1st Bn The Royal Rifles of Canada
General Information | ||
| Rank: | First Name: | Second Name: |
|---|---|---|
| Sergeant | Kenneth | Herman |
| From: | Enlistment Region: | Date of Birth (y-m-d): |
| Lacolle QC | Eastern Quebec | 1918-02-15 |
| Appointment: | Company: | Platoon: |
| Bn HQ | ||
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 |
|---|---|---|
| 41/12/18 | N/A | 36 |
Hospital Information
No record of hospital visits found.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 May 13 |
| JP-Se-1B | Yumoto | Fukushima-ken, Iwaki-gun, Yumoto-cho, Mizunoya, Japan | Joban Coal Mining Company | 45 May 13 | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| NATS 90413 | Oakland | 1945-10-08 |
E29901 Kenneth Clarkson arrived home from Japan after the war, here are the highlights from his diary,written after the war. (The following was received in June 2016 from his widow
12-5-45 Transferred to Sendai,100 miles north of Tokyo, Japan by train. 17-8-45 Notified war was over. 09-9 45 Traveled by train under Japanese guard to Yokohama. Turned over to U.S. Army. U.S. Navy took charge of us. 10-9-45 Boarded USS Wisconsin. Remained in hospital aboard ship. 12-9-45 Disembarked from USS Wisconsin to a small Island in Yokohama Harbor. Flown to Guam and then on to Honolulu. In hospital there. 08-10-45 Flew to San Francisco. Boarded train for Vancouver. 12-10-45 Transferred to Victoria, B.C. 14-10-45 Left Victoria by train for home 18-10-45 Arrived in Montreal 18-10-45 Arrived home in Lacolle, Que. at 9:35 pm. Have given you only from the time they were moved from original camps to Japan, because American bombings had destroyed their camps in H.K. The Japanese knew the war was ending. They probably thought things would go better for them if they saved the prisoners instead of killing them as they had threatened to do if Japan lost the war.Post-war Photo
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 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1976-02-22 | acute myeloblastic leukemia | Post War | |
| Cemetery Location | Cemetery | Grave Number | Gravestone Marker |
| Lodi California USA | Cherokee Memorial Park Cemetery | Cremation | |
Gravestone Image
Obituary / Life Story
Kenneth Clarkson, 58 of 35 Bella Vista, manager of Midvalley Savings and Loan in Stockton, died Sunday in a Sacramento hospital after a brief illness.
He worked for various banks in the Bay area from 1949 until he moved to Lodi in 1962. From 1963 until 1974 he was employed by Stockton Savings and Loan.
He was a native of Quebec, Canada, where he grew up, attended schools and graduated from the International Business College in Montreal.
During World War II he was a member of the Royal Rifles of Canada regiment. He was captured in Hong Kong and spent four years as a prisoner of war in Japan.
He was a member of the Hong Kong Veterans Association, the Lodi Rotary Club and the Masonic Lodge of Clarenceville, Quebec.
He is survived by his wife, Joyce, a son, Thomas, two daughters, Nancy Mehlhaff and Barbara Clarkson, all of Lodi; two sisters and one grandchild.
Services will be held at 2 p.m. Tuesday at the Lodi Funeral Home. The family requests that tributes be donations to the American Cancer Society or the building fund of Lodi Memorial Hospital.
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.
Related documentation
- Our HKVCA Vault (Google Docs) may contain additional information, newspaper clippings, and documents which have been saved for this soldier. To access this information, click on the vault link and a Google Docs folder list will open in a separate tab. Use the first letter of the soldier’s service number, found at the top of this report, to open the correct folder. Each sub-folder is identified by service number. Scroll down until you reach the one of your interest.
- Facebook has proven to be a valuable resource in the documentation of 'C' Force members. The following link will take you to any available search results for this soldier based on his regimental number. Note: results may be contained within another related record. Facebook Search Results
- Find a Grave® is a valuable resource that may contain additional information on this 'C' Force member. When you arrive at the site search page, fill in as much detail as you can for best results.
General Comments
Updated by (Joyce Clarkson) Harmon July 15th, 2016. I, Joyce Clarkson, am the widow of Kenneth Clarkson (E 29901) of the Royal Rifles of Canada regiment taken prisoner at Hong Kong on December 25, 1941 and held until released by the Americans in 1945 at the end of WW2.
I met Ken in 1946, when he returned to his home in Lacole, Quebec, about 40 miles south of Montreal. I had just graduated as an RN from the Royal Victoria Hospital in Montreal. We were married in 1948 and moved to California in 1949. Our 3 children were born in Berkeley, California. Prior to enlisting in the Royal Rifles, Ken graduated from a business college in Montreal. His first job in Californaia was in banking which became his lifetime career. He loved his work and advanced to high management positions in the banking and Savings & Loan fields. He was much respected for his abilities in finance. His last postion was Vice President and Manager of a new Savings & Loan office in Stockton, Californaia, a position he hjeld for about a year before he became very ill and died 7 weeks after diagnosisof a deadly strain of acute leukemia. His doctor thought that being 200 miles from Hiroshima when the A- bomb was dropped contributed to his leukemia, but it was ruled 'not service connected'.
In 1952 Ken heard about the HKVA from his friend, Colin Standish and we attended the next Hong Kong reunion in Montreal. Ken was so pleased to meet his old friends again but was not able to make another reunion. He died in 1976. I was able to attend many reunions across Canada and visit the Standishes, the Claytons, and Jean & Walter Gray, all of whom also visited me in Californaia. Many others like Derrill Henderson and Phil Doddridge have been so helpful.
My 3 children and I have been HKVCA members for many years. I have become totally immersed in the Hong Kong story through friends, the reunions and my library of books on the subject as Kebn was one of those who would never speak of his POW experience.
My second husband attended 2 reunions with me, including the 50th anniversary in Ottawa. Charles was a US Navy man whose last assignment was on a hospital ship bringing home American POW`s from the Far East.
End of Report.
Report generated: 15 May 2025.
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.
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- 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.
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