Individual Report: B38160 Russell POAG

Rank:	First Name:	Second Name:
General Information
Lance Corporal	Russell	Vernon
From:	Enlistment Region:	Date of Birth (y-m-d):
Caledonia ON	Central Ontario	1910-02-02
Appointment:	Company:	Platoon:
	D	18 Plt

Transportation - Home Base to Hong Kong

Members of 'C' Force from the East travelled across Canada by CNR troop train, picking up reinforcements enroute. Stops included Valcartier, Montreal, Ottawa, Armstrong ON, Capreol ON, Winnipeg, Melville SK, Saskatoon, Edmonton, Jasper, and Vancouver, arriving in Vancouver on Oct 27 at 0800 hrs.

The Winnipeg Grenadiers and the local soldiers that were with Brigade Headquarters from Winnipeg to BC travelled on a CPR train to Vancouver.

All members embarked from Vancouver on the ships AWATEA and PRINCE ROBERT. AWATEA was a New Zealand Liner and the PRINCE ROBERT was a converted cruiser. "C" Company of the Rifles was assigned to the PRINCE ROBERT, everyone else boarded the AWATEA. The ships sailed from Vancouver on Oct 27th and arrived in Hong Kong on November 16th, having made brief stops enroute at Honolulu and Manila.

Equipment earmarked for 'C' Force use was loaded on the ship DON JOSE, but would never reach Hong Kong as it was rerouted to Manila when hostilities commenced.

On arrival, all troops were quartered at Nanking Barracks, Sham Shui Po Camp, in Kowloon.

Battle Information

Killed in action at "Bungalow C". For a detailed description of the battle from a Canadian perspective, visit Canadian Participation in the Defense of Hong Kong (published by the Historical Section, Canadian Military Headquarters).

Wounded Information

No wounds recorded.

Other Military or Public Service

No other or additional related information found. Please submit documents to us using the contact link at the top of this page.

Death and Cemetery Information

Date of Death (y-m-d)	Cause of Death	Death Class
1941-12-25		Killed In Action
Cemetery Location	Cemetery	Grave Number	Gravestone Marker
Stanley Village Hong Kong China	Stanley Military Cemetery	1. C. Coll. grave 13-17.	CWGC CWGC- Commonwealth War Graves Commission (Hong Kong & Japan graves) Engraved- the actual headstone has HK or RRC or WG, etc. engraved on the stone Last Post- VAC program Yes- someone has purchased a gs marker for this person UGF- application already submitted or anticipate applying for Unmarked Grave Fund ND- family does not desire Blank- no data

Gravestone Image

Obituary / Life Story

KILLED IN ACTION

Caledonia, Jan. 7 - Mrs. Comer McCauley received word today that her brother, Corp. Russell Vernon Poag, is listed as killed in action at Hong Kong. Corp. Poag enlisted at Hamilton where he worked as a garage mechanic for 17 years. He was a native of Seneca township. On his last leave, a fellow worker gave him a token which went through the Boer war and the great war. He is survived by his father, Samuel Poag of Hamilton, two brothers, Douglas, Stratford; Maxwell, Detroit, and his sister.
Special to The Star

Stanley Military Cemetery

19 members of 'C' Force who perished in action or as prisoner of war are buried at Stanley Cemetery, which had been reopened during the war after not having been used for more than 70 years. After the war, the cemetery was extended on its northern side when graves were brought in from civilian burial grounds and isolated sites in the surrounding country. Although the cemetery as a whole is laid out and maintained as a military cemetery, in the older part service graves and the graves of civilian internees who died during the Japanese occupation are intermingled. A number of the graves in this part of the cemetery are still marked by the original headstones erected by the prisoners of war, who collected the granite from the 19th century fortifications and carved the inscriptions themselves.
There are 598 Commonwealth servicemen of the Second World War buried or commemorated in this cemetery. 175 of the burials are unidentified, but a number of special memorials, including one for the doctors, nurses, and patients massacred at St. Stephen's College hospital, commemorate casualties known to be buried among them.
Ref: Includes excerpts from Veterans Affairs Canada.

General Comments

Son of Hamiltonian Dead at Hong Kong
Russell Poag, Missing More Than Year, Now Reported Killed in Action
Caledonia, Jan. 7 - Missing for over a year at Hong Kong. Cpl. Russell Poag, son of Samuel Posg of Hamilton, is officially reported killed in action at Hong Kong, according to advice from military headquarters at Ottawa last night to his sister, Mrs. Comer McCauley, at Caledonia.
Corporal Poag was born 36 years ago near Caledonia, and before enlisting he was a garage mechanie in Hamilton for 18 years.
He joined up at Hamilton early in the war, and served in the Far East with the Quebec Regiment. Besides his father, and sister at Caledonia, he is also survived by two brothers, Maxwell, of Detroit, and Douglas, Stratford.

Killed in Action
Special to The Star Caledonia, Jan. 7
Mrs. Comer McCauley received word today that her brother, Corp. Russell Vernon Poag, is listed as killed in action at Hong Kong. Corp. Poag enlisted at Hamilton where he worked as a garage mechanic for 17 years. He was a native of Seneca township. On his last leave, a fellow worker gave him a token which went through the Boer war and the great war. He is survived by his father, Samuel Poag of Hamilton, two brothers, Douglas, Stratford; Maxwell, Detroit, and his sister.

Canadian Virtual War Memorial
Son of Samuel Poag and Jane Douglas, of Caledonia, Ontario. Husband of Beatrice Viola Draper. Father of Mary Arlene Poag. Birth Place: Caledonia, Ontario, Canada. Residence Place: Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
He first enrolled with the Royal Hamilton Light Infantry, was deployed on 18 October 1941 to the 1st Battalion, Royal Rifles of Canada, and he served in Ontario, in Québec, and in Hong Kong with Force C. He had 513 days of service, including 59 overseas.
Citations: 1939-1945 Star, Pacific Star, War Medal 1939-1945, Canadian Volunteer Service Medals and Clasp

Links and Other Resources

There may be more information on this individual available elsewhere on our web sites - please use the search tool found in the upper right corner of this page to view sources.

Additional Notes

(These will not be visible on the printed copy)

Service numbers for officers ("X") are locally generated for reporting only. During World War II officers were not allocated service numbers until 1945.
'C' Force soldiers who died overseas are memorialized in the Books of Remembrance and the Canadian Virtual War Memorial, both sponsored by Veterans Affairs Canada. Please use the search utility at VAC to assist you.
Some birthdates and deathdates display as follows: 1918-00-00. In general, this indicates that we know the year but not the month or day.
Our POW camp links along with our References link (near the bottom of the 'C' Force home page) are designed to give you a starting point for your research. There were many camps with many name changes. The best resource for all POW camps in Japan is the Roger Mansell Center for Research site.
In most cases the rank displayed was the rank held before hostilities. Some veterans were promoted at some point prior to eventual post-war release from the army back in Canada. When notified of these changes we'll update the individual's record.
Images displayed on the web page are small, but in many cases the actual image is larger. Hover over any image and you will see a popup if a larger version is available. You can also right-click on some images and select the option to view the image separately. Not all images have larger versions. Contact us to confirm whether a large copy of an image in which you are interested exists.
The 'From' information box at the top of the report represents the enlistment location unless we have obtained updated information pinpointing where the member lived.
In some cases the References displayed as part of this report generate questions because there is no indication of their meaning. They were inherited with the original database, and currently we do not know what the source is. We hope to solve this problem in future.
We have done our best to avoid errors and omissions, but if you find any issues with this report, either in accuracy, completeness or layout, please contact us using the link at the top of this page.
Photos are welcome! If a photo exists for a 'C' Force member that we have not included, or if you have a higher quality copy, please let us know by using the Contact Us link at the top of this page. We will then reply, providing instructions on submitting it.