Individual Report: B68208 Alfred ROWEN

Rank:	First Name:	Second Name:
General Information
Rifleman	Alfred	Ernest
From:	Enlistment Region:	Date of Birth (y-m-d):
Toronto ON	Central Ontario	1923-01-20
Appointment:	Company:	Platoon:

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

We do not have specific battle information for this soldier in our online database. 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

Date Wounded	Wound Description	References
Unknown	N/A	36

Hospital Information

Name of hospital	Date of admission	Date of discharge	Comments	Reference
HK-UNK	N/A	N/A

POW Camps

Camp ID	Camp Name	Location	Company	Type of Work	Arrival Date	Departure Date
HK-SM-01	Stanley	Fort Stanley, Hong Kong Island			Capture	41 Dec 30
HK-NP-01	North Point	North Point, Hong Kong Island			41 Dec 30	42 Sep 26
HK-SA-02	Shamshuipo	Kowloon, Hong Kong			42 Sep 26	43 Jan 19
JP-To-3D	Tsurumi	Yokohama-shi, Tsurumi-ku, Suyehiro-cho, 1-chome, Japan	Nippon Steel Tube - Tsurumi Shipyards	Variety of jobs related to ship building	43 Jan 19	45 Apr 16
JP-Se-4B	Ohashi	Iwate-ken, Kamihei-gun, Katsushi-mura, Ohashi, Japan	Nippon Steel Company		45 Apr 16	45 Sep 15

Transport to Japan

Draft Number	Name of Ship	Departure Date	Arrival Date	Arrival Port	Comments	Reference
XD3A	Tatuta Maru	43 Jan 19, left Shamsuipo Camp, 0500 hrs; left Hong Kong 1300hrs	43 Jan 22, 0400 hrs	Nagasaki, Japan	Boarded train, arrived in Tokyo on 43 Jan 24 at 0700 hrs, boarded electric train for 10 mile ride to camp	Tony Banham

Transportation SE Asia to Home

Transport Mode	Arrival Destination	Arrival Date	Comments
USS Catron	SF	1945-10-19	Manila to San Francisco 58 CDNs

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

Post-war Photo

B68208 Alfred ROWEN - This photo was taken in 1965 I believe. Alfred E Rowen, head bowed, standing post in Sai Wan Cemetery. FB post from niece Judy Brown- Giraldi

Other Military or Public Service

Alfred Rowen also served in Korea from 1951-1952.

Death and Cemetery Information

Date of Death (y-m-d)	Cause of Death	Death Class
2001-02-13		Post War
Cemetery Location	Cemetery	Grave Number	Gravestone Marker
Barrie Ontario Canada	Barrie Union Cemetery

Gravestone Image

Obituary / Life Story

B68208 Alfred ROWEN -In 1947 Alfred married Marion Bramham. They had 12 children, 39 grandchildren and 20 great grandchildren and were married for 54 years when Alfred passed away in 2001. He re-enlisted in the Canadian Army in July 1951 joining the RCASC and spent the years 1951 and 1952 in the Korean Theatre of War. He retired from the army in 1972. From 1972 until he completely retired he was employed in the field of security services. As stated in his eulogy, the military ranked high in his life. My Uncle Alfred was a devoted family man, quiet, unassuming and modest. FB post from niece Judy Brown- Giraldi

Fear for safety of Private A. Rowan - Mount Dennis man reported missing at Hong Kong. No word from him.

Officially reported missing. Fear for the safety of private Alfred Rowan, 19, Mount Dennis youth, who went to Hong Kong with the Royal rifles of Canada, was today expressed by his grandmother......Recently many of the next of kin of soldiers who went to Hong Kong with Alfred have received letters and we had hoped forward also. Mrs. Ruin said. We haven't heard from him since the day he left Toronto and naturally his parents and I are very worried about his safety.

Born in London England, private Alfred Rowan came to Canada at the age of 2, with his parents who settled in Toronto. He attended Rosedale Public School in Mount Dennis and was well-known in youth circles in that area. His military training was received at Camp Borden and North Bay. Eldest of eight children, he is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Alfred Rowan of Gray Avenue, Mount Dennis.

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.

General Comments

In Memory of CORPORAL ALFRED ROWEN - SOLDIER EXTRAORDINAIRE

January 30, 1923 - February 13, 2001

I would like to take this opportunity to pay tribute to a real Canadian hero, a soldier's soldier, Corporal Alf Rowen who passed away Tuesday, February 13, 2001. Like me, Alf was raised in Mount Dennis during the 1920's and 1930's. Mount Dennis was a community in the north-west end of the old city of Toronto, a combination of industrial and residential buildings. Weston Road and Eglinton Avenue was the hub of our community and the major employer (if one was lucky enough to get in) was what was fondly known as "The Kodak" - still there today only much bigger.

Alf attended Roselands Public School while I went to Dennis Avenue Public School. Since the schools weren't too far apart a natural rivalry existed but I like to think it was a friendly rivalry because we were all in the same leaky boat - Mount Dennis had a high rate of unemployment in those long ago days and as money was in short supply our travel was pretty well confined to the boundaries of our neighbourhood.

Then in 1939 the Second World War came along. Alf enlisted on June 10, 1941 and joined the Winnipeg Grenadiers Regiment. Six months later he was in Hong Kong. Well, you know what happened to the Winnipeg Grenadiers - sent off to the defence of Hong Kong, poorly trained and under-equipped, all to satisfy the demands and personal ambitions of British and Canadian politicians. Hong Kong fell to the Japanese forces on Christmas Day, 1941, and for the men who were not killed in action there began a four year journey into the unbelievable hell of Japanese prisoner of war camps.

Brutal treatment and starvation diet cost the lives of a large number of men who were imprisoned but Alf, fortunately, was one of the survivors. When the Japanese surrendered in August of 1945, the surviving prisoners were freed and returned to Canada. It wasn't until 1999 that the Canadian Government reluctantly recognized the extraordinary mental and physical hardships endured by these men, and paid those still alive, or their widows, the magnificent sum of $22,000 each for the forced labour they had to perform for their Japanese captors.

In March 1947 Alf married Marion Bramham and they raised a wonderful family of 12 sons and daughters. When Alf passed away he and Marion had been married for 54 years and by then had also acquired 39 grandchildren and 20 great-grandchildren who were their pride and joy.

Alf re-enlisted in the Canadian Army in July 1951 joining the RCASC (Royal Canadian Army Service Corp) and spent the years 1951 and 1952 in the Korean theatre of war. He retired from the army in 1972. From 1972 until he retired completely, 1986, Alf was employed in the field of Security Services. Quite obviously the military ranked very highly in his life - once a soldier, always a soldier.

Alf was a devoted family man, quiet, unassuming and modest. Like most men who have experienced actual combat he never spoke of the horrors and sheer ugliness of war. Instead, he kept those thoughts to himself and those thoughts were kept in a special compartment of his mind to which only he had the combination and access.

During the last few years of his life Alf's health was far from good but he met these assaults on his body with the same strengths and stout-heartedness that carried him through his service in the Canadian Army.

Alf served his country with courage and distinction and we should all be proud that we had such a person representing us in the Canadian military uniform. I recognize there were others who served in the Second World War and who also fought in Korea and for them I also have a profound respect but I don't believe there were many who suffered to the same extent that Alf did when confined by the Japanese. In this sense I think his military career was unique.

My reason in writing this tribute to Alf is that after all he went through, for all of us, I think he is deserving of something more than a few lines in an obituary column. On behalf of all other veterans I salute you Alf. May God bless you and may you sleep well - you've more than earned it.

Your old friend from our Mount Dennis years,

Norm Green - Schomberg, On

B68208 Alfred ROWEN- Alfred Ernest Rowen. Born in Greenwich, England. Died in Barrie, Simcoe County, Ontario, Canada

Father Alfred Ernest Rowen. Mother Elizabeth E Rowen. Mother's Maiden Surname Clements

End of Report.

Report generated: 15 May 2025.

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Additional Notes

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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.
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