The Battle of Hong Kong Remembered

battle-of-hong-kong-reverse

   Canada’s first land combat of the Second World War began on December 8, 1941, when, mere hours after the attack on Pearl Harbor, the Japanese launched an invasion on the British Crown Colony of Hong Kong. Outnumbered and less well equipped than the enemy, the odds were not in the Canadians’ favour as they defended the peninsula, then the island itself. Over 550 of the 1,975 Canadians sent to Hong Kong never made it home; but during the 17 days of fierce fighting, they fought valiantly, even engaging in hand-to-hand combat with the enemy, as they defended Hong Kong…

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Hong Kong 1941 1 Cent

Hong Kong 1941 1 Cent - Obverse

   In the 1930s, all the coins for Hong Kong were minted in England and shipped to the colony.  When war started in December 1941, five shipments of the 1 Cent coins were enroute to the colony.  According to the records at the British Royal Mint, one shipment was unloaded in South Africa, returned to the Mint and melted down.  The fate of the remaining four shipments is unknown and there are rumors that one shipment was sunk by a Japanese submarine and another shipment was captured by the Japanese in Hong Kong and melted down for the war.  Although…

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