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It is true that after April, 1941, the Midland Regiment was engaged in defence duties within Canada which interfered with the regular course of their training. At the same time, as I have already indicated, the assumption of coast defence and other duties had peculiar value in developing in the individ soldier the special qualities required for the type of task that they might expected to perform in Hong Kong.
The records of the individual training of the 52 volunteers for the Hong Kong expedition indicate that these men were well advanced in their individual training. It is true that the records of their firing tests at the ranges indicate that some were first and second class shots, while others were third class shots or had failed. It was stated to me in evidence that these records of practice at a rifle range do not necessarily afford a reliable criterion of the usefulness of a soldier in actual combat. It was also clear that some of these men, while fully trained in the theory and mechanism of the light machine gun, had not actually fired the machine gun at the ranges. This deficiency in their individual training is one which could quickly be rectified and would, under efficient officers, be quickly rectified after their arrival in Hong Kong. Notwithstanding these shortcomings in the matter of range practice and tests, I am satisfied that the Commanding Officer (Colonel Gamey) is correct in stating that the 52 volun- teers from the Midland Regiment were, as a group, well trained, according to the standard of training prevailing in Canada.
Accordingly, I find that in accepting these 52 men from the Midland Regiment for inclusion in the expedition to Hong Kong there was no dereliction of duty or error in judgment on the part of anyone.
Fifteen men were added to the strength of the Royal Rifles from Advanced Training Centre No. 10 at Camp Borden. The procedure adopted to obtain these men has already been described. They were all volunteers; all were medically fit and all had received their full basic training covering the subjects prescribed in the syllabus for basic training. Of the 15 men, ten had completed their full advanced training and several had served with the army for more than a year. The remaining five had completed their basic training and had received three weeks of the advanced training course. The officer in command
of the Advanced Training Centre No. 10, speaking from personal observation, said that, although these five men had not received their complete advanced training, "they were young men, full of enthusiasm to get into a fighting unit and had received training in rifle, light machine gun and gas". In these circum- stances, I cannot believe that there was any error in including in the group from this training centre this small number of enthusiastic volunteers, even though they had not received the full period of training prescribed in the syllabus. I have in mind, of course, the fact that opportunities for further training were anticipated, and did in fact arise, in the period of approximately six weeks between the date of embarkation and the attack on Hong Kong.
Eighty-seven men were added to the strength of the Royal Rifles from Advanced Training Centre No. 11 at Camp Borden. The general remarks made in the preceding section apply equally to these men. They were all enthusiastic volunteers. Of this group, 38 had completed their full basic and advanced training. Three had completed their full basic training and seven weeks of advanced training; one had basic training and four weeks of advanced training; forty-three had basic training and three weeks of advanced training; and two had basic training and two and one-half weeks of advanced training. These men were inspected by the officer commanding the training centres who stated they were "good-looking soldiers", who appeared to be "likely recruits" for the reinforcement of any battalion.
My conclusion as to these men is the same as for the group discussed in the preceding section. I find that there was no dereliction of duty or error in judgment in including these men in the additions to the strength of the Royal Rifles.
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Additions to the Winnipeg Grenadiers
At the time of their selection for service in Hong Kong, the Winnipeg Grenadiers were in the course of transfer from the West Indies to Canada. October 10th, Colonel Hennessy spoke on the telephone to the District ficer Commanding at Winnipeg (Brigadier Riley) and told him that the battalion would have to be brought up to strength and, for that purpose, volun- teers should be sought at the infantry training centre. Brigadier Riley discussed the matter with Lieutenant-Colonel Sutcliffe (the officer commanding the Winni- peg Grenadiers) and Lieutenant-Colonel Graham (the officer commanding the Advanced Training Centre No. 15 at Winnipeg). There was some uncertainty as to the exact number of additional men required, but Colonel Sutcliffe esti- mated on October 10th that between 150 and 200 additional men would be required.
Colonel Sutcliffe saw Colonel Graham on the 10th or 11th of October and asked particularly for signallers and other specialists. From the Advanced Training Centre No. 15, thirty fully trained signallers, all of whom had com- pleted courses at Barriefield signal school, were provided. In addition the following trained specialists were provided from the Training Centre:-three men trained in the use of the 3" mortar, twelve driver mechanics, three or four men trained in the use of Bren gun carriers, and a number of N.C.O's who had received special courses as instructors and who were willing to revert to the ranks in order to join the expedition. On the first request for volunteers Colonel Graham obtained 150 men for the expedition, which was described merely as special duty overeas. Subsequently Colonel Sutcliffe visted the Training Centre and spoke to a parade of the men and 39 additional volunteers were obtained. In this way 189 men were provided from Advanced Training Centre No. 15.
In addition, this Training Centre provided 12 officers for the Winnipeg Grenadiers, all of whom were fully trained; they had qualified at an Officers' Training Centre and had assisted in the training at the Advanced Infantry Training Centre for periods, in some cases, of more than a year. Colonel Graham stated that all these officers were known personally to him and all of them had completed their training. In general, this opinion was confirmed by Mr. T. C. Douglas, M.P., who knew five of these officers and saw them shortly before they left for Hong Kong. He stated that they were overjoyed at the prospect of going into more active service and they were satisfied with their training courses as regards the handling of men and general instruction, although they had some uncertainty about their experience in operational manoeuvres. This was a natural diffidence in an officer of limited experience with a unit, but Colonel Graham's evidence satisfies me these officers were competent and suitable for acceptance as voluntary transfers to the Winnipeg Grenadiers. In addition, two officers were transferred to the unit from the training staff of the Basic Training Centre at Portage la Prairie. As to these there can be no question of their fitness or competence.
After obtaining from the Advanced Training Centre No. 15 the number of new men originally estimated to be necessary by Colonel Sutcliffe, he found the estimate had been too low and that more would be needed. Brigadier Riley obtained permission from Colonel Hennessy to ask for 30 volunteers from the Advanced Machine Gun Training Centre at Dundern, Sask. These volunteers were obtained without difficulty. Still later-at a time about ten days before the expedition sailed--Colonel Sutcliffe found that there would be some loss in the strength of his unit consequent upon the medical re-examination of the men and because of transfers of a number of men to the Air Force. Brigadier Riley, in this situation, felt that further volunteers could not be obtained from the Advanced Training Centre at Winnipeg, or from Dundern, and, with the sanction of Colonel Hennessy, he sought volunteers in the District Depot at Winnipeg and at the Basic Training Centre at Portage la Prairie. Colonel Sutcliffe
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