Sergeant Gander

by Robyn Walker

  The HMCS Prince Robert was one of three identical “Prince” ships (Prince Robert, Prince Henry, and Prince David) that the Canadian National Railway ordered built in the 1920s. The Prince Robert was launched in 1930, and could accommodate 438 passengers and travel at twenty-two knots. She was used mainly as a cruise ship through the 1930s and when war broke out in 1939 she was requisitioned by the British Admiralty. The Prince Robert performed a wide variety of duties for a number of different countries during the Second World War.

  In early 1941 she was attached to New Zealand, to provide convoy protection for airmen coming to Canada for pilot training. By the fall of that year she was requisitioned to act as an escort for the Awatea, and assist in transporting the Winnipeg Grenadiers and the Royal Rifles to Hong Kong. From 1942–43 the Prince Robert patrolled the Pacific Ocean, intercepting enemy merchant shipping. In 1943, she was converted into an auxiliary anti-aircraft cruiser and used to escort convoys in the Mediterranean and was even used by the Americans for operations in the Aleutians, a chain of volcanic islands in the northern Pacific Ocean. In July 1945, she joined the British Fleet and returned to Hong Kong in August to assist in transporting the released Canadian prisoners of war back to Canada. After her distinguished wartime career, the Prince Robert was sold back into mercantile service. She was subsequently renamed the Charlton Sovereign and later the Luciana, and was broken up in 1962.

  was all the result they got. The third time the gangplank was raised

  and there was nearly a riot. The officers had everything and the

  rest nothing, so you could hardly blame them.5

  A view of the eastern end of Hong Kong, as seen from the Prince Robert, November 19, 1941.Gander, however, took it all in stride.

  “C” Force’s staff officers aboard the Awatea (l to r): Major C.A.Lyndon, Briga–dier J.K. Law–son, Colonel P.Hennessy, and Captain H.S.A.Bush.

  The troops were not idle during their voyage east — training was carried out as often as possible. Rifleman Sydney Skelton recorded in his diary that “we have been drilling every day, Bren guns, two-inch mortars, and anti-tank rifles. They keep us busy with that plus drill, fatigue duty etc.”6 There were also lectures about the type of enemy that the Canadians could expect to encounter. Rifleman Ken Cambon remembers being told that “the Japanese were all myopic dwarves who wore thick-rimmed glasses and shrank from close combat. They were notoriously poor at night fighting and would not be able to stand up to the bigger white soldiers who had better weapons. Their pilots were sloppy and cowardly. Their obsolete planes, made of wood, would be easy targets.”7 Such stories reflected the racist nature of the European and Canadian commanders’ view of the Japanese, and also served as wartime propoganda to bolster the morale of the soldiers. Similar proganda was practised on both sides.

  However, Rifleman Sydney Skelton recalls a different description of what Canadians could expect, from a lecture given to the troops by Major C.A. Lyndon. “He told us to expect almost anything at any time, and he told us if we landed we might have to go right into action. Also he told us we might have the chance of being the first Canadians to go into action in this war. The talk gave us a very grim picture. We were told everything hard about the place and never once did they emphasize anything pleasing. This is no pleasure cruise. It might be another Dunkirk.”8

  After a refuelling stop in Honolulu, where the Canadians had the opportunity to view the doomed American battleships lined up at Pearl Harbor, they continued on to Manila in the Philippines. There, the Canadians picked up an additional escort, the British cruiser the HMS Danae. The Danae was provided as a result of a message received from the Admiralty that stated, “In view of altered circumstances request you will provide cruiser escort for the Awatea from Manila to Hong Kong.”9 Although the “altered circumstances” weren’t made clear, there was clearly some feeling that heightened security was required to ensure the Canadian contingent reached their destination. After three weeks at sea, “C” Force arrived in Hong Kong.

  4: The Calm Before the Storm

  The colony of Hong Kong consisted of a group of islands (the most important of which is called Hong Kong) located just south of the Chinese mainland, the Kowloon Peninsula (ceded by China to the British in 1860), and the New Territories (leased by the British from China in 1898, for niniety-nine years) on the adjoining mainland. Altogether the colony covered an area of about 1,095 square kilometres.1 The Island of Hong Kong, ceded to the British in 1841, covers an area of about eighty square kilometres, its landscape dominated by mountains with very little flat land to be found. Lying just south of the Tropic of Cancer, Hong Kong has a subtropical climate with hot, humid summers and cooler winters. Strategically located between the Taiwan Strait, the South China Sea, and the Pacific Ocean, it provided an excellent channel for sea traffic between Asia and the rest of the world. Moreover, the deep waters surrounding Hong Kong and its wide, mountain protected harbours combined to make its ports, especially Victoria Harbour, extremely desirable.

  Under British rule since the mid-1800s, the colony had a largely Chinese population under the control of a British governor. The population in 1941 was approximately 1,729,000, with about 800,000 of that number living on Hong Kong Island. The Royal Navy had used Hong Kong as its major outpost in Asia up until the end of the First World War, but its position was considered vulnerable. A 1921 War Office Study reported that “there was no chance of making Hong Kong sufficiently secure against attack.”2 It was simply too remote from the nearest sources of any British reinforcements, and its harbours, while ideal for commercial trade, were not large enough to house a fleet of modern ships.3 Therefore, Britain turned to Singapore and constructed an impressive naval base there, which eventually replaced Hong Kong in terms of naval importance. However, the British still maintained a presence in Hong Kong, and despite the gloomy predictions of

  The Crown Colony of Hong Kong, 1941.

  the 1921 report, the 1936 Hong Kong defence scheme stated, “Hong Kong is … a strategic point vital to the conduct of our Fleet, Army and Air Force.”4

  The Canadians arrived in Hong Kong on November 16, 1941. The soldiers disembarked and began marching towards Sham Shui Po Barracks, with Gander leading the way. Rifleman Bruce Cadoret remembers the scene, recalling, “We

  The Royal Rifle’s “C” Company infantrymen preparing to disembark from the Prince Rob–ert, November 16, 1941.

  had our mascot … our big, black dog leading the march. He walked right up the street there, as proud as could be.”5

  Rifleman Ken Cambon remembers a similarly grand reception, “Our two battalions marched down Nathan Road steel-helmeted and obviously invincible. The main street of Kowloon was lined by cheering crowds waving small Union Jacks.”6 The sight of the jaunty Canadians led by their canine mascot seemed to give a sense of security and hope to a population who had been anxiously watching their borders, ever fearful of Japanese intentions.

  Indeed, one Dutch construction engineer, Jan Henrik, who was in Hong Kong on business, noted, “Somehow, their arrival apparently clinched Hong Kong’s complacency. In 1939, nobody had thought Hong Kong could be defended successfully. After the arrival of a few thousand Canadians, everybody felt that the Crown Colony could and would be defended successfully. It was a psychological miracle I am unable to explain.”7

  Royal Rifles disembarking HMCS Prince Robert, Hong Kong, No–vember 16, 1941.

  The arrival of the Canadians brought the number of Hong Kong defenders to over 14,000. However, as that number included nursing sisters, the St. John Ambulance Brigade, and the Hong Kong Mule Corps, a transport unit consisting of three officers, 250 men, and ninety mules, the actual number of infantrymen was about 5,422. The remainder of the force was comprised of the Royal Artillery, the Royal Engineers, Hong Kong Volunteer Defence Corps, and the Royal Navy.8 Prior to that, the Hong Kong forces, under the command of General C.M.

  Canadian soldiers train–ing in the hills of Hong Kong just prior to the Ja
panese inva–sion, December 1941.

  Maltby (although the governor, Mark Young, held the title commander-in-chief, the garrison was commanded by Maltby), consisted of only four Regular Army battalions: 2nd Battalion Royal Scots, 1st Battalion the Middlesex Regiment, 5/7 Rajputs, and the 2/14 Punjabis.9

  For a while things were peaceful, and the Canadians spent their time familiarizing themselves with the island’s terrain and its defences. Rifleman John Beebe explains:

  We lost no time in getting down to work, taking up our posts on guard duty at the permanent dugouts and shelters. These were our future battle stations and we got familiar with the lay of the land during our three day sessions on guard duty. In the following two weeks we got to know the place even better and to like it very well. We drilled hard every morning for two or three hours. We had our own rifles and Brens and although our heavy equipment never arrived, there was plenty of British heavy equipment and we were well trained in its use.10

  Gander also familiarized himself with the terrain as he accompanied his fellow soldiers on patrol each day. Alongside Fred Kelly, Gander would perform guard duty, occasionally sneaking off for a nap in the shade. During the evenings, in an effort to escape the heat, Gander would sleep in the pillboxes with the men.

  The Hong Kong gar–rison was supported by a much reduced Royal Navy and Royal Air Force pres–ence. The Navy had only one destroyer, eight mo–tor torpedo boats, four river gunboats, a couple of minelayers, and some auxil–iary patrol vessels on hand. The air force had only three Vickers Vildebeestes (tor–pedo bombers) and two Supermarine Walrus am–phibians at Kai Tek Airport. Eighteen fixed coastal guns, pill boxes (defensive bun–Canadiankers from which soldiers can defend against enemy attack), minefields, and barbed wire entanglements ringed the island, all put in place to deter an enemy attack. The southern part of the island was the heaviest fortified in expectation of an attack from the sea. The north side of the island, facing the mainland, and Lye Mun Passage (which is only about 412 metres across at its narrowest point) were less fortified.

  Canadian Bren-gun team on a training exercise in the Hong Kong hills prior to the Japanese inva–sion, December 1941.

  The precarious state of the island’s defensive strength was not lost on Winnipeg Grenadier Private Wilf Lynch, who claimed:

  An Indian gun crew manning one of Hong Kong’s 9.2 inch coastal defence guns just prior to the Japanese invasion.

  The minute I got off the boat in Hong Kong, I realized that if the

  Japanese attacked, they’d wipe us out. We’ve got no air force, no

  navy, no place to go, I told my pals. The Japs can back us up to

  the sea and even the best goddamned swimmer in the Grenadiers

  couldn’t make it all the way back home to Canada.11

  Despite concerns about the colony’s defences, the first several weeks in Hong Kong proved to be quite satisfactory for the Canadians. The Sham Shui Po Barracks, located on the northwest side of Kowloon, were hospitable. Company Quarter Master Sergeant M.S. Standish wrote in a letter home, dated November 20, 1941:

  … you can’t imagine the barracks … they are simply beautiful …

  all made of cement with gardens and grass … you can eat off the

  sidewalks. I have a hut of my own to sleep in and cook in, and a

  Chinese boy to look after me. He shines my boots, makes my bed

  and generally makes himself useful, all for two dollars a week …

  he’s a millionaire at two dollars a week! A man works here at 20

  cents a day Hong Kong money and that in Canadian money is

  less than 6 cents.12

  As noted earlier, European and Canadian attitudes towards Hong Kong’s native Chinese population and the Japanese enemy contained decidedly racist overtones. In wartime it was common practice to actively use negative stereotyping against the enemy to bolster morale among the soldiers who were likely to come face to face with them in combat. They viewed the Japanese as inferior soldiers, a perception that seemingly was largely due to the shape of their eyes. The Allied soldiers were told by their commanders that the Japanese had poor eyesight, and that due to their optical weakness they were not able to fight at night, could not shoot weapons accurately, and that their pilots would not be able to drop their bombs on target.13

  The Chinese civilians, who made up the majority of Hong Kong’s population, fared little better in the eyes of Hong Kong’s defensive forces. A British officer told Winnipeg Grenadier Ike Friesen a joke13 that was making the rounds that clearly demonstrated the use of overt racist propanganda to diminish the value of the Chinese people as human beings.

  Gander soon developed his own negative attitude towards the Chinese. According to a story told by Sergeant George MacDonell, the day that the Royal Rifles arrived at Sham Shui Po Barracks “some Chinese tried to lure Gander to the fence, planning to have him for dinner, but Gander escaped after a struggle. After that, Gander lost his faith in the Chinese and would lie in ambush for them when they entered the barracks on business, to the extent that he had to be tied up in the guardroom.”14 The Canadian soldiers encouraged Gander’s dislike of Asian people. The Chinese civilians that the soldiers saw on a daily basis were the unfortunate targets of this effort. The local people were leery about passing Gander on the road when he did guard duty. Having never seen the massive Newfoundland breed of dog before, they probably found Gander a strange and scary sight! Fred Kelly would watch as the Chinese would attempt to go around the patrol and then would say, “Gander, go and get them.”15 Gander would charge at them, never biting them, but intimidating them by circling and growling. This unfortunate victimization of the Chinese people may explain, in part, Gander’s ferocious response to the Japanese.

  By the fall of 1941, the Japanese looked as though they were preparing to move against Hong Kong. In late October they landed 20,000 extra troops in South China, and a Japanese transport stopped in Hong Kong waters was found to have a Japanese general and his staff on board. There was also a report of the Japanese having established a lookout station on one of the small islands off the coast of Hong Kong. On the morning of December 7, 1941, a Punjabi border patrol reported Japanese troop movements of over 20,000 soldiers. Maltby was concerned enough to put the entire Hong Kong garrison on alert.16

  General Maltby’s plan for the defence of Hong Kong entailed dividing his forces into an Island Brigade and a Mainland Brigade. Brigadier Cedric Wallis

  The initial dispo–sition of forces, December 8, 1941.

  was put in charge of the Mainland Brigade responsible for the mainland section of the colony, including the Kowloon Penninsula and the New Territories. His force consisted of the 2nd Royal Scots, the 2/14 Punjabs, and the 5/7 Rajputs. They were each assigned equal portions of the Gin Drinker’s Line, named after nearby Gin Drinkers Bay. This Line was a series of entrenchments protected by barbed wire, with concrete pillboxes reinforcing the line at various strategic points for defence. One of the Punjab companies was positioned for fighting forward of the Line, in the New Territories; their job was to delay attackers and complete demolition assignments before falling back to the Line. If the Gin Drinker’s Line was compromised the troops were to render the dockyard and fuel supplies useless to the enemy by blowing them up. Then they were to pull back to the Devil’s Peak, a mountain on the Kowloon Peninsula that was garrisoned by the British, enabling them to control the water passage between the mainland part of the colony, the New Territories and Kowloon, and Hong Kong Island. Once there, the troops were to await evacuation across the Lye Mun Passage to Hong Kong Island.

  Meanwhile, the Island Brigade, commanded by Canadian Brigadier Lawson, consisted of the two Canadian battalions and the 1st Middlesex. The 1st Middlesex was a machine-gun battalion from Great Britain that was deployed around the island to man pillboxes, fortified defensive bunkers, and other stationary defences, while the Canadians were assigned positions on the coast, to defend against the expected attack from the Sou
th China Sea. The Winnipeg Grenadiers operated on the west side of the island, while the Royal Rifles were on the east. Concerns about this deployment of the Canadian forces can be seen in the December 8 entry in the Regimental War Diary,17 which states:

  The defences on the Island were primarily constructed in anticipation

  of an attack taking place on Hong Kong from the direction of the

  sea, while paradoxically all tactical exercises, maneuvers, etc., were

  always carried out in anticipation of a Japanese attack across the

  border of the New Territories and moving southwards to Kowloon

  and Hong Kong.18

  After the orders were received to activate the entire garrison, the Royal Rifles proceeded to take up their positions on Hong Kong Island. By 1400 hours (2:00 p.m.) most of the Royal Rifles had been ferried across the Lye Mun Passage separating Hong Kong Island from the mainland, and had dispersed to their positions along the fifteen-mile front across the eastern section of the Island.19

  The initial positions of the Royal Rifles of Canada, De–cember 1 to 18, 1941.