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Canadian Virtual War Memorial

Max Berger

In memory of:

Private Max Berger

December 19, 1941
Hong Kong

Military Service


Service Number:

A/56551

Age:

22

Force:

Army

Unit:

Royal Canadian Army Service Corps

Citation(s):

1939-1945 Star, Pacific Star, War Medal 1939-1945, Canadian Volunteer Service Medal and Clasp.

Additional Information


Born:

November 6, 1919
Sarnia, Ontario

Enlistment:

March 26, 1941
Windsor, Ontario

Son of Morris Berger and La Janse (alias Regina) Fried, of Sarnia, Ontario.

Of Hungarian and Jewish descent, he enlisted on 15 August 1940 with the Second Elgin Reserve Regiment in Sarnia, Ontario, service number A-430646. He joined the regular forces on 26 March 1941, service number A-56551, and transferred to the Royal Canadian Army Service Corps on 17 November 1941 in Hong Kong as electrician of Force C, on loan to the 12th Royal Army Service Corps. He had 472 days of service, including 53 overseas.

Commemorated on Page 23 of the Second World War Book of Remembrance. Request a copy of this page. Download high resolution copy of this page.

Burial Information


Cemetery:

SAI WAN MEMORIAL
Victoria, Hong Kong

Grave Reference:

Column 28.

Location:

This SAI WAN MEMORIAL honours over 2,000 men of the land forces of the British Commonwealth and Empire who died in the defence of Hong Kong during the Second World War. The SAI WAN MEMORIAL is in the form of a shelter building 24 metres long and 5.5 metres wide. It stands at the entrance to Sai Wan Bay War Cemetery, outside Victoria, the capital of Hong Kong. From the semi-circular forecourt, two wide openings lead to the interior of the building. The names are inscribed on panels of Portland stone. The dedicatory inscription reads:


1939 - 1945 The officers and men whose memory is honoured here died in the defence of Hong Kong in December 1941 and in the ensuing years of captivity and have no known grave.

The northern side of the Memorial is open and four granite piers support the copper roof. From a commanding position 305 metres above sea level, it looks out over the War Cemetery where some 1,500 men lie buried, and across the water to Mainland China - a magnificent view of sea and mountains. The Cape Collinson area has many cemeteries. Walking up this narrow one-way traffic road, one will pass the Catholic Cemetery situated on the hillside to the left of the road, and the Hong Kong Military Cemetery on the right. Sai Wan War Cemetery is about half way up Cape Collinson Road and faces the Muslim and Buddhist cemeteries. One can also get a taxi from Chai Wan Terminus and follow the same route. Alternatively, one can board a public light bus, Route No.16M, which runs from Chai Wan MTR Terminus to Stanley. En route to Stanley the minibus will pass Sai Wan War Cemetery.

Information courtesy of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.

Digital Collection

Send us your images

  • Photo of Max Berger
  • Newspaper clipping– From the Toronto Telegram December 1941. Submitted for the project Operation Picture Me.
  • Obituary– Max Berger is honoured on page 11 of the memorial book,
CANADIAN JEWS IN WORLD WAR II, Part II: Casualties,
compiled by David Rome for the Canadian Jewish Congress, Montreal, 1948.  
This extract is provided courtesy of the Canadian Jewish Congress which holds the copyright for this volume.  For additional information about these archival records, please contact:
The Canadian Jewish Congress National Archives 
1590 Ave. Docteur Penfield, Montreal, Que. H3G 1C5 (Canada)
telephone: 514-931-7531 ex. 2 
facsimile:  514-931-0548 
website:     www.cjc.ca
  • Inscription– Private MAX BERGER, Royal Canadian Army Service Corps, is one of 11 Canadian soldiers who are commemorated on this panel of the Sai Wan Memorial, and one of 290 Canadian soldiers killed during the defense of Hong Kong, from December 8th to December 25th, 1941.
  • Newspaper Clipping– Private MAX BERGER 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.
  • Grave 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 MAX BERGER 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.
  • Document– Max Berger's Death Record

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