Individual Report: H6057 Archibald RUTHERFORD

Rank:	First Name:	Second Name:
General Information
Lance Sergeant	Archibald	Roy
From:	Enlistment Region:	Date of Birth (y-m-d):
Winnipeg MB	Manitoba	1909-05-09
Appointment:	Company:	Platoon:
	B	12 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

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
41/12/24	N/A

Hospital Information

Name of hospital	Date of admission	Date of discharge	Comments	Reference
HK-QMH	12/25/1941	N/A

POW Camps

Camp ID	Camp Name	Location	Company	Type of Work	Arrival Date	Departure Date
HK-SA-01	Shamshuipo	Kowloon, Hong Kong			Capture	42 Jan 22
HK-NP-02	North Point	North Point, Hong Kong Island			42 Jan 22	42 Sep 26
HK-SA-02	Shamshuipo	Kowloon, Hong Kong			42 Sep 26	43 Aug 15
JP-To-5B	Niigata-Rinko	Niigata-ken, Nakakambara-gun, Ogata-mura, Japan	Marutsu, Rinko Coal, Shintetsu	Stevedore labor at port of Niigata (Marutsu), primarily foodstuffs; mining coal (Rinko Coal ) and labor at a foundry (Shintetsu)	43 Sep 02	43 Dec 05

Transport to Japan

Draft Number	Name of Ship	Departure Date	Arrival Date	Arrival Port	Comments	Reference
XD4B	Manryu Maru	43 Aug 15	43 Sep 01	Osaka, Japan	Brief stopover in Taihoku (Taipei), Formosa (Taiwan); then 2 day stopover at northern point for stool tests	Tony Banham

Commemorative Feature

A map detailing the location of this feature can be found in this soldier's vault. (See Vault explanation below in the Links and Other Resources block) .

Site Description	Location	Province	Map Reference	Lat/Long	Date
Rutherford Lake	southwest of Aikens Lake, Manitoba	Manitoba	52 M/03	51 11' 39"; 95 29' 20"	1982

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
1943-12-05	Dysentry	Died while POW
Cemetery Location	Cemetery	Grave Number	Gravestone Marker
Jido-Yuenchi-Dori Hodogaya Japan	Yokohama War Cemetery	Cdn. Sec. B. A. 14.	NA

Gravestone Image

H6057 Archibald RUTHERFORD - 2nd gravestone - Old Barns Cemetery, Old Barns, Colchester County, Nova Scotia, Canada

Obituary / Life Story

Archie was born on May 9, 1909 in Truro, NS. When war was declared, Archie enlisted with the Winnipeg Grenadiers, R.C.I.C. and was shipped to Jamaica in 1940. From Jamaica, the Grenadiers were transferred to Hong Kong, which fell to the Japanese in December 1941. Archie was wounded in action and taken as a prisoner of war. Lance Sergeant Archibald Rutherford died on December 5, 1943, at the age of thirty-four years. He was laid to rest in the Yokohama War Cemetery. His medals include the War Medal, Canadian Volunteer Service Medal, 1939-1945 Star, and the Pacific Star.
Submitted by Colchester Branch 026 of The Royal Canadian Legion.

Son of Guy Hollis Roy Rutherford and Grace Elizabeth Wynn, of Truro, Nova Scotia. Brother of Privates Douglas, Stewart and Charles Rutherford, who served and fought in Europe, and of Seaman Chester Rutherford, Royal Canadian Naval Volunteer Reserve. They all survived the war.
Served with C Company, 6th Battalion, Canadian Machine Gun Corps, North Nova Scotia Highlanders (MG) - NPAM - regimental number 63130 replaced by regimental number 60124, from September 12th, 1932 to July 15th, 1938. He finished as a drill sergeant at the Royal School of Infantry and Machine Gun in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Enrolled in the 1st Battalion Winnipeg Grenadiers, he served in Manitoba, Jamaica with Y Force, Hong Kong with C Force and Japan as a prisoner of war. He had 1,548 days of service, including 769 overseas.
To commemorate his sacrifice, the Manitoba government named Rutherford Lake located southwest of Aikens Lake in his honor in 1982.
Citation(s): 1939-1945 Star, Pacific Star, War Medal 1939-1945, Canadian Volunteer Service Medal and Clasp, Defence Medal, Hong Kong Bar.
Source: Canadian Virtual War Memorial

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

No comments found.

End of Report.

Report generated: 15 May 2025.

Back to 'C' Force Home Page

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.