ERNIE'S STORY
Chapter Three "Courage and Defeat"
A report of the activities of the Winnipeg Grenadiers from
Dec. 7th to Dec. 20th, 1941 is among Ernie's papers. This was
written on Oct. 20th, 1945, at the request of the military after
he was back in Canada. After the ordeal that he had been through,
one might expect his memory of a battle that took place four
years before to be vague. Instead here are four closely printed
pages giving exact details of shelters, kitchens, road blocks,
and gun emplacements. Ernie had not allowed the starvation and
cruelties inflicted by the Japanese to take control of his mind
or his memories. Later in this story, we shall see that the
Japanese twice came close to destroying both the body and the
mind of this brave man. The first time was at Wong Nei Chong
Gap.
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On Dec. 7th, 1941, Ernie records his arrival at Wong Nei Chong
Gap. Officers were billeted in homes in the area and shelters and
kitchens were set up in various locations such as Mt. Cameron
Road and The Peak. On Dec. 8th, Ernie reports that he has
completed the billeting, set up Anti-Aircraft guns, and that war
was declared at 0620 hours.
From Dec. 9th to 11th, he describes more reorganization of
personnel. Cpl. L. Ross of the Royal Rifles tells in his diary of
the sinking of the H.M.S. Prince of Wales and the Repulse by
Japanese planes near Malaya. This was demoralizing to the
Canadians because with the American fleet crippled at Pearl
Harbour and Britain's two great battleships gone, there was no
hope of reinforcement. He also tells of constant Japanese
bombing: "Can't sleep ....everything looks bad" ("Diary" E1144
CPL. ROSS, L. (Royal Rifles), Prisoner of War: Oct. 41 - Oct. 45,
p. 2).
Ernie begins to mention the Japanese bombing in his Dec. 12th
entry. On Dec. 13th and 14th, he writes:
Air and shelling activity spasmodic all day, making it
necessary to work on the Sand Bags all night, every night .... No
relief on any tasks .... just short periods of rest at the scene
of the activity
On Dec. 15th to 18th, he tells of inspecting various
positions, stores, and communications. Dec. 19th, 1941, was to
change Ernie's life forever. That day he received orders to lead
an attack on Wong Nei Chong police station and then to proceed to
Mt. Parker. He never reached Mt. Parker.
The following account is from Desperate Seige: The Battle of
Hong Kong, by Ted Ferguson:
Major Ernie Hodkinson's men adored him ....Hodkinson deftly
blended firmness, respect for rules and a good guy quality that
made him easy to approach. During the battle for Wong Nei Chong
Gap, his men learned he had another side to him: awesome
tenacity. Hodkinson was in command of "D" company .... To the
small, slight Hodkinson fell the gigantic task of recapturing
Wong Nei Chong police station .... Hodkinson accepted Fortress
Headquarter's order .... without protesting that it was a near
suicidal mission. Inwardly he had deep qualms. His platoon
comprised 40 men and 2 Bren guns. 500 Japanese had been counted
having breakfast on Wong Nei Chong slope. The Hodkinson platoon
took 10 hours to cover half a mile. By this time the Japanese had
already killed Brigadier Lawson and they were infiltrating
everywhere. Hodkinson and his men encountered enemy soldiers
practically every yard. The Major's determination to reach the
knoll was amazing. Running in front, he threw grenades, fired his
revolver and shouted encouraging words.
Ernie radioed for help but the Japanese used their machine
guns to disable the vehicles as they tried to reach Ernie and his
men. They continued in a drizzling rain to climb the slope that
was so steep that they couldn't see the station above them. These
are Ernie's memories as recorded by Ted Ferguson:
Seconds before he felt his body lifting, Hodkinson heard
explosions and agonizing screams. When he thudded back down, his
left side torn by a grenade blast, he blacked out.
He regained consciousness some time later and saw the dead
bodies of his comrades all around him. He called feebly for help
and when he came to, he was in the Queen Mary Hospital. He knew
the assault had failed. One can only imagine how he felt about
the great number of dead Winnipeg Grenadiers.
Two of those dead Grenadiers were Ernie's fellow officers,
both of whom he had known for some time and admired. Brigadier
John Lawson, who had said that the Grenadiers were not ready for
battle, died at Wong Nei Chong Gap. Bob Manchester of the
Winnipeg Grenadiers wrote in his diary:
There's been a lot of B. S. about how Lawson died. One
version even had him charging out of the bunker with two pistols
blazing, right out the wild west. That's a crock. I was manning a
gun not far away and saw him and three others run from the bunker
and start up the hill. A Japanese machine gun firing at us
suddenly switched over to them. They were shot down like ten
pins, like clay ducks. (The Valour and the Horror, p. 24)
The Japanese commander, Colonel Toshishige, recognized his
bravery and did not leave his body lying in the sun but "ordered
a temporary burial of the officer on the battleground because he
died so heroically." (The Valour and the Horror, p. 34)
Company Sargeant Major John Osborne had enlisted in the
Grenadiers in 1933 and was well known to Ernie. He died on Mount
Butler. Private J. D. Pollock is quoted in The Lasting Honour:
"Grenades started to come over. C. S. M. Osborne kept throwing
them back at the Japs every time they threw them at us." Sargeant
Pugsley wrote :
C. S. M. Osborne and I were discussing what was to be done
now, when a grenade dropped beside him. He yelled to me and gave
me a shove and I rolled down the hill. He rolled onto the grenade
and was killed. I firmly believe he did this on purpose and by
his action saved the lives of myself and at least six other
men. (The Lasting Honour, p. 99)
Ernie was awarded the Distiguished Service Order for his
bravery at Wong Nei Chong Gap. Brigadier John Lawson and C. S. M.
John Osborne were awarded the Victoria Cross posthumously.
The battle for Hong Kong raged all over the colony, affecting
civlians as well as soldiers. Bob Clayton of the Royal Rifles, in
"The Valour and the Horror" by Brian and Terrence McKenna,
described what he heard:
It was horrible. The sceams and ....all night long. I don't
know what they were doing when they got in there. I guess they
were looting and everything else. But the whole city was just one
massive scream all night long. Just raised the hair on the back
of your head."
On Dec. 22nd, Ernie's old instructor from the Minto Armouries,
now Colonel Sutcliffe, sent the following cable to Canadian
Defence Minister Ralston: "Situation critical. Canadian troops
part prisoners. Residue engaged. Casualities heavy. Troops have
done excellent work. Spirit excellent."
This was to be the final message from the Canadians at Hong
Kong. Cpl. L. Ross of the Royal Rifles wrote on Dec. 26th., 1941:
"A truce has been made and we are now prisoners of war."
Over 300 Canadians died in Hong Kong, most at Wong Nei Chong
Gap. The Japanese lost 800 soldiers and were determined to get
revenge.
At the time of the truce, Ernie was in the Queen Mary Hospital
recovering from his wounds. Amongst Ernie's papers is a copy of
his medical records. Professor Digby recorded on January 1, 1942,
"Hand grenade wound. Several wounds L. side chest. Penetrated
lung. Soundly healed but states F. B. (foreign body) still in
chest."
Ernie can be considered fortunate to have been wounded before
the surrender to the Japanese and to be already in the hospital.
Those who were wounded and still lay on the battlefields were
executed by the merciless Japanese.
Canadian Medical Officer Lieutenant Colonel John Crawford of
the Winnipeg Grenadiers told of the scenes he witnessed at the
Canadian-British ordnance depot about four days after the
surrender:
The ordnance depot had a high hill on one side and a sharp
drop on the other. There were a dozen bodies slumped close
together at the base of the cliff. They were badly decomposed. I
formed the opinion that these men had been lined up against the
base of the cliff and shot. ..... there was another house .....
bordered by a parapet ..... and there was a straight drop of
twenty feet. ..... At the foot of this drop there were about
twenty corpses ..... these bodies had been bayoneted. (Dave
McIntosh, Hell on Earth, p.10)
Private James Fowler of the Winnipeg Grenadiers told what
happened when his position was overrun by the Japanese:
The Grenadiers threw down their weapons and put their arms
over their heads. Many Canadian wounded were lying on the ground,
and Fowler saw the Japanese thrusting their bayonets through them
and heard the screams of the wounded being killed. (Dave
McIntosh, Hell on Earth, p. 10)
Ernie can also be considered fortunate to be in the Queen Mary
Hospital and not St. Stephen's Hospital where one of the worst
Japanese atrocities occurred. There are many accounts of the
horrors that happened at St. Stephen's on Christmas Day,
including the bayoneting of the helpless men as they lay in their
beds, the rape of nurses and the torture of individual patients.
Captain James Barnett, padre of the Royal Rifles who was at St.
Stephen's on December 25, 1941, testified to the following:
On the 26th of December, 1941, in the morning, a Japanese
NCO or officer told me that I could move around. ..... I noticed
that a number of our Allied men ... had been bayoneted in bed and
were dead. Others were seriously wounded. ..... I discovered the
bodies of McKay and Henderson. ..... Both bodies were badly
mutilated ..... I next saw four nurses coming towards me. They
were in a dreadful state ..... they had been assaulted by the
Japanese soldiers. One nurse told me that all the people in the
hospital were to be killed ..... The surrender of Hong Kong had
saved us. (Dave McIntosh, Hell on Earth, p. 12)
Ernie often told about leaving the hospital with only a pair
of shorts and some sandals. He didn't leave until January 21,
1942. According to his story, the nurses told him to get up and
prepare to take a long walk. He was still weak and didn't think
she could be serious. She was deadly serious. The Japanese were
coming to "inspect" the hospital. Everyone knew about the horrors
inflicted by the Japanese at St. Stephen's on the helpless
patients. The nurse felt that Ernie's best chance of survival was
to be well enough to walk to a prison camp.
Corporal L. Ross of the Royal Rifles says in his diary that
the Winnipeg Grenadiers arrived at Sham Shui Po on January 23,
1942. Ernie records that he arrived on January 21, 1942. Sham
Shui Po was on the mainland and was a compound of huts where the
men slept on wooden bunks and some less fortunate on cement
floors. Corporal Ross describes the conditions:
19 Jan. 42 The Japs had us formed up and counted us. Cold
to-day.
23 Jan. 42 The Grenadiers have come here.
2 Feb. 42 Rice three times a day.
4 Feb. 42 Roof leaked very badly.
7 Feb. 42 Washed hut out.
11 Feb. 42 We are almost frozen to death and the roof leaks
awfully.
Conditions were to be much worse and to last longer than Ernie
or the other men ever thought possible. The next battle was to
last for almost four years. It would take all of Ernie's
physical, mental and spiritual strength to survive these terrible
years.
Chapter 4
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