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CTV News
a day ago
- General
- CTV News
As memories fade, Canadians mark 80 years since the end of the Second World War
Chief of the Defence Staff Jennie Carignan, centre, salutes after placing a wreath during a ceremony to mark the 80th anniversary of the Victory of the Pacific and the end of the Second World War at the National War Memorial in Ottawa on Friday, Aug. 15, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick OTTAWA — Relatives of war veterans gathered at the National War Memorial in Ottawa on Friday to mark the 80th anniversary of Japan's surrender and the official end of the Second World War. Sweat poured down the faces of those assembled in the August midday heat as the Canadian Armed Forces bugler performed the Last Post. Michael Babin, president of the Hong Kong Veterans Commemorative Association, said there are no living veterans remaining out of the nearly 2,000 Canadians who took part in the Battle of Hong Kong in December 1941. He said the last known veteran from that fight died a little more than a year and a half ago, at the age of 106. Babin is one of many with direct ties to the war who expressed the concern on Friday that the history of that battle — and the stories of the many Canadians who fought and died there — are not being passed on to younger generations. 'There are no veterans left any more to tell their stories, so it's up to us — the children and the grandchildren — to tell their stories and to remember them,' he said. 'Most Canadians don't (know about this battle) because most of the action took place in Europe and that's what Canadians heard about and that's what's taught in the schools. But to send 2,000 men and two nursing sisters to Hong Kong was significant, and all of them were volunteers.' Babin said that of the 1,975 Canadian volunteers who went to Hong Kong, only 1,418 returned — 290 were killed in the battle and others later died as prisoners. His own father, Alfred Babin, was released from nearly four years of captivity as a prisoner of war on Aug. 15, 1941. Mitzi Ross said her father, Lance Ross, was hit in the neck 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 who served 36 years with the Royal Canadian Air Force, said his father's cousin, Laureat Vigneault, was killed in the Battle of Hong Kong. He said his body was never recovered and, thanks to a bureaucratic error, it took his family years to learn that he had been killed in action. 'For me, it's a very important battle (but) it's very unknown for Canadians,' he said. Anne Okaley said her father became a PoW after the Hong Kong conflict; she's still researching what his exact role was in the battle. Okaley said she worries about people forgetting these stories as time passes — and the risk of grim history repeating itself. '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.' By Kyle Duggan.
ABC News
2 days ago
- General
- ABC News
Australia's WWII veterans remember the day victory was declared 80 years ago
For 100-year-old veteran Leslie "Doc" Sinclair, the memory of the day he heard World War II was over is one of relief, not elation. Then aged just 20, he and another soldier stayed back at camp in Balikpapan, Borneo, while their comrades went to a concert for the troops. "I turned to Freddy and said, thank Christ for that, and that was it." Mr Sinclair is among just seven World War II veterans set to gather in Townsville on Friday to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the Victory of the Pacific. Mr Sinclair will remember his good friend, Jack Galloway, 21, who was shot beside him in Balikpapin, just a month before Japan surrendered. "I'll never forget it," he said. "I heard this one crack and I thought, 'Jeez, that was close.' "I looked, Jack was down. "I had to keep going. Almost a million Australians served in World War II, and almost 40,000 died. On the home front, Townsville had an influx of American and Australian troops in the months after the US entered the war, in 1941. It is estimated the population tripled from 30,000 to 90,000 in 1942. Townsville woman Gladys Marnock was 18 when she joined the Women's National Emergency Legion, working as truck and bus driver for the US Army. Ms Marnock, 100, still remembers the cheeky behaviour of US soldiers. "This old lady didn't like them being there … she lived over the road [from the camp] and used to say sarcastic things to them," she said. "They found a recording that said, 'You'd be better off in a home,' and they used to play this recording over and over again." Ms Marnock said the end of the war came as a relief. Former fighter pilot Roger North, 103, is the oldest veteran expected to attend VP80 commemorations. Mr North escorted Blenheim bombers in India and Burma and said despite the high casualty rate, pilots were always keen to take to the skies. "One day, just as we were approaching the Japanese airfield, two of them collided and they just burst into flames," he said. "It was a sad sight … I saw one bloke drifting down in a parachute, the rest would have been killed." Mr North was on leave when he heard the war had ended. Social historian Geoff Hanson said Townsville was forever changed by the influx of troops. Air strips were built around the city, homes were commandeered, and accommodation was scarce, he said. Townsville had been crucial to the protection of Australia, as an air force hub during the battle of the Coral Sea in 1942, stopping the Japanese fleet advancing south. By 1945 many in the city felt that the threat was over, and by August news had come that a Japanese surrender was imminent. "People started congregating around Flinders Street, about 9am on the 15th … and sure enough it came," Mr Hanson said. RSL Queensland president Stephen Day estimated there were 1,000 surviving World War II veterans in Australia. "I hope when we have another milestone commemoration, in five years, there are some [veterans] around," Mr Day said. "But the simple maths is … if you were 19 when you joined at the end of the war … you're 99 today, and not many folks live beyond 100," he said. "I hope there are some left but this could be the last one."
