"The Damned tells the largely unknown saga of Canada's first land battle of the Second World War - fought in the hills and valleys of Hong Kong in December 1941--and the terrible years the survivors of the battle spent as slave labourers for the Empire of Japan. Their story begins in the fall of 1941, when almost 2,000 members of the Royal Rifles and the Winnipeg Grenadiers were sent to bolster the British garrison at Hong Kong. In the seventeen-day battle for the colony following the Japanese attack on December 8, the Canadians suffered grievous losses. The second part of their story - how the Canadians survived the horrid conditions of the Japanese POW camps - lasts three and a half years. Despite the circumstances, the surviving Canadians remained unbowed and unbroken. Theirs is a story of determination and valour, of resilience and faith." --pub. desc.
Record details
ISBN:9781554682195 (hc.)
Physical Description:print xxx, 462 p. : ill., map ; 24 cm.
Edition:1st ed.
Publisher:Toronto : HarperCollins Canada, 2010.
Content descriptions
Bibliography, etc. Note:
Includes bibliographical references (p. [432]-441) and index.
Formatted Contents Note:
Book I: the battle for Hong Kong -- The season for yellowtail hunting -- That was the first man I ever saw killed -- The broken rusted wire was valueless -- Go back and destroy some more -- Japs, thousands of Japs -- They had already infiltrated up to and past our destination -- Dig, you sons of bitches -- The importance of fighting it out -- This heap of rubble was their cairn -- Another bullet hit him in almost the same place -- My sergeant was wounded and bleeding -- They walked among them and bayoneted a few -- Each reluctant to relinquish the sword -- Anyone who can get out the door will be spared -- Book II: the POW years -- The stench of ordure ran among the cobbles -- All Canadians will be slaves as you are now! -- We stood on loose, shaky, unfastened planks -- We just breathed coal dust and ash -- They'd never let the fires go out - unless ... -- What the hell took you so long to get here? -- Coda : war crimes trials.
Summary: "The Damned tells the largely unknown saga of Canada's first land battle of the Second World War - fought in the hills and valleys of Hong Kong in December 1941--and the terrible years the survivors of the battle spent as slave labourers for the Empire of Japan. Their story begins in the fall of 1941, when almost 2,000 members of the Royal Rifles and the Winnipeg Grenadiers were sent to bolster the British garrison at Hong Kong. In the seventeen-day battle for the colony following the Japanese attack on December 8, the Canadians suffered grievous losses. The second part of their story - how the Canadians survived the horrid conditions of the Japanese POW camps - lasts three and a half years. Despite the circumstances, the surviving Canadians remained unbowed and unbroken. Theirs is a story of determination and valour, of resilience and faith." --pub. desc.
Book
