07/08/2024
I am volunteering with my dad’s veterans’ organization – the Hong Kong Veterans Commemorative Association – on a project that the Association is doing to identify the Indigenous members of the Winnipeg Grenadiers, a Canadian regiment that was sent to defend the British colony of Hong Kong against Japanese forces in World War II. Theirs is quite a unique story – after a short battle where the Allies were greatly outnumbered, any soldiers not killed in the battle were taken prisoner by the Japanese and spent the next 3 years and 8 months as PoWs and used as slave labour in shipyards and coal mines, in both Hong Kong and Japan, undergoing starvation, torture, etc. My dad was one of them, and is Metis from St. Vital, Manitoba.
Our research that we have done so far (it is ongoing) indicates that to date there are three members of the Winnipeg Grenadiers that have connections to Peguis First Nation. They are:
Alexander Favel Individual Report: H20803 Alexander FAVEL (hkvca.ca)
H20803 - Google Drive (further info on Mr. Favel)
Joseph Oige Individual Report: H41666 Joseph OIGE (hkvca.ca)
H41666 - Google Drive (further info on Mr. Oige)
(As per our telephone conversation, as I understand Mr. Oige’s grandson, Murray Still, and his mother, Yvonne Still, obtained status and membership with Peguis First Nation. If you require more information please let me know and I will contact Murray.)
Isaac Sanderson
Individual Report: H41818 Isaac SANDERSON (hkvca.ca)
H41818 - Google Drive (further information on Mr. Sanderson)
There is another veteran that may be from Peguis; we are still researching. He is:
George Kipling Individual Report: H20808 George KIPLING (hkvca.ca)
H20808 - Google Drive (further information on Mr. Kipling)
Every year in August the Association holds a ceremony to commemorate the end of the war in Japan and the rescue of the men that survived the battle and the prison camps. “Victory in Japan Day” as it was called at the time, was August 15, 1945.
The ceremony this year is taking place on SUNDAY, AUGUST 11, 2024 AT 1:30 PM AT THE HONG KONG VETERANS MONUMENT AT BROOKSIDE CEMETERY, WINNIPEG, MB. The ceremony is followed by a reception afterwards just across the street at the Neil Bardal Centre. Attached is information on the event. Justin Woodcock, the First Nation Veteran Coordinator of the Southern Chiefs’ Organization will be in attendance to lay a wreath and say a few words and arrangements are being made for the partner of one of our members to drum and sing in honour of the veterans. I believe that representatives of MMF and the Metis Veterans Legacy Program will also attend. We are also extending invitations to Long Plain First Nation and Birdtail Sioux First Nation as they also have members who were with the Winnipeg Grenadiers. Anyone is welcome to attend and we especially like to welcome family and friends of the soldiers. If you know of any family or friends of the veterans, I would be very grateful if you could pass this information on to them. Should representatives of Peguis First Nation wish to attend, we would be honoured to welcome them. If anyone has any questions please do not hesitate to contact me by return email. If anyone is going to attend on August 11, I would be happy if they could let me know and I will then watch for them and personally welcome them.
In addition, you might be interested to know that there is a Memorial Wall in Ottawa, very near the Parliament Buildings, that has the name of each and every Winnipeg Grenadier engraved on it. Below is a picture of the Wall..
Here is information about our Association and the project we are working on:
HKVCA Home
Indigenous Veterans and Resources (hkvca.ca)
Thank you very much for taking the time for this. As I mentioned anyone wanting more information is welcome to contact me.
Pamela Poitras Heinrichs
On behalf of
The Hong Kong Veterans Commemorative Association
204-669-5112
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