Canada's Role In World War 2 Essay

For the Canadian forces, World War II began on September 10, 1939, only nine days after the war had officially begun in Europe. Although the Canadians did not encounter their first battle until December, they were stationed in the United Kingdom to assist the British Expeditionary Forces (BEF) if needed (“Canada’s Role in WWII”). Canada’s first role in the war was to defend on the British Isles until needed in a separate battle (“Canada’s Role in WWII”). This event emerged in December of 1941, when the Canadians took part in a battle while attempting to protect the British Crown Colony of Hong Kong throughout a major Japanese attack (Chen, C. Peter). This battle became known as the Battle of Hong Kong. On the eighth of December, the Japanese

The Canadian forces had been prepared, dispersed all around the Island of Hong Kong even before the Japanese attacked (“Canadians in Hong Kong”). The Canadians fought their hardest but suffered horrible outcomes. Due to the Japanese “air raids and artillery attacks” (Hillis, Erik), they defeated the Canadians on every defense. The Japanese victory was nearly set in stone when they demolished the majority of aircrafts from the Royal Air Force (Hillis, Erik). On Christmas night this battle came to an end when the Japanese set out to kill the last of the Canadians (Hillis, Erik). A hospital in Hong Kong, containing the wounded Canadian soldiers, was ambushed by the Japanese, killing the remaining soldiers, nurses and everyone else around (Hillis, Erik). Even though the battle ended, the Canadians were in store for worse defeats than in the battle. The Canadian casualties consisted of 290 killed and 493 wounded: The soldiers who were not killed in battle were taken hostage as prisoners of war (POW) by the Japanese (Hillis, Erik). They lived as POW’s for over three years while they had to “endure brutal treatment and near-starvation” (Hillis, Erik). Over those years, 264 more soldiers were killed while POW’s.