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Kemptville’s Terry Meagher, 82, grew up steeped in the glory of the British Empire. He sang Rule Britannia and God Save the King in school. The author, teacher and Korean War combat veteran never imagined he would one day write a book about how Britain betrayed the 1,900 Canadian soldiers who fought, died and were taken prisoner in the futile defence of Hong Kong in 1941.
“There was enmity between the British and Canadians at every level,” Meagher said. “They thought of the Canadians as colonials. They’d say, ‘We own you.’ Of course, our guys thought of themselves as equals.”
Meagher’s book, Betrayal, tells the story of the fall of Hong Kong. Meagher wrote it, in part, to honour the memory of his good friend Ken Ewing, who fought at Hong Kong and endured 3½ years of unimaginable suffering as a Japanese prisoner of war.
Kemptville author and Korean War veteran Terry Meagher has written a book, Betrayal, about the doomed Canadian mission to defend Hong Kong during the Second World War.
In November 1941, two Canadian regiments — the Royal Rifles of Canada and the Winnipeg Grenadiers — were sent to Hong Kong as reinforcements to defend the British colony from an increasingly aggressive Japan. The Canadians were poorly trained and poorly equipped and found the island’s defences obsolete.
Less than three weeks later, on Dec. 8, the Japanese attacked, quickly overrunning the British defences on the mainland, then crossing the narrow strait to the island of Hong Kong itself where the Canadians were stationed. The fighting there lasted just a week. It was, historian Tim Cook writes in his book The Necessary War, the only Canadian battle with 100-per-cent casualties: 292 dead with the remainder wounded or taken prisoner. Another 267 Canadians would die in POW camps of disease, starvation, physical abuse or execution.
Canadian prisoners of war in Hong Kong. Scores died in the Japanese POW camps.
“There’s a tendency for history to celebrate successes — like D-Day — and this is what gets etched in people’s minds,” Meagher said. “But if you concentrate on the success, you forget the heartache. Success glorifies war. Heartache tells its cost.”
Ewing, who died in 2012, met with Meagher many times to talk about the battle, and Ewing’s experience forms a core of Betrayal.
“He was a very quiet guy. I always admired him,” Meagher said. “He was a remarkable Canadian.”
The book examines how the Canadians were betrayed, first by the British and Canadian governments who sent them to defend an undefendable colony, then again by the British commander who after the war blamed the Canadian troops for the defeat.
An officer from HMCS Prince Robert doing paperwork in 1945 with released Canadian soldiers who were held by the Japanese since the fall of Hong Kong.
In fact, the Canadians fought bravely, launching more attacks than any of the other units under British command, including a suicidal bayonet charge by the Royal Rifles ordered by the British just three hours before the final surrender.
“A regiment runs on one virtue and that’s courage,” Meagher said. “If you take the virtue, you take the soul of the regiment. You take the soul of those soldiers.”
Forget those men and their sacrifices, he said, and we risk forgetting the lessons of the Second World War. Just 28 Canadian Hong Kong veterans are still alive, Meagher said.
Betrayal, which includes commentary and analysis from three retired soldiers, Maj. Gen. Ivan Fenton, Lt. Col. Nick Ward and Maj. Bill Wiseman, is available at veteranspublications.com or at Perfect Books on Elgin Street.
bcrawford@ottawacitizen.com
twitter.com/getBAC
查看原文...
“There was enmity between the British and Canadians at every level,” Meagher said. “They thought of the Canadians as colonials. They’d say, ‘We own you.’ Of course, our guys thought of themselves as equals.”
Meagher’s book, Betrayal, tells the story of the fall of Hong Kong. Meagher wrote it, in part, to honour the memory of his good friend Ken Ewing, who fought at Hong Kong and endured 3½ years of unimaginable suffering as a Japanese prisoner of war.
Kemptville author and Korean War veteran Terry Meagher has written a book, Betrayal, about the doomed Canadian mission to defend Hong Kong during the Second World War.
In November 1941, two Canadian regiments — the Royal Rifles of Canada and the Winnipeg Grenadiers — were sent to Hong Kong as reinforcements to defend the British colony from an increasingly aggressive Japan. The Canadians were poorly trained and poorly equipped and found the island’s defences obsolete.
Less than three weeks later, on Dec. 8, the Japanese attacked, quickly overrunning the British defences on the mainland, then crossing the narrow strait to the island of Hong Kong itself where the Canadians were stationed. The fighting there lasted just a week. It was, historian Tim Cook writes in his book The Necessary War, the only Canadian battle with 100-per-cent casualties: 292 dead with the remainder wounded or taken prisoner. Another 267 Canadians would die in POW camps of disease, starvation, physical abuse or execution.
Canadian prisoners of war in Hong Kong. Scores died in the Japanese POW camps.
“There’s a tendency for history to celebrate successes — like D-Day — and this is what gets etched in people’s minds,” Meagher said. “But if you concentrate on the success, you forget the heartache. Success glorifies war. Heartache tells its cost.”
Ewing, who died in 2012, met with Meagher many times to talk about the battle, and Ewing’s experience forms a core of Betrayal.
“He was a very quiet guy. I always admired him,” Meagher said. “He was a remarkable Canadian.”
The book examines how the Canadians were betrayed, first by the British and Canadian governments who sent them to defend an undefendable colony, then again by the British commander who after the war blamed the Canadian troops for the defeat.
An officer from HMCS Prince Robert doing paperwork in 1945 with released Canadian soldiers who were held by the Japanese since the fall of Hong Kong.
In fact, the Canadians fought bravely, launching more attacks than any of the other units under British command, including a suicidal bayonet charge by the Royal Rifles ordered by the British just three hours before the final surrender.
“A regiment runs on one virtue and that’s courage,” Meagher said. “If you take the virtue, you take the soul of the regiment. You take the soul of those soldiers.”
Forget those men and their sacrifices, he said, and we risk forgetting the lessons of the Second World War. Just 28 Canadian Hong Kong veterans are still alive, Meagher said.
Betrayal, which includes commentary and analysis from three retired soldiers, Maj. Gen. Ivan Fenton, Lt. Col. Nick Ward and Maj. Bill Wiseman, is available at veteranspublications.com or at Perfect Books on Elgin Street.
bcrawford@ottawacitizen.com
twitter.com/getBAC
查看原文...
