Individual Report: H6924 George SOKALSKI

Rank:	First Name:	Second Name:
General Information
Private	George
From:	Enlistment Region:	Date of Birth (y-m-d):
Winnipeg MB	Manitoba	1903-03-12
Appointment:	Company:	Platoon:
	B

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

No wounds recorded.

Hospital Information

No record of hospital visits found.

POW Camps

Camp ID	Camp Name	Location	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	44 May 30

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
Sokalski Lake	west of Nejanilini Lake, Manitoba	Manitoba	64 O/09	59 39' 14"; 98 07' 09"	1975

Other Military or Public Service

Prior to coming to Canada in 1928, George SOKALSKI served in the Polish Cavalry Army. See picture below

Death and Cemetery Information

Date of Death (y-m-d)	Cause of Death	Death Class
1944-05-30	Beri Beri, malaria	Died while POW
Cemetery Location	Cemetery	Grave Number	Gravestone Marker
Cape Collinson Road Chai Wan Hong Kong China	Sai Wan War Cemetery	VIII. F. 5.	CWGC & Yes 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

George SOKALSKI in his Polish Army uniform (Submitted by son Leon Sokolski in January 2017) George Sokalski was born March 12, 1903, in Kopychyntsi, the Province of Tornopil, Poland,(now Ukrainian) He was the son of Vincent Sokalski and Rosalie Kowalchuk, a brother to Jesse (Mymryk) and Ann (Kulyk). He came to Canada in 1929 and married Mary Delinowska in Winnipeg, Manitoba, and had three children Victoria (Styles), Leon and Rudy. During the depression years in Canada he worked as a labourer and practised his shoemaker trade. He enlisted in the Winnipeg Grenadiers in early 1941, toured British West Indies-Jamaica from June 15 to August 29, 1941. Departed from Winnipeg, October 25, 1941, for Hong Kong with the "C" FORCE, became a prisoner of war December 25, 1941,held at Camp Sham Shui Po, Kowloon. Died at the age of 41, on May 30, 1944 and is buried in Sai Wan Cemetery, Grave NUMBER VIII. F. 5. in the city of Chai Wan, Province of Hong Kong, China.

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

A family picture that was taken just before he sailed to Hong Kong- George and Mary Sokalski, with Leon, Rudy and Victoria. (Submitted by son Leon Sokolski in January 2017)

In 1928, George (Gregoire) Sokalski left Poland when he was 25 years of age, after he finished his service in the Polish Cavalry Army. He sailed with his cousins, to their new chosen home, Canada, aboard the SS Lapland, and arrived in Halifax. From there he traveled to Saskatchewan and worked on his cousin Kowalchuk's farm. Shortly afterwards, he left the farm, and settled in Winnipeg with his sisters, Jessie and Anne.

Those were very hard Depression times, and steady work was very difficult to find. He found part-time work in lumber and mining camps, as well as some in the shoemaker leather trade. During those days, he met and married Mary Delinowska; they had 3 children, Victoria, Leon and Rudy.

In early 1941, at the age of 38 years, he surprised his family by joining the Winnipeg Grenadiers. He had always been one to keep up with the news as to what was happening in Europe, especially in his homeland, Poland. This was one of his reasons for joining up, but the main reason was that he knew this would guarantee a steady income for his family. George soon left for training in Sherbrooke, Quebec, and then to Jamaica. He then went to Hong Kong in October 1941. This was the last time George saw his family. (Mary died of hard work and a broken heart at the age of 50, in 1958)

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.