A 'daunting task' to identify Indigenous soldiers who fought in the Battle of Hong Kong
CBC
Pamela Poitras Heinrichs hopes the efforts to identify more Indigenous soldiers who were killed in action or captured as prisoners of war during the Battle of Hong Kong will serve as a reminder of the sacrifices made by First Nations, Inuit, and Métis who contributed to Canada's armed forces.
As a member of the Hong Kong Veterans Commemorative Association (HKVCA), she has worked with volunteers for the past year identifying Indigenous veterans who fought in Canada's first battle during the Second World War.
"By doing this project, we're giving those men and their families a space to stand up and say 'I am a proud Métis. I am a proud Cree. I am a proud Anishinaabe,'" said Poitras Heinrichs.
"I think that's important for our ancestors and for our families now."
Working with the St. Boniface Historical Society to go through the list of Winnipeg Grenadiers, upwards of 150 Indigenous soldiers have been identified to date. Eleven families also reached out to the association following a story published by CBC News last year about Urban Vermette, one of the Métis veterans.
With permission from their families, 30 of the veterans are listed on the HKVCA website. Among them is Poitras Heinrichs's father Ferdinand (Fred) Poitras, a Métis veteran from St. Vital, Man., and a private in the 1st Battalion of the Winnipeg Grenadiers.
At 19, he enlisted when the Second World War was declared in September 1939. The Grenadiers were first sent to Jamaica for 14 months, for garrison duty. When they returned, Poitras was among the 1,975 troops known as "C" Force when the Winnipeg Grenadiers and the Royal Rifles of Canada out of Quebec City were deployed to Hong Kong in 1941 to reinforce the British colony.
It was the first place Canada engaged in a battle during the war. On Dec. 8, 1941, Japanese forces invaded and overran Hong Kong's defences in 17 days.
Poitras was among those captured on Christmas Day and was interned as prisoner of war for four years, enduring brutal conditions, starvation, and forced labour in coal mines.
He didn't speak much about his experience as a prisoner of war but once told his daughter about how the Japanese guards made him stand for hours with arms outstretched holding pails of water. He also suffered diseases like beriberi, pellagra, and malaria.
"He was a very sort of understated person," said Poitras Heinrichs.
"I read an interview that was done with him at one point… he said something about, well, it wasn't bad as long as you could avoid getting beat up."
Poitras returned to Winnipeg in the fall of 1945 after the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki forced Japan's surrender and ended the war in the Pacific.
According to Veterans Affairs Canada, over 3,000 First Nations people joined the military by the end of the Second World War. There were an unknown number of Métis, Inuit and other Indigenous recruits who served in uniform.