Historian says soldiers from Canada, India and other allied countries also died defending HK
FANNY W. Y. FUNGfanny.fung@scmp.com
PUBLISHED : Monday, 24 August, 2015, 12:01am
UPDATED : Monday, 24 August, 2015, 12:01am
A worker cleans the Sai Wan cemetery ahead of celebrations marking the 70th anniversary of the end of the world war.Photo: Felix Wong
Soldiers from Canada, India and other allied countries who gave their lives to defend Hong Kong during the second world war have been largely forgotten by today's Hongkongers, historians said ahead of the celebration as the city prepares to mark the 70th anniversary of its liberation.
Hongkongers will enjoy an extra public holiday next Thursday, in line with the mainland's celebration of the nation's victory over Japan.
Some commemorative events have already been staged by Chinese and British veteran groups this month - when Japan formally announced its surrender following the dropping of atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
"Those from Canada are to be respected. They did not even die defending their own country. That's why Canada very much wanted this part of history to be remembered in Hong Kong," said Dr Joseph Ting Sun-pao, a retired chief curator of the Hong Kong Museum of History, as he gave a media tour of the Sai Wan war cemetery.
"Two memorials have been erected in Sham Shui Po Park, but they are inconspicuous. I think people would just pass by without noticing them."
The cemetery contains 1,582 second world war graves, including 1,505 for Commonwealth casualties and 77 for other nationalities, mainly Dutch. A large section is for fallen Canadians, who were sent in two military units comprising 1,975 people to defend Hong Kong.
"You can also see a lot of Indian names here. Many of them would be from today's Pakistan," Ting said, showing a memorial at the entrance to the cemetery. There are also the names of about 2,000 servicemen who died with no known graves.
"Those from other countries tend to be forgotten … A balanced presentation of history is very important. Just like the East River Column was not mentioned before 1997," Ting said.
The column was a guerrilla group set up by the Communist Party in Guangdong and Hong Kong to fight against the Japanese invaders.
His co-guide for the tour, Dr Kelvin Chow Ka-kin, a historian at Lingnan University, shared the same view. "Before the handover, education about the battle of Hong Kong focused on the British military force's defence efforts. Little was said about the contribution made by Canadian troops.
"Archives showed that the British government even blamed Canada for their performance in Hong Kong, saying they were ill-equipped … Now after the handover, most of the materials focus on the efforts of the Chinese during the war."
http://m.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/education-community/article/1851937/dont-forget-foreign-war-dead-says-hong-kong
