Battle of Hong Kong

In 1940 the British regarded their crown colony of Hong Kong and its 20 000-man garrison as expendable in the event of war with Japan and decided against reinforcing it. But in September 1941 the Canadian government agreed to send the Royal Rifles of Canada (a Québec unit) and the Winnipeg Grenadiers, although they were not considered fit for action. They arrived on 16 November 1941 and 22 days later the Japanese attacked the colony’s New Territories on the mainland. On December 18 the Japanese crossed to the island of Hong Kong and on Christmas Day the governor surrendered. Of 1975 Canadians, 557 were killed or died in prison camps. Political pressure at home forced the Canadian government to appoint a royal commission to investigate the circumstances of Canada’s involvement. The only commissioner, Chief Justice Sir Lyman DUFF, misinterpreted or ignored evidence and exonerated the Cabinet, the Department of National Defense and senior members of the General Staff. In 1948 a confidential analysis by General Charles FOULKES, chief of the general staff, found many errors in Duff’s assessment, but concluded that proper training and equipment would have made little difference. The battle was started by Japanese troops invading Hong Kong hours after the attack on Perl harbor. The troops could not hold and it lead to the victory of the Japanese and them taking over Hong Kong. The whole point of this attack was to gain land for the Japanese

The Battle of Hong Kong was quite important as it was the east trading outpost of the British Empire and they can also keep an eye on the communist activity in China. So Britain was keen to keep this outpost. When the Japanese invaded Hong Kong. This triggered the British and their commonwealth to join the war in the pacific although Britain was already fighting a war in Europe. Hong Kong was also a strategic point of defense to the other Far East colonies such as Singapore and Australia. If Hong Kong falls, this will allow Japanese forces to attack Singapore and other British outposts. So the battle of Hong Kong was important as the British want to defend their colony, but if they lose, it opens up the rest of the Far East colonies of the Empire.

Callum Wright