Forces With History #226--The Royal Rifles of Canada (cont'd)

Battle of Hong Kong Part 4

To see prior posts, go to my website www.robertwmackay.ca and click on Newsletter, then scroll down to Substack Archives.

Upon arrival in Hong Kong on November 16^th 1941, the Royal Rifles of Canada was assigned to barracks in Kowloon on the mainland of China. After a couple of days to get oriented and settle in, the troops spent the next three weeks training and familiarizing themselves with local conditions. Sergeant George Macdonell was amazed to find he had servants to shave him and bring him tea even before getting out of bed. Canadian dollars went a long way in a colony packed with Chinese refugees, much to the delight of all.

Soldiers were ferried from Kowloon to the Island of Hong Kong daily to train on the rugged hills and mountains where, as it turned out, they would soon be in a desperate battle for survival.

Meantime, the senior officers were concerned about the Japanese, who had conquered China and espoused the cause of Germany with whom the Allies were already at war. As the drumbeat of a future battle intensified, the British command organized a plan.

Part of the garrison’s force was tasked with defending the mainland, Kowloon and the Northern Territories, under the leadership of English Brigadier Wallis. Canadian Brigadier Lawson (head of C Force) would be assigned to the Island of Hong Kong. Under Lawson on the island were the Royal Rifles of Canada, the Winnipeg Grenadiers, the Middlesex Regiment, and much of the Hong Kong Volunteer Defence Corps. The Canadian regiments would be concentrated on the southern reaches of the island, being partly untrained, and so less likely to be the first in action in case hostilities commenced.

And hostilities did commence. As we’ve seen in earlier posts, the Japanese thundered into British Hong Kong territory on December 8^th, 1941, the same day they destroyed the US Navy in Pearl Harbour. Major General Maltby, commanding the Allied forces, hoped Wallis could hold off the Japanese on the mainland for three weeks, but they lasted barely a week. The Royal Scots, the Indian army battalions, and a company of Royal Rifles who were briefly on the mainland retreated to the Island of Hong Kong.

The real battle was about to commence.