Hong Kong

Heroes Remember

Hong Kong

Transcript

It seemed to me that things were generally pretty good. I was quite happy with the situation and I think most of us were. We were somewhat restricted as to what we could do in the town but within the barracks itself, on the camp we were pretty free to move around. Interviewer: You arrived in Hong Kong at, in October? Yes, yes sometime in October, I've forgotten. Interviewer: Why were, why were you told that you were sent to Hong Kong? We, at least I never really understood why. I found out after the war why; that there was a lot of controversy about us going to Hong Kong and that there was recommendations for it and certainly opposed to it. But when the war got underway, I certainly knew then that the people that opposed it were correct. There was no way that, that island could be defended. Interviewer: So at the time when you first arrived, it was your understanding that the Grenadiers or C-Force was there to be a Garrison for Hong Kong. Yeah and not to be involved really in a conflict. We were there as a Garrison and in part to support the British group that was there at the time. But it was not intended, I don't think, that we were gonna be in the theatre of war immediately because a lot of the officers, especially, had their golf clubs and other things with them to enjoy themselves in that, that assignment. I really didn't think that we were gonna be at war, with anyone. It seemed to me that this was a, really, one of those very special assignments where people went to a Garrison but only to serve the island and not to defend it. Interviewer: Mr Purse, when was the first indication to you that there was going to be more trouble in this assignment than you first imagined. I think it was on a Sunday that we were told we were moving out. And so we left. My group, I was with the Company C, and we moved out and on over to the island. And I remember the long trek up the hills because we were, had to go to what was called (inaudible). And that was my first feeling that not everything was as it should have been according to what we, information we had in the beginning. A number of other people, like my brother who was in the stores and that, they were left behind. And they were there when the attack took place on December the 7th. But that was, you know, it was all a major surprise, to me anyway.

Description

Mr. Purse describes his first impression of the army's military camp in Hong Kong and goes on to explain why he originally thought the Canadian troops had been sent there.

Ross Purse

Ross Purse was born in Roland, Manitoba on September 10, 1918. He has one brother and five sisters in what he describes as a close-knit family. Their father died when Ross was just 10 years old. He enlisted with the Winnipeg Grenadiers within hours of Canada declaring war on Germany in September, 1939. Following training in Winnipeg, he was sent to Jamaica in defence of the island and for duty at prisoner of war camps for captured Germans. He returned to Winnipeg and was put aboard a train travelling west, eventually arriving in Vancouver from where he and his comrades sailed for the British colony of Hong Kong.

Meta Data

Medium:: Video
Owner:: Veterans Affairs Canada
Duration:: 03:14
Person Interviewed:: Ross Purse
War, Conflict or Mission:: Second World War
Branch:: Army
Units/Ship:: Winnipeg Grenadiers

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Date modified:: 2019-04-03