Canton Prison - Worse

Heroes Remember

Canton Prison - Worse

Deplorable. Deplorable. Now Stanley Prison wasn't a very great place admittedly, but Canton, it was just strictly deplorable. Both the accommodations, the cells, and the conditions generally, and the food. It was just absolutely deplorable. Interviewer: Were you confined in your cell or were you allowed to work? We were confined to the cell, we had no work to do, we were permitted to go out maybe once or, every two or three days to wash out of a basin that they provided us with, but that was, that was it. We did not work, no. We had to sit and face the wall entirely all day long. Interviewer: During this period of time, did you receive any medication for the various diseases that you men were.... No. Interviewer: What do you remember about the Japanese guards that were there at Canton Prison? They were extremely cruel also. Again, they had quite a number of Chinese prisons, prisoners and they certainly, I shouldn't say treated, mistreated the, the Chinese, but they gave us the same sort of treatment, in fact, for a year. If we were caught doing something that they thought we shouldn't be doing or standing up instead of sitting or sitting down with our knees crossed or, you know. But no, they were, they were pretty cruel.

In May, 1945, Mr. Routledge was transferred to Canton Prison. He describes this prison in one word.

Ronald John Routledge

Mr. Routledge was born September 1, 1920. His father, a decorator by trade, was a member of the Regina Rifles and served in the First World War. Mr. Routledge came from a family of four children. He had three sisters, one older and two younger. His father encouraged him to join the Regina Rifles Regiment cadet program when he was 14. After completing high school, shortly before Canada declared war on Germany, he enlisted with the Regina Rifles. He enlisted with the artillery but soon switched to the Canadian Corps of Signals and trained as a wireless operator. In October, 1941, he and 32 other members of the Signals Corp were told they were headed overseas. They boarded a vessel in Vancouver, not knowing until they were near the Philippines that they were heading for Hong Kong. They eventually arrived in Hong Kong and were assigned to barracks at Shamshuipo. Mr. Routledge was wounded when the Japanese made their first attack on Shamshuipo in December, 1942. After spending time in hospital, he returned to continue his service as a wireless operator. He was taken POW on Boxing Day after the commanding officer of the troops on the Stanley Peninsula surrendered to the Japanese. Following his release at the end of the war, he was awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal (DCM), the second highest award for bravery in the British Empire. Mr. Routledge remained in the army as a career soldier.