A Handful of Men Fought Until Their Ammunition was Expended

Heroes Remember

A Handful of Men Fought Until Their Ammunition was Expended

Transcript

It was some time later, in a Prisoner of War camp, that I spoke to Honourary Captain Uriah E. Lay, Canadian chaplain services and found out what happened at Wong Nai Chung during and after the surrender. Captain Lay was there during the fighting and later when the Japs came into the position in daylight. He tried to make clear to them that he was a padre and more or less acted as a go-between for the troops. He went across the road to tell the lads to come out of the shelter and that they had surrendered. It was then that he saw Brigadier Lawson’s body. He tried to remove his identification disk and other personal effects but the Japs wouldn’t allow it. He told me that some of the wounded men were in the open shelter near the roadside. Apparently, the Japs disposed of those that could not walk. However, Captain Lay can give a more detailed account of just what happened there and also of the action generally at the Gap. Later he was taken by the Japs toward the crossroads. The Japanese had set up a headquarters at the advanced dressing station just behind where we were fighting. It was estimated that we were outnumbered better than ten to one. I never could figure out why they didn’t take the fence and charge us. Perhaps they fought us to a standstill anyway. Sounds incredible but that is what happened at Wong Nai Chung Gap where a handful of men fought till their ammunition was practically expended to the round, where at the surrender there was no food nor water, and those wounded received no medical treatment other than a field dressing.

Description

Mr. Barton paraphrases the company chaplain’s account of the final surrender at Wong Nai Chung Gap.

Thomas Barton

Thomas Barton was born in Victoria, British Columbia, on June 8, 1920. His father worked as the Deputy Registrar with the Supreme Court in Victoria. After attending high school, Mr. Barton worked for the Victoria Times, a local newspaper before joining the Underwood Typewriter Company. He enlisted in September, 1939 as a staff clerk. Upon reaching Hong Kong, Mr. Barton was attached to Brigade Headquarters. Despite minimal training, he was compelled by heavy Canadian losses to assume a combat role. After the surrender of Hong Kong, he spent time in North Point and Sham Shui Po, POW camps in the colony, and was then sent to the Japanese labour camps, Sendai being the last. Mr. Barton feels that the Canadian Government was remiss in not recognizing the Veterans of Hong Kong much sooner than it did.

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