do not have an
exclusive claim to the horrors of Japanese internment, but that in no way diminishes
their suffering.
possible in order to paint them as, despicable, hateful, less than human, cowardly
creatures, and so easier to face on the battlefield, and to kill. This has been done
since men threw stones at each other. It was done in Hong Kong, it is still done
today. Brigadier John Masters, DSO, OBE, said of the Japanese.
"... they are the bravest people I have ever met. In any armies, any one of them,
nearly every Japanese would have had a Congressional Medal or a Victoria
Cross. It is the fashion to dismiss their courage as fanaticism, but that only begs the
question. They believed in something and they were willing to die for it, for the
smallest detail that would help achieve it. What else is bravery?
They pressed home the attack when no other troops in the world have done so,
when all hope of success was gone, except that it never really is, for who can
know what the enemy has suffered, what is his state of mind? The Japanese simply
came on, using all their skill and rage, until they were stopped by death. In defense
they held their ground with furious tenacity that never faltered. They had to be
killed, company by company, squad by squad, man by man, to the last
By 1944 the number of Japanese captured unwounded, in all theatres of war,
probably did not total one hundred. For the rest, they wrote beautiful little poems
in their diaries and practiced bayonet work on their prisoners. Frugal, bestial,
barbarous and brave, artistic and brutal, they were the dushmen, (the enemy), and
we now set about, in all seriousness, the task of killing everyone of them."
These were the kind of men the Canadians faced on the morning of December
18th, 1941. Arthur G. Penny, author of the "Royal Rifles of Canada, a Short
History", published in 1962 for the l00th Anniversary of the Regiment said of
Brigadier John Masters words, "This evidence, as conclusive as it is
comprehensive, surely justifies me in stating--as I do without hesitation--that no
troops in the twentieth century--and certainly none in World War II--have been
tested more terribly, more searchingly than were the Canadians at Hong Kong:
men brave, intelligent, if you will, but all unused to combat and fighting within an
area to which they were complete strangers. Nor have any other troops met such
a test with greater credit to their country, to their military traditions and to
themselves."
These words will no doubt be challenged by anyone who fought, or was held
captive by the Japanese Imperial Army anywhere in the world. Anyone held by
them was subjected to the most terrible acts of inhumanity, made all the more
horrible by the callous indifference of those who tortured, mutilated, and killed
helpless people. The prisoners of the battle for Hong Kong do not have an
exclusive claim to the horrors of Japanese internment, but that in no way diminishes
their suffering.
December 8th, 1941
At about 01:00 hrs the grave-yard shift on duty at "D" Coy H.Q were listening to a
battery radio as they worked. Suddenly the regular program was interrupted by a
voice brittle with urgency. Pearl Harbor had been bombed by the Japanese. The
men huddled around the radio waiting for more news while the word spread like
wild-fire around the island. The Japanese had attacked the United States. What
was to happen to Hong Kong?
December 8th, 1941, dawned bright and clear. The sun rising from its bed behind
the mountains promised the day would be a hot one. Waking about 06:30 hrs the
men of "D" Coy, Royal Rifles of Canada, went about their business as usual: wake
up, tidy up, wash, brush hair and teeth, dress and go to breakfast. Then, go to the
Orders Board to see if there were any new orders for the day. Those who had
assignments went to do whatever duties they had been assigned -- just another
day, but the tension in the air was electric. Something was bound to happen, but
when?
Lt. Angus A. MacMillan had been standing outside "D" Coy HQ when he heard
the distant sound of approaching aircraft. "Just in time." he thought. The long
awaited reinforcement aircraft were arriving just in the nick of time. The aircraft
turned out to be Japanese!
Thirty-six Japanese bombers streaked across the blue sky at tree-top level and
plastered Hong Kong's Kai Tac Airport, Kowloon and surrounding area with
bombs. The runway of Kai Tac was pock-marked with craters. The raid
destroyed 1 Wildebeest which was set ablaze. There was nothing left of it but its
load of bombs sitting, red-hot, on the runway.. In 5 short minutes the Japanese
owned the air. General Maltby grounded the remaining 2 Wildebeest. They would
take to the air only if a target such as a Japanese capitol ship should appear.
The air was thick with smoke that hung over both Hong Kong and Kowloon. The
smell of cordite filled nostrils and burned the eyes. Fires burned everywhere. There
was an ache in the hearts and bellies of the shocked troops. This was not
supposed to happen.
Sham Shui Po Camp was being evacuated when it was bombed and two men of
the Royal Canadian Signal Corps became the first Canadian infantry wounded in
WWII.
The Japanese bombers made another pass dropping leaflets demanding the
immediate surrender of the New Territories and Hong Kong. Then they flew
away. The time was 08:00 hrs., Monday, December 8, 1941. The Battle of Hong
Kong had begun. It was a very hot day.
December 8th, The Mainland
From the time the very first bomb dropped Maltby knew he had big problems.
Wallis was on the mainland with only three battalions to protect almost 16
kilometers of mostly unfinished defensive positions. Some of the Royal Scots were
ill with malaria, but worse ... Maltby had based the defense plan on faulty
intelligence. There were far more than 5,000 "poorly trained, poorly equipped
scrawny little Japanese on the mainland. There was the entire 23rd. Japanese
Imperial Army, under the Supreme Command of Lt. Gen. Sakai, and these
Japanese soldiers knew how to fight. At 08:00 hrs, as the bombs rained down on
the defenders, units of the Japanese 23rd. crossed the Sham Chun Shan river and
like a tidal wave rushed eastwards towards the Allied Forces.
At about 01:00 hrs the grave-yard shift on duty at "D" Coy H.Q were listening to a
battery radio as they worked. Suddenly the regular program was interrupted by a
voice brittle with urgency. Pearl Harbor had been bombed by the Japanese. The
men huddled around the radio waiting for more news while the word spread like
wild-fire around the island. The Japanese had attacked the United States. What
was to happen to Hong Kong?
December 8th, 1941, dawned bright and clear. The sun rising from its bed behind
the mountains promised the day would be a hot one. Waking about 06:30 hrs the
men of "D" Coy, Royal Rifles of Canada, went about their business as usual: wake
up, tidy up, wash, brush hair and teeth, dress and go to breakfast. Then, go to the
Orders Board to see if there were any new orders for the day. Those who had
assignments went to do whatever duties they had been assigned -- just another
day, but the tension in the air was electric. Something was bound to happen, but
when?
Lt. Angus A. MacMillan had been standing outside "D" Coy HQ when he heard
the distant sound of approaching aircraft. "Just in time." he thought. The long
awaited reinforcement aircraft were arriving just in the nick of time. The aircraft
turned out to be Japanese!
Thirty-six Japanese bombers streaked across the blue sky at tree-top level and
plastered Hong Kong's Kai Tac Airport, Kowloon and surrounding area with
bombs. The runway of Kai Tac was pock-marked with craters. The raid
destroyed 1 Wildebeest which was set ablaze. There was nothing left of it but its
load of bombs sitting, red-hot, on the runway.. In 5 short minutes the Japanese
owned the air. General Maltby grounded the remaining 2 Wildebeest. They would
take to the air only if a target such as a Japanese capitol ship should appear.
The air was thick with smoke that hung over both Hong Kong and Kowloon. The
smell of cordite filled nostrils and burned the eyes. Fires burned everywhere. There
was an ache in the hearts and bellies of the shocked troops. This was not
supposed to happen.
Sham Shui Po Camp was being evacuated when it was bombed and two men of
the Royal Canadian Signal Corps became the first Canadian infantry wounded in
WWII.
The Japanese bombers made another pass dropping leaflets demanding the
immediate surrender of the New Territories and Hong Kong. Then they flew
away. The time was 08:00 hrs., Monday, December 8, 1941. The Battle of Hong
Kong had begun. It was a very hot day.
December 8th, The Mainland
From the time the very first bomb dropped Maltby knew he had big problems.
Wallis was on the mainland with only three battalions to protect almost 16
kilometers of mostly unfinished defensive positions. Some of the Royal Scots were
ill with malaria, but worse ... Maltby had based the defense plan on faulty
intelligence. There were far more than 5,000 "poorly trained, poorly equipped
scrawny little Japanese on the mainland. There was the entire 23rd. Japanese
Imperial Army, under the Supreme Command of Lt. Gen. Sakai, and these
Japanese soldiers knew how to fight. At 08:00 hrs, as the bombs rained down on
the defenders, units of the Japanese 23rd. crossed the Sham Chun Shan river and
like a tidal wave rushed eastwards towards the Allied Forces.
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Photo courtesy of Bill Lake