Damned [Hardcover]

This book is divided into two sections. The first part is the Japanese attack on Hong Kong from China in 1941. The second part is the captivity of the Canadian soldiers by the Japanese until the end of World War II in August 1945.

The second part is by far stronger and more readable. It is also heart-wrenching to read of the barbaric treatment accorded the Canadians at the hands of their Japanese captors. They were ill-fed and ill-clothed. Many died of diseases due to vitamin deficiencies in their minimal diet (if it can be called "diet"). Also there was sadistic treatment meted out to them. Those who survived had to endure this physical and psychological torture for over 3 1/2 years. As Mr. Greenfield points out surrender was an unknown concept to the Japanese who adhered to a Bushido mythology where death was honourable, whereas to be taken prisoner was seen as a humiliation to the nation.

It should also be pointed out that many prisoners (non-officers) were sent to Japan for slave labour; working over twelve hours a day in mines and shipyards. These prisoners in Japan had, perhaps, a more vigorous struggle for survival than those who remained in Hong Kong. In Japan the weather was colder and as the war progressed - with worsening conditions for Japan - the food rations diminished even more. The officers who stayed on in Hong Kong had better treatment - more food and less labour to do - but they were also the victims of the hostile treatment given by the Japanese guards.

The first part of the book (and this consists of almost 2/3 of the content) is a description of the Battle for Hong Kong. I found this overly detailed and unless you have a geographical background of the hills, peaks and valleys of Hong Kong the events become somewhat confusing. The individual descriptions of battle are very poignant and harrowing. These new Canadian soldiers experienced the ruthlessness and arbitrary destructiveness of war.

A British commanding officer (Cedric Wallis) was highly critical of the performance of the Canadians during the Battle of Hong Kong. For the general reader, I felt that Mr. Greenfield spent an inordinate amount of time refuting this British critique. Over seventy years have now passed and whether a snooty Brit felt that the Canadians were derelict in their duty is beside the point. The fact is, the troops in Hong Kong were over-whelmed and could never have held out against the Japanese invader, who not only out-numbered them but had air supremacy. The Canadians sent to Hong Kong were merely a token force, and it was inevitable that they were to be slaughtered or taken prisoner.

Unfortunately Mr. Greenfield chose to emphasize the Battle of Hong Kong which hardly lasted for twenty days. The real story is the long incarceration of those woebegone prisoners, who held out for many long years under the most dismal of conditions with little hope of liberation.

This is a thoroughly engrossing military history. It is an incredible tale of hard combat and punishing conditions in prisoner of war camps. Author Greenfield sets out to right a few wrongs in this work: to tell the definitive story of Canadian military performance during the battle for Hong Kong; challenge Brigadier General Wallis' War Diary; and relate the horrors of years in Japanese prison camps. His research is thorough, the detail satisfying, and style of writing engaging.

The young men from Manitoba (The Winnipeg Grenadiers) and Eastern Quebec (The Royal Rifles of Canada), some sixteen or seventeen years of age, were thrown into an incredibly difficult situation. Hong Kong was, of course, very foreign; British military leadership challenging; and general support back in Canada skewed towards defeating the Nazis. The book is divided into two parts: the battle and time in the camps. The battle is well laid out with the defensive strategy brought to life through incredible first person accounts. The confusion brought on by the overwhelming Japanese forces is visceral and the numerous accounts of heroism inspiring. Disturbing is the conduct of many Japanese during the conflict and at time of surrender.

The content is even more difficult when it moves on to the soldier's time as prisoners of war. Disease, beatings, hard labor, inadequate food, executions for escape, and countless other deprivations are astounding. So too is the stoicism, discipline, and pride the men displayed throughout. As Rifleman Bill MacWhirter stated to the author in 2008, "I never surrendered." As a Winnipegger and now resident of Ottawa, visiting the Hong Kong Veteran's Memorial Wall will have deeper meaning and increased understanding.