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Direct from Hong Kong
| The 55th Anniversary of the Liberation of the Hong Kong Veterans Pilgrimage has been a lengthy voyage, a difficult journey back in time and a tiring one returning to Canada. Hopefully, most have had the opportunity to rest and reestablish themselves to current time zones. One would be remiss to state they had not returned with lessons learned...[more] |
The Purpose
Veterans Affairs Canada is mandated to keep the memory of the achievements and sacrifices of the men and women who served for Canada alive. One of the ways the department fulfils this commemorative mandate is by organizing pilgrimages to former battlefield sites to mark milestone anniversaries of significant wartime events in which Canada figured prominently...[more]
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The History
Close to 2,000 men and two nursing sisters were sent in November 1941 to Hong Kong to stiffen the defences of that distant British colony. They arrived just in time to face the brutal onslaught of the enemy, and more than 550 succumbed either on the battlefield or later, in prison camps. We remember their fierce struggle against the enemy in December 1941, and the horror they experienced during nearly four years of internment...[more]
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The Schedule
From the arrival in Hong Kong on November 29 to the Farewell Dinner on December 4, the Pilgrimage Schedule will reflect the daily ceremonies and activities of the Pilgrimage delegation. You will also discover links to the importance of the cemeteries, the memorials and the surrounding area...[more]
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Veterans Recollect
Extracts on RealVideo from interviews with Canadian Hong Kong veterans who experienced first-hand the foulest of conditions and had to survive brutal treatment and near-starvation...[more]
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Delegate Bios
By returning veterans to their former battlefields and the surrounding war cemeteries, Canada pays tribute to the participating veterans, focuses public attention on the experiences of all veterans of that wartime event and pays its respects to those who were left behind...[more]
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Email
It is important to show our support to the veteran delegates as they travel to commemorative cenotaphs and memorials in foreign places. As well, Veterans Affairs Canada, encouraged by the daily e-mail received through our site, wanted to provide a forum for messages to be shared with pilgrimage members...[more]
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