The Fall of Hong Kong:

Atrocities in the East

Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere

 The territorial and trade dominance that Japan would

come to term the “Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity
Sphere” in 1941 increasingly appeared to be a cover for
brutal imperialism and exclusionist trade policies.
Where does the Defence of Hong Kong
fit into the Canadian experience?
 Canada’s first military engagement was the defence of
the British Crown Colony of Hong Kong in 1941
 The two battalions (1975 soldiers) were sent but they
were ill-prepared and most had limited military training
 It was not strategically important, nor was it prized by the
British
 It lasted 17 days (8-25 December 1941) and ended with
British surrender
POW camps

 Any soldier that was not killed in action was captured

and kept as POWs (prisoners of war)
 We have heard about the Holocaust in Europe but there
were more atrocities committed throughout the war
 Japanese POW camps were brutal places
POW experiences

 As you watch Tony tell his story, know that it is gruesome

but that it is our job as historians to be witnesses to history
 Pay attention to how it was he was able to survive