Canadian Bren Gun crew
Canadian Bren Gun crew conduct firing exercises just before The Battle for Hong Kong
This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://ww2incolor.com/gallery/canadian-forces/31058/canadian-bren-gun-crew
This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://ww2incolor.com/gallery/canadian-forces/31058/canadian-bren-gun-crew
Nice picture NCY-152. The bulk of the troops sent to Hong Kong by Canada were raw recruits backed up by older career officers and non-coms. The plan was for the raw recruits to receive combat and weapons training once they arrived at Hong Kong. Unfortunately the Japanese attacked within two weeks of their arrival. The young canadian soldiers received less than a few hours of weapons training and then were in full combat fighting for their lives. Their was no chance of rescue and their is a more than 50% chance that the men in this photo were killed soon after it being taken. The Canadian command post was over run by the Japanese and the Canadian commander and his staff fought to the death, ending it all with one last fatal charge. The survivors of the battle spent the rest of the war in Japanese prison camps were they were starved or beaten to death. One of my parents friends survived the battle and the imprisonment only to die 10 years later from the effects of malnutrition and infections that never properly healed.
Remembered with Honour !