The Sai Wan Bay Memorial was erected at the Sai
Wan Bay War Cemetery on the island of Hong Kong to honour those who died
in its defence. On this Memorial are inscribed the names of over 2,000
people, 228 of them Canadian, who died with no known grave. Below the memorial,
the Sai Wan Bay War Cemetery slopes towards the sea, with a panoramic view
of the coastline and distant hills. Here are buried 283 soldiers of the
Canadian Army, including 107 who were unidentified. These are among the
1,975 Canadians who sailed from Vancouver in October 1941, to commit to
battle during the Second World War in the defence of Hong Kong. The small
brigade group consisting of the Winnipeg Grenadiers and the Royal Rifles
of Canada found itself in action against the Japanese. In total, more than
550 Canadians died in the campaign or in captivity.
Where Are the Canadian Dead Buried?
The island of Hong Kong fell to the Japanese on Christmas
Day 1941 following a brief but intense period of fighting.
Most of those buried in this cemetery were killed at
this time, or died later as internees or prisoners of war during the Japanese
occupation. The remains of those who died as prisoners in Formosa (now
Taiwan) were brought to Hong Kong for burial at Sai Wan in 1946. There
are now 1,505 Commonwealth casualties of the Second World War buried or
commemorated at Sai Wan War Cemetery. 444 of the burials are unidentified.
There are special memorials to 16 Second World War casualties buried in
Kowloon (Ho Man Tin) No 3 Muslim Cemetery, whose graves were lost. There
are also 77 war graves of other nationalities from this period, the majority
of them Dutch and 7 non-world war graves that the Commission maintains
on behalf of the MoD. The cemetery contains special memorials to 12 First
World War casualties buried in Kowloon (Ta Sek Ku) Mohammedan Cemetery,
whose graves have since been lost .
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