OTTAWA — On Friday, relatives of war veterans gathered at the National War Memorial in Ottawa to commemorate the 80th anniversary of Japan's surrender, marking the official end of the Second World War. Attendees braved the August heat as a bugler from the Canadian Armed Forces played the Last Post.

Michael Babin, president of the Hong Kong Veterans Commemorative Association, noted that there are no surviving veterans from the nearly 2,000 Canadians who participated in the Battle of Hong Kong in December 1941. The last known veteran from that battle passed away over a year and a half ago at the age of 106. Babin expressed concern that the history of this battle and the stories of the Canadians who fought and died there are fading from memory.

"There are no veterans left anymore to tell their stories, so it’s up to us — the children and the grandchildren — to tell their stories and to remember them," Babin said. He emphasized that many Canadians are unaware of the Battle of Hong Kong, as most of the war's action was focused in Europe, which is what is primarily taught in schools.

Babin highlighted the significance of sending 2,000 men and two nursing sisters to Hong Kong, all of whom volunteered. He shared that out of the 1,975 Canadian volunteers who went to Hong Kong, only 1,418 returned. Of those, 290 were killed in battle, while others died later as prisoners of war. His father, Alfred Babin, was released from nearly four years of captivity as a prisoner of war on August 15, 1941.

Mitzi Ross recounted her father's experience, stating that Lance Ross was injured by shrapnel but survived the battle. He was captured and sent to Japan to work in a mine as a prisoner of war. "All of the men that were in these camps had to work in mines or shipyards, things like that. It was really a horrible, horrible experience. When they came back they all had PTSD but nobody knew what it was at the time," she said. "They all had hard lives after their return to Canada."

Francois Vigneault, a retired captain with 36 years of service in the Royal Canadian Air Force, shared that his father’s cousin, Laureat Vigneault, was killed in the Battle of Hong Kong. He mentioned that his body was never recovered and that a bureaucratic error delayed his family’s knowledge of his death in action. "For me, it’s a very important battle (but) it’s very unknown for Canadians," he said.

Anne Okaley, whose father became a prisoner of war after the Hong Kong conflict, is still researching his role in the battle. She expressed concern about the potential for these stories to be forgotten over time, fearing the repetition of grim history. "I just hope the memory carries on," she said. "We’re not going to be here forever to carry it on, so I’m really grateful for my nephew who is going to carry the torch forward."