The Japanese attacked Hong Kong and since Britain owned Hong Kong at the time, they asked Canada to send troops to defend them. Once the Canadian soldiers arrived in Hong Kong, they were very inexperienced to the aggressive style of Japanese attack.

In November 1941, Canada sent 1,975 troops to defend the British colony of Hong Kong, I was among one of those troops. My name is Chuck Stevenson. The task of defending a needy Hong Kong was not easy; the Japanese had just come off a successful battle at Pearl Harbor and were looking at Hong Kong as their next battle to cause destruction.

When I first arrived in Hong Kong on November 16, 1941, I knew that this would be a tough battle that Canadians would remember in the future. The Japanese invaded Hong Kong on December 8, 1941. On December 18, the Japanese landed on Hong Kong Island itself. We fought back as best we could, holding onto their positions and counterattacking repeatedly. Our Canadian commander, Brigadier J.K. Lawson, was killed fighting with a pistol in each hand when his headquarters was attacked on December 19. When our commander died, I knew that it was only a matter of time before the Japanese would completely take us over.

The Japanese proved to be too powerful for us and Hong Kong surrendered on Christmas Day 1941. Of the 1,975 Canadians, 290 were killed and 493 wounded. The remaining Canadians were sent to prison camps by the Japanese. I was among those Canadians. Being in the prison camps was the worst experience I've ever faced in my life. We were only being fed 3 bowls of rice a day and were being slaved working in mines and railways. I remember one of my fellow troops becoming so ill that he could barley walk or eat. The Japanese would not provide him with any medicine at all and 2 days later, he was dead. I spent almost 4 years in the prison camp. I don't know how I survived; everyday I would do the same thing. Wake up, have a bowl of rice and spend the rest of my day in the mines or building railways. Everyday I thought about my family back in Canada and I said to myself that if I ever get out of this place alive, I will never go back to defend Canada because of this experience. A further 260 died in the awful conditions of prison camps in Hong Kong and Japan.