Individual Report: L13478 John COADY

Rank:	First Name:	Second Name:
General Information
Private	John	Alfred
From:	Enlistment Region:	Date of Birth (y-m-d):
Luseland SK	Saskatchewan	1921-06-16
Appointment:	Company:	Platoon:
	A

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
41/12/19	N/A

Hospital Information

Name of hospital	Date of admission	Date of discharge	Comments	Reference
HK-BMH	09/23/1942	10/09/1942	Died while in hospital	118

POW Camps

Camp ID	Camp Name	Location	Arrival Date	Departure Date
HK-NP-01	North Point	North Point, Hong Kong Island	N/A	N/A
HK-AS-01	Argyle Street	Kowloon, Hong Kong	N/A	N/A
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	42 Oct 09

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
Coady Lake	Saskatchewan	Saskatchewan	73 P/07	55 24' 00"; 104 44' 00"

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
1942-10-09	Diphtheria	Died while POW
Cemetery Location	Cemetery	Grave Number	Gravestone Marker
Cape Collinson Road Chai Wan Hong Kong China	Sai Wan War Cemetery	VIII. A. 26.	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

Son of William Angelo Coady and Mary Devasteen Griffin, of Luseland, Saskatchewan. William Angelo enlisted in 1917 - NRMA - in the 14th Charlottetown Regiment, transferred on March 18th, 1918 to the Nova Scotia Regiment, regimental number 3204287, served in Nova Scotia, England. Fought in France with the 17th Battalion of the Canadian Expeditionary Force, in 1943 with the 30th Company, 4th Platoon of the Veteran Guard of Canada (Alberta), regimental number L-32758. Brother of Sapper Vernon Coady, regimental number L-19253, 14th Field Company, Royal Canadian Engineer. He survived combat in Europe.
Enlisted in the 12th District Depot, 2nd Division Infantry Rifles, served in Saskatchewan, Manitoba, transferred October 23rd, 1940 to Company A, 1st Battalion of Winnipeg Grenadiers, served in Hong Kong with Force C. He had 795 days of service, including 347 overseas.
Citation(s): 1939-1945 Star, Pacific Star, War Medal 1939-1945, Canadian Volunteer Service Medal and Clasp.
Canadian Virtual War Memorial

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

Posthumous Award

The George Cross has been awarded, posthumously, to Private John Alfred Coady, 20-year- old son of Mr. and Mrs. William Coady of Luseland, the citation stating that the decoration was awarded for bravery under fire at Hong Kong, while serving as a despatch rider with the Winnipeg Grenadiers. Private Coady was taken prisoner by the Japanese, and his death while still in their hands, was reported some weeks ago.

Private Coady was born at Tramping Lake, Sask., and the family later lived at Outlook, and Baliol, where his father was a teacher.

While serving with the Winnipeg Grenadiers before the battalion left for the Far East, he trained at Regina, Winnipeg and Toronto.

His father operated the Saskatchewan Pool elevator here for several years. He is a veteran of the First Great War, and now is a member of the Veterans Guard. A brother, Vernon Coady, has been serving overseas for two years. His mother and family reside in Luseland, and a sister, Wanda, has been attending Normal School in Saskatoon.

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.