Battle of Hong Kong – A Savage Christmas 1941

Battle of Hong Kong

In the autumn of 1941, nearly 2,000 mostly inexperienced Canadian soldiers were sent to Hong Kong at the request of the British government which mistakenly thought that a symbolic show of strength would deter a Japanese attack on the colony. When the British colony of Hong Kong officially surrendered to Japan on Christmas Day of 1941, the surviving defenders became prisoners of war.