Profile image
Military service
Service number:
H/6350
Age:
21
Rank:
Private
Force:
Army
Unit/Regiment:
Winnipeg Grenadiers, R.C.I.C.
Birth:
December 5, 1920
Carman, Manitoba
Enlistment:
September 14, 1939
Winnipeg, Manitoba
Death:
December 24, 1941
Hong Kong
Burial/memorial information
Grave reference:
Column 26.
Additional information
Son of Alexander Carcary and Jean (or Jane) Leighton, of Carman, Manitoba. Brother of Albert Alexander Carcary, service number R-86290, RCAF, killed in action on 22 July 1942 while serving with the 73rd Squadron, RAF.
William Thomas served in Manitoba, in Jamaica with Force Y, in Hong Kong with Force C. He had 833 days of service, including 58 overseas.
To commemorate his sacrifice, the Government of Manitoba named Carcary Lake, located south-west of Lake Nueltin, in his honour in 1972.
Additional citations
1939-1945 Star, Pacific Star, War Medal 1939-1945, Canadian Volunteer Service Medal and Clasp.
Digital gallery of Private William Thomas Carcary
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Newspaper Clipping
In memory of the men and women memorialized on the pages of the Winnipeg Evening Tribune. Submitted for the project, Operation: Picture Me -
Memorial
Private WILLIAM THOMAS CARCARY is one of 18 members of the Winnipeg Grenadiers, Royal Canadian Infantry Corps who are commemorated on this panel of the Sai Wan Memorial. He was one of 290 Canadian soldiers killed during the defense of Hong Kong, from December 8th to December 25th, 1941. -
Newspaper Clipping
Private WILLIAM THOMAS CARCARY was reported to have been Killed in Action in the Canadian Army's 242nd overseas casualty list of the war published in the Globe and Mail on January 8, 1943. -
Dedicatory Inscription of the Sai Wan Memorial
Dedicatory inscription of the SAI WAN MEMORIAL. This memorial bears the names of more than 2,000 Commonwealth servicemen, including 228 Canadians. -
Canada and the Defence of Hong Kong
Source: Veterans Affairs Canada. -
Canadian Casuatlies in the Defence of Hong Kong
Source: Veterans Affairs Canada. -
Unknown Marker
The Sai Wan Memorial is located at the entrance of Sai Wan Cemetery. 1,505 Commonwealth casualties of the Second World War are buried or commemorated at this cemetery, of which 444 of the burials are the remains of unidentified soldiers, including those of 107 Canadian soldiers, most of whom were killed or died of wounds during the defense of Hong Kong, which took place from December 8th to December 25th, 1941. This is one such grave marker. There is a possibility that the remains of Private WILLIAM THOMAS CARCARY lie beneath this grave marker, or one of the other 106 grave markers in Sai Wan Cemetery that simply read, A SOLDIER OF THE 1939-1945 WAR. A CANADIAN REGIMENT. KNOWN UNTO GOD. The unidentified soldiers are commemorated at the Sai Wan Memorial. -
Photo of William Thomas Carcacy
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Photo of WILLIAM THOMAS CARCARY
In memory of those who served in Hong Kong during World War 11 and did not come home. Submitted with permission on behalf of the Hong Kong Veterans Commemorative Association by Operation: Picture Me. -
Honour Roll
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Memorial
Remembering brothers lost … Brothers In Arms Memorial, Zonnebeke, BE … photo courtesy of Marg Liessens … May 2022
Digital gallery of
Private William Thomas Carcary
Digital gallery of
Private William Thomas Carcary
Digital gallery of
Private William Thomas Carcary
Digital gallery of
Private William Thomas Carcary
Digital gallery of
Private William Thomas Carcary
Digital gallery of
Private William Thomas Carcary
Digital gallery of
Private William Thomas Carcary
Digital gallery of
Private William Thomas Carcary
Digital gallery of
Private William Thomas Carcary
In the Books of Remembrance
Commemorated on:
Page 25 of the Second World War Book of Remembrance.
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