1st Bn The Royal Rifles of Canada
Mi'gmaq Listuguj, QC
General Information | ||
| Rank: | First Name: | Second Name: |
|---|---|---|
| Rifleman | Patrick | |
| From: | Enlistment Region: | Date of Birth (y-m-d): |
| Restigouche NB | Eastern Quebec | 1916-03-16 |
| 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
No wounds recorded.Hospital Information
No record of hospital visits found.POW Camps
| Camp ID | Camp Name | Location | Company | Type of Work | 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 | 43 Jan 19 | ||
| JP-To-3D | Tsurumi | Yokohama-shi, Tsurumi-ku, Suyehiro-cho, 1-chome, Japan | Nippon Steel Tube - Tsurumi Shipyards | Variety of jobs related to ship building | 43 Jan 19 | N/A |
Transport to Japan
| Draft Number | Name of Ship | Departure Date | Arrival Date | Arrival Port | Comments | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| XD3A | Tatuta Maru | 43 Jan 19, left Shamsuipo Camp, 0500 hrs; left Hong Kong 1300hrs | 43 Jan 22, 0400 hrs | Nagasaki, Japan | Boarded train, arrived in Tokyo on 43 Jan 24 at 0700 hrs, boarded electric train for 10 mile ride to camp | Tony Banham |
Transportation SE Asia to Home
| Transport Mode | Arrival Destination | Arrival Date | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| USS Joseph T. Dyckman | SF | 1945-10-16 | Manila to San Francisco 44 CDNs & British |
No other or additional related information found. Please submit documents to us using the contact link at the top of this page.
Post-war Photo
No other or additional related information found. Please submit documents to us using the contact link at the top of this page.
Other Military 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 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1971-05-19 | Post War | ||
| Cemetery Location | Cemetery | Grave Number | Gravestone Marker |
| Listuguj Mi'gmaq First Nation Quebec Canada | St. Annes Church Cemetery | Yes | |
Gravestone Image
Obituary / Life Story
Remembering a Mi'kmaw soldier who spent years as a prisoner of war
From CBC.ca Nov 2019 - Life was not easy for Patrick Metallic, a Mi'kmaq veteran from Listuguj, Que., when he returned home from the Second World War.
As a part of the Royal Rifles of Canada, a rifle regiment in the Canadian Army out of Quebec City, Metallic was one of 1,975 troops in Canada who fought in the Defence of Hong Kong and spent nearly four years as a prisoner of war.
Hong Kong was the first place Canadians fought a land battle in the Second World War. In November 1941, troops from Winnipeg and Quebec City were sent to reinforce the British colony.
On Dec. 8, Japanese forces invaded and overran Hong Kong's defences in 17 days, killing 290 Canadians. Metallic was captured on Christmas Day and spent time in three different POW camps in Hong Kong including Sham Shui Po Camp before being sent to Japan on Jan. 19, 1943, where he was imprisoned in foul conditions and endured brutal treatment.
"He was severely beaten," said his grandson Patrick Denny Isaac.
"He was beaten so bad that he swallowed his fake teeth and they had to surgically remove them from his chest."
During one of the camps, he was slave labour on ships.
The POWs were liberated in August 1945 after the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki forced Japan's surrender and ended the war in the Pacific.
Returning home
When Metallic returned home to Listuguj, he was a different person. The undiagnosed post-traumatic stress from his experience caused struggles with alcoholism and violence. He died at the age of 55 on May 19, 1971.
Patricia Metallic-Gray, 80, is one of Metallic's nine children. She describes her childhood as a troubling time when her father returned home.
"It was not very nice. My father had flashbacks all the time. He thought he was still in the war." said Metallic-Gray.
"That went on for years and years. I hated him because I never understood."
In 2010, Metallic-Gray travelled to Hong Kong to learn about what her father experienced as a POW. She said after her trip, she went to the graveyard in Listuguj to apologize to him.
"It lifted a big load off my back," she said.
"I finally understood after why he did the things he did, and nobody was around to help him."
Nov. 8 marks National Aboriginal Veterans Day, which was first observed in Winnipeg in 1994 as a way to separately honour Indigenous contributions to Canada's military service.
And every year on Remembrance Day, the Listuguj Veterans Memorial Committee organizes a mass, ceremony, and feast to honour the community's veterans.
"It's a big deal for our family. Every year since I was a little kid, we always honoured our grandfather," said Patrick Denny Isaac, who also volunteers with the committee.
"Every year we honour that sacrifice and what he's been through. "
Mary Bradstreet Metallic is another volunteer on the committee. She said Metallic's story is one the community cannot forget. According to Veterans Affairs Canada, at least 3,000 First Nations members enlisted in the Armed Forces during the Second World War, and that included several men from Listuguj.
"We have a large, long history of veterans in our community. It's important so that we don't forget," she said.
"My sister-in-law is the one who continues to remind me what it was like when her brother was a prisoner of war and what he was like when he came back. He was a big, big man. He was a boxer in our region and when he came home, he was nothing but skin and bones."
Research conducted as part of the HKVCA Indigenous Veterans Project for this veteran are available in our Vault. To access this research use the link displayed below under Related Documentation.
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.
Facebook has proven to be a valuable resource in the documentation of 'C' Force members. The following link will take you to any available search results for this soldier based on his regimental number. Note: results may be contained within another related record. Facebook Search Results
→ Related documentation for information published in this report, such as birth information, discharge papers, press clippings and census documents may be available via shared resources in our HKVCA Vault. It is organized with folders named using regimental numbers. Use the first letter of the individual's service number to choose the correct folder, then scroll to the specific sub-folder displaying the service number of your interest.
General Comments
No comments found.
End of Report.
Report generated: 21 Nov 2024.
Additional Notes
(These will not be visible on the printed copy)
- Service numbers for officers 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.
- 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.