Individual Report: F40988 Thomas MACLAUGHLIN (McLaugh

Rank:	First Name:	Second Name:
General Information
Rifleman	Thomas	Wellington
From:	Enlistment Region:	Date of Birth (y-m-d):
Bass River NS	Nova Scotia & PEI	1907-06-16
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
41/12/16	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	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	42 Nov 28

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
1942-11-28	Diphtheria, colitis	Died while POW
Cemetery Location	Cemetery	Grave Number	Gravestone Marker
Cape Collinson Road Chai Wan Hong Kong China	Sai Wan War Cemetery	VIII. D. 18.	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

His full name is Thomas Wellington McLaughlin. Son of Margaret Jane Melinda McLaughlin, of Bass River, Nova Scotia. He first enrolled with the West Nova Scotia Regiment, and was deployed to the 1st Battalion, Royal Rifles of Canada, on 28 November 1940. He served in Nova Scotia, in New Brunswick, in Newfoundland with Force W, in Québec and in Hong Kong with Force C. He had 849 days of service, including 397 days overseas. Two step-brothers served in Europe during the Second World War: Shatford Morris and Nelson Morris; both survived the war.
Citation(s): 1939-1945 Star, Pacific Star, War Medal 1939-1945, Canadian Volunteer Service Medals and Clasp.
Canadian Virtual War Memorial

Thomas was the grandson of Wellington McLaughlin and son of Margaret (MacLaughlin) Morris of Bass River, Nova Scotia. At a very young age, Thomas went to live with his grandfather, Wellington MacLaughlin. He worked on his grandfather's farm until his enlistment. At enlistment his attestation paper recorded his name as Thomas Laughlin and his grandfather as his father. His name was officially changed to MacLaughlin on October 18, 1940.
He initially enlisted with the West Nova Scotia Regiment and taken on strength with that Regiment at Aldershot on August 2, 1940. On November 28, 1940 he was transferred to the Royal Rifles of Canada, R.C.I.C. On December 11, 1940 he sailed from Canada to Newfoundland with the Royal Rifles of Canada as part of "W" Force. They returned to Canada on August 18, 1941 and were stationed at Valcartier. Now part of "C" Force the Royal Rifles of Canada travelled by CNR troop train arriving in Vancouver on October 27, 1940 and embarked from there on HMCS Prince Robert. The Canadians arrived in Hong Kong on November 16, 1941. On arrival, the troops were quartered at Nanking Barracks, Sham Shui Po Camp, in Kowloon and served in defence of the British Colony of Hong Kong until the British surrender on December 25, 1941.
Taken as a prisoner of war at the fall of Hong Kong, Thomas was interned at Camp Stanley [Camp ID HK-SM-01], Fort Stanley, Hong Kong Island. He was moved to Camp North Point [Camp ID HK-NP-01], North Point, Hong Kong Island on December 30 where he remained until September 26, 1942. On that date he was transferred to Camp Shamshuipo [Camp ID HK-SA-02], Kowloon, Hong Kong.
Eleven months later, at 11:30 pm, on November 28, 1942, he died of diphtheria and acute enteritis (inflammation of the small intestine commonly caused by contaminated food or drink). He was buried in the Argyle Street Cemetery, Hong Kong. In 1947, he was re-buried in the Sai Wan War Cemetery, Hong Kong.

The Sai Wan War Cemetery holds those who were killed during the Battle of Hong Kong or died later as prisoners of war during the Japanese occupation, including 173 members of 'C' Force. The remains of those who died as prisoners in Formosa (now Taiwan) were brought to Hong Kong for burial at Sai Wan in 1946. There are 1,505 Commonwealth casualties of the Second World War buried or commemorated at Sai Wan War Cemetery. 444 of the burials are unidentified.
At the entrance to the cemetery stands the Sai Wan Memorial bearing the names of more than 2,000 Commonwealth servicemen who died in the Defence of Hong Kong or subsequently in captivity and who have no known grave.
Ref: Includes excerpts from Veterans Affairs Canada.

General Comments

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Links and Other Resources

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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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