Outnumbered and Out Armed

Heroes Remember

Outnumbered and Out Armed

Transcript

Interviewer: Mr Forsyth, on the, at the, on the day that the Japanese attacked, do you recall the circumstances, do you recall your reaction when you learned that Japan was attacking the colony? Well, I think it was one of absolute horror, because we, there was only three planes for the protection of that colony and they were, all three were shot down the first day. When you, when you see that happen, when you see that happen and you realize that, that you're out numbered, vastly out numbered in the air, then you wonder what it's going to be like on the ground, oh dear. Interviewer: Do you recall the impact that it had on you when the Japanese overran the mainland part of the colony, and forced the forces back onto the island? What was your reaction when you realized that the Japanese were attacking in that number and were that successful? Well it was, let's face it, it was, it was ghastly. It was ghastly. We were short of, we were so short of ammunition and then when our, at Jardine's Lookout, when we were out of ammunition and Lieutenant Brickette said, "You've got to use your, your hand grenades," and we pulled the pins and threw them and nothing happened, and he grabbed one and he took it apart and there's no detonators in the hand grenades. We might as well be throwing rocks. It, it, it, a terrible feeling of utter futility, out of ammunition and then no detonators in the hand grenades. We spent, the squad I was with, or the platoon I was with, we spent one night piling up sand bags around a shelter for our officers, and in doing that, some of our work gang were actually wounded by shrapnel from artillery from the far, from the mainland, from the mainland. That was, that was, that was horrible to think that, that we could spend the night piling up sand bags and, and have this, this shrapnel showering down. It was a, it was a bitter, bitter experience. A bitter experience. Interviewer: The Japanese were shelling the positions on the island. Did you men have artillery of your own? We, we personally had no artillery. There was big guns at Stanley and the, the, the best information we got about those big guns was the governor of the island said, "We mustn't use those, we'll just, we'll simply antagonize the Japs if we use those." We could look across, we could see their, their trucks, huge trucks coming, streams, convoys, truck, after truck, after, they were a perfect target for the guns of Stanley, a perfect target. And when we asked, "Why on earth aren't, aren't, aren't there, this, this, these big guns, why aren't they being used?" "Oh, the governor of the island said we might make the Japs angry if we use big guns on them."

Description

Mr. Forsyth recalls the day Japan attacked Hong Kong: being vastly outnumbered and having faulty munitions.

Thomas Smith Forsyth

Mr. Forsyth was born on a farm just outside of Pipestone, Manitoba, on April 26, 1910. He worked on the farm and attended school until grade 11, joining the army the following year when war was declared. After being accepted into the Winnipeg Grenadiers, Mr. Forsyth was briefly stationed in Jamaica guarding German POWs before being posted to Hong Kong. Captured in the Battle of Hong Kong, Mr. Forsyth was interned as a POW in North Point and Sham Shui Po prison camps, before being sent to Niigata Camp 5B in Japan as a slave labourer. After years of heavy labour, physical abuse, and terrible living conditions, Mr. Forsyth was liberated from 5B when Japan surrendered. He returned to his family in Manitoba soon thereafter.

Meta Data

Medium:: Video
Owner:: Veterans Affairs Canada
Duration:: 04:54
Person Interviewed:: Thomas Smith Forsyth
War, Conflict or Mission:: Second World War
Location/Theatre:: Hong Kong
Battle/Campaign:: Hong Kong
Branch:: Army
Units/Ship:: Winnipeg Grenadiers
Occupation:: Garrison Military Police

Language selection

Outnumbered and Out Armed

Heroes Remember