Sir Mark A. Young GC MC (1886–1974), 21st Governor of Hong Kong, was Eton educated and commissioned into the Rifle Brigade in World War I. He arrived in Hong Kong to take up his post only three months before the Japanese attack, and spent 1941–45 as a POW. Prior to Hong Kong, Young served in Sri Lanka and the West Indies before taking a post as Governor of Tanganyika.
Major-General Christopher M. Maltby CB MC (1891–1980), GOC China during the battle of Hong Kong, was commissioned into the Indian Army in 1911 and saw service in World War I and the Persian Gulf (1913–14), as well as the North-West Frontier (1923–24). Maltby’s early work impressed his superiors and he was selected for fast-tracking to senior positions through staff colleges in Quetta and RAF Andover. In 1937 he once again served on the North-West Frontier and by 1939 he commanded the 3rd Jhelum Brigade, later the Calcutta Brigade, as well as the 19th Infantry Brigade based in Deccan. In 1940, posted to China, he was instrumental in closing the North China Command by withdrawing the two infantry battalions from Shanghai. In August 1941 Maltby was promoted to major-general as GOC China. In the three months of his tenure he set about preparing the colony as best he could; it was a question of too little, too late.
Major-General Christopher Michael Maltby, GOC China, on the left in shorts, is seen conferring with newly arrived head of the Canadian Forces Brigadier John Lawson on the right. In December 1941, Maltby was really a substantive colonel. He became an acting major-general only on 28 April 1941. (IWM)
Major-General Arthur E. Grasett DSO MC (1888–1971), GOC China until July 1941 and Canadian by birth, graduated from RMA Sandhurst in 1909 with the Sword of Honour before being granted a commission with the British Royal Engineers during World War I, where he was awarded a DSO and MC. Whilst attending the tri-service Imperial Defence College in 1934, he carried out a study which concluded that holding Hong Kong was unjustifiable yet, strangely, in the 1940s, he became convinced that it was, albeit with additional troops. Knighted in 1945, he retired as a lieutenant-general in 1947.
Sir Mark Aitchison Young (1886–1974), 21st Governor of Hong Kong. Young was initially held in the Peninsula Hotel and subsequently incarcerated in Stanley Prison, before being transferred with other senior captives to camps in Shanghai, Taiwan, Japan, and then liberated from north-east China in 1945. (Hong Kong Library)
Brigadier Cedric Wallis (1896–1996), Commander of the Kowloon Infantry Brigade (KIB), later East Brigade, enlisted in 1914 as a trooper in the Royal Horse Guards, before gaining a commission with the Sherwood Foresters. Wallis served in France with the Lancashire Regiment, losing an eye. In 1917 he joined the Indian Army and served in Iraq, India and Burma and by 1939 was the commander of all internal security troops in Bombay before being appointed, on arriving in Hong Kong in 1940, CO of the 5/7 Rajputs. After the war, he emigrated to Canada, became a businessman and lived in Vancouver until his death in 1996.
Brigadier John K. Lawson (1887–1941) was Commander of the Hong Kong Infantry Brigade (HKIB), later the West Brigade. He was the highest ranking Canadian soldier killed in action in World War II. Born in Yorkshire he later emigrated to Canada and saw service in World War I with the Canadian Expeditionary Force, enlisting as a private before gaining a commission. Lawson was mentioned in dispatches twice and won a Croix de Guerre. During the inter-war years Lawson continued to serve in the Canadian Army, rising to the rank of colonel. In September 1941 Lawson was made a local brigadier and was given the command of the Royal Rifles of Canada and the Winnipeg Grenadiers bound for active service in Hong Kong.
Lieutenant-Colonel John L. R. Sutcliffe, CO of the Winnipeg Grenadiers (1899–1942), served in the British Army from the 1910s to the 1920s in France, Belgium, India, Iraq, Iran, Russia and Turkey, before transferring to the Canadian Army. Sutcliffe died from malnutrition whilst a POW.
Lieutenant-Colonel William J. Home MC ED, CO of the Royal Rifles of Canada (1897–?), born in Nova Scotia, served with the 8th Royal Rifles in 1913 and later joined the RCR as part of the Canadian Expeditionary Force in World War I, during which he won the MC. In 1939 he was removed as OC of RCR as being ‘unfit for command’ but, in the 1942 Royal Commission, Home’s performance was seen as above par and he was described as an ‘excellent officer’. Home was promoted to brigade commander after the death of Lawson. Home survived the war and ended his career as a brigadier in the Canadian Army.
Colonel P. Hennessey was originally a native of Cork, serving in the ranks in the British Army before emigrating to Canada just before World War I. He joined the Canadian Army and was noted for his ability and pushed through officer training. After World War II, Hennessey took up a senior position in the National Defence Headquarters.
Colonel Henry Barron Rose MC was commissioned into the Wiltshire Regiment in 1911. He served on the Western Front as well as in Russia during the Bolshevik Revolution. Rose won an MC whilst a captain in a daring escape from captivity during World War I. He was seconded to command the HKVDC in August 1938 and promoted as local colonel on 14 September 1941. (Hong Kong Library)
Enthusiastic for action, several senior Canadian officers took a drop in rank in order to join the expeditionary force. Second-in-command Lt. Col. John H. Price OBE MC ED, son of Sir William Price, one of the richest businessmen in Quebec, joined the Hong Kong expedition after making strenuous efforts to lobby the Minister of National Defence C. G. Power, to select his regiment for a foreign expedition. A gunner by trade, Price volunteered to take a drop in rank to major to rejoin the Royal Rifles of Canada as the battalion second in command. Lieutenant-Colonel Tom MacCauly DCM ED was the CO of the Sherbrooke 7/11 Hussars. He too, took a drop in rank to become OC of B Coy, Royal Rifles of Canada. Lieutenant-Colonel C. A. Young MC ED, a veteran of World War I, took on the job of OC A Coy, Royal Rifles of Canada, and also took a voluntary reduction in rank.
Lieutenant-Colonel Lindsey T. Ride OBE CBE HKVDC (1898–1977), an Australian, saw service at the Somme and was the Vice-Chancellor of Hong Kong University. Ride commanded the garrison’s field ambulance units during the battle and successfully escaped captivity by fleeing to Free China. He founded the British Army Aid Group (BAAG).
Rear-Admiral Chan Chak (Andrew) KBE RocN (1894–1949), a one-legged Chinese admiral, came to Hong Kong in disguise but was in fact working as a senior representative of the Chinese Nationalist Government. He did valuable work in eliminating fifth columnists and spies. His claim to fame was to lead the famous escape to Free China on Christmas Day 1941. For this, Chan was awarded an honorary KBE.
Commander Zeng Sheng (1910–95) founded the ERC in 1938, under the direction and support of the CCP. In 1955 Zeng was awarded the rank of brigadier in the PLA and was appointed as deputy commander of Guangdong military district and later Deputy Provincial Governor and Minister of Transport.
Sergeant Gander, the unofficial mascot of the Royal Rifles of Canada, was a Newfoundland dog, posthumously awarded the Dickin Medal, the ‘animals’ VC’, in 2000 for his deeds in World War II (the first such award in over 50 years). He is seen here en route to Hong Kong. (Author’s collection)
Lieutenant-General Sakai Takashi (1887–1946), son of a factory worker, was a China campaign veteran who rose to become the commander of the 23rd Army. He was ordered to use the 38th Division, which normally came under the Southern Expeditionary Army Group, to capture Hong Kong. Sakai served as Governor of Hong Kong from 26 December 1941 to 20 February 1942.
Kuribayashi Tadamichi, better known as the Japanese commander on Iwo Jima in 1945, was then the Chief of Staff of the IJA 23rd Army in the battle for Hong Kong. According to a former subordinate, Kuribayashi regularly visited wounded enlisted men in hospital, which was virtually unheard of for an IJA general. (Author’s collection)
Major-General Kuribayashi Tadamichi (1891–1945), best known as the Japanese commander during the battle of Iwo Jima, graduated from the Army Academy in 1914, specializing in cavalry. He was appointed as deputy military attaché to Washington and Canada and also studied at Harvard University. In December 1941, Kuribayashi was the Chief of Staff of the Japanese 23rd Army.
Lieutenant-General Sano Tadayoshi (1889–1945) was commissioned into the artillery; nonetheless he took command of the 38th Division, the principal invasion force in the battle of Hong Kong. The 38th Division was reported to have committed atrocities against civilians in Hong Kong and British prisoners of war.
Major-General Ito Takeo (1889–1965), born in the city of Fukuoka, was formerly the commander of the 228th Infantry Regiment and later the 114th Infantry Regiment, before being assigned to 38th Division. Ito was Sano’s subordinate and commander of the 38th’s Infantry Group for the invasion of Hong Kong. Ito’s campaign was characterized by extreme ruthlessness and the massacre of prisoners. He was tried and convicted after the war for war crimes by the Australian Court.
Vice-Admiral Niimi Masaichi, commander of the IJN invasion force, is on the right and Lt. Gen. Sano Tadayoshi, his counterpart land forces commander, on the left, seen here stepping ashore on Hong Kong Island, in the vicinity of Causeway Bay after the surrender of the British on 25 December 1941. (Author’s collection)
Vice-Admiral Niimi Masaichi (1887–1993) was born in Hiroshima; specializing in naval artillery, he was appointed naval attaché to the United Kingdom 1923–25. In 1936 he accompanied Prince Chichibu to England for the coronation of King George VI. In April 1941 he commanded the 2nd China Expeditionary Fleet, and was responsible for the naval component of the invasion of Hong Kong. He nominally shared the position of Head of Japanese Occupation Forces in Hong Kong with Sakai, but his authority was limited to offshore responsibilities. He retired from active service in March 1943.
Colonel Doi Teihichi (1889–1968) was born in Hyogo Prefecture and graduated from the Military Academy in 1914. Until 1941 he was the 4th Division’s director of weapons. Doi’s 228th Regiment broke the Gin Drinkers Line by capturing the Shing Mun Redoubt.
Colonel Shoji Toshishige (1890–1974) was a native of Sendai and graduated from the 25th class of the Army Academy. In 1912 he graduated from the Army Staff College and took command of the same 230th Regiment that committed the massacre of St John Ambulance staff and wounded soldiers during the battle of Hong Kong. However, he was acquitted of war crimes. The 230th Regiment, like most of the 38th Division, was decimated in the battle of Guadalcanal.
The 229th Regiment, commanded by Col. Tanaka Ryosaburo, committed many infamous war crimes during the battle of Hong Kong, in particular the bayoneting of captured soldiers and civilian personnel. Tanaka was convicted of war crimes and was sentenced to 20 years’ imprisonment.