A+Canadian+boy+living+in+Winnipeg,+Grade+12+1

Name: ** Brandon Jones **Age:** Grade 12 **Gender:** Male **Occupation:** Student **Appearance:** brown short hair, green eyes, 175cm **Location:** Winnipeg (capital city of Manitoba), Canada **Family:** Mom (Abigail), dad (Gordon), younger brother (Alan) **Education:** Kelvin High School **Languages you speak:** English and a bit of French **Your main concerns at this time and in life:** because of Great Depression, he can't hang out with his friends frequently
 * [[image:Picture_4_SB.png]]
 * Personality/Quirks/Unique Personality Traits :** sportive, funny, competitive, nice, hardworking

**Diary #1: September 13, 1939** Indeed, one thing that everybody didn’t hope for happened: the World War II. I was surprised at the sudden transition to the war and still couldn’t believe it. As soon as the world was alarmed by the Germany invasion in September 1 and the continuous Second Sino-Japanese War, I was drafted the following day along with some of my peers. We’ve been training for about ten days and will soon go into the war. Unfortunately, we have little experience because the war was unexpected so we have to be ready as soon as possible. The fact that we lack background and that we are still very young worries me tremendously. The drafting was such a tragic news for us because we just had to finish one more year of high school and would head on to colleges. How much I’ve been waiting for the second semester of my senior year! But it was ruined because of the war and we will have to graduate later on when we come back (I mean if we ever come back...). I can go on with how much the war affected us negatively. I mean, I already miss my family especially my little brother, Alan. I promised him to teach how to improve in basketball and soccer after I graduate high school. He was so excited to learn new skills and glad that I finally spend some time with him since I barely had time with schoolwork. Alan said, “You have to spend at least two hours everyday with me!” Oh, I miss him a lot. I also agreed to help mom with chores as I’ll have more time. I wonder how my family is doing... The training’s been tough since we have to cram everything in a limited amount of time. I at least consider myself lucky because I have few of my friends going through the same hardship. We talk more than we did before we came here; I guess it’s because we’re separated from our familiar lives. Today, we reminisced about our school lives. I asked one of my friends, Aaron, “Do you remember when we first entered high school? It was so different from middle school.” He replied, “Yeah....Man, I never thought I’d say this but I really want to be at school right now.” After a long conversation while training intensely, we came to a conclusion that although we were daunted by schoolwork, we’ve made precious memories at school; I mean the sports, club activities, and parties were the fun parts. On the other hand though, there were many volunteers to join this unit. I truly respect and admire them; they're like my role models during my time at war. I should quit complaining as well. I hope we all survive and go back to our home as soon as the war is over.

** Diary #2: December 8, 1941 ** I haven’t written anything for two years! It shows how much I’ve been busy; it’s been chaotic and intense as the war reached its peak. Even the U.S. joined the war because of the Pearl Harbor attack by the Japanese. I don’t understand why Japanese would launch such a risky conduct; I mean we’re talking about United States here. Anyways, I have to hurry because I’m in the middle of the Battle of Hong Kong. My friends and I are part of the Winnipeg Grenadiers and we’ve been sent to the British Crown Colony of Hong Kong to defend the colony from Japanese. We left Canada on October 25, 1941 and arrived in Hong Kong on November 16, 1941. The real action started TODAY: Japanese attacked Hong Kong this time. Can you believe it? They just assaulted Pearl Harbor yesterday and within a day, they went for another battle! So ambitious yet unfathomable. How did they manage to plan the major events so closely? Did Japanese decide to dominate the world or something? Since the arrival, we often heard about Japanese gathering up for an invasion but some of them had been false alarms so we overlooked some. Besides those signals, we’ve also familiarized ourselves to the location we were defending, which was mostly around the beach, and continued with our training before the outbreak since the reality was right in front of our faces. I think our arrival bolstered the British physically and mentally because they were burdened by a promise they had made with the Chinese leader, Chiang Kai Shek, that they’d protect Hong Kong no matter what. Due to our three weeks of preparation, we weren’t as surprised by the Japanese attack. Their first attack was destroying the British planes known as the Royal Air Force at the Kai Tak airport, which succeeded. However, we tried not to be discouraged by it and were capable of pressuring the Japanese forces back to the Gin Drinkers’ Line when they advanced towards the Mainland brigade. Those were perhaps the major fighting happened today. Along the way coming back, I came across this Chinese lady, hurriedly packing her belongings just like the others. She didn’t seem to have any family as the house was deserted but she looked neat, smart, and sharp. She also seemed strong because she wasn’t crying like other ladies and she looked determined. I felt sorry for her and wanted to make her feel better but I didn't know if she spoke English so I just left. I hope she successfully escapes. Unfortunately, when I came back, I heard that our fellow Canadians were wounded. Although I didn’t know them well because they’re part of the Royal Canadian Signals, I still felt grim about the casualties. I hope we can finish off this battle quickly with little injuries and death as possible.

** Diary #3: December 20, 1941 ** This is bad and I’m not joking here. The situation is getting worse and couldn’t get worse. I’m worried and have a feeling that the battle is not going the way I thought it would. Since December 9, all Japanese have been doing was advancing. They attacked Shing Mun Redoubt, which was the most important area along the Gin Drinker’s Line. They were expert at assaulting in the darkness and General Maltby, the Commander of British troop, apparently underestimated the power of Japanese armies. Alerted by the sudden attack, we, the Winnipeg Grenadiers, were dispatched to defend the mainland and also covered up for the Royal Scots. Although the fighting grew more intense, we didn’t give up and surrender. However, my peers and I got exhausted by the end of each day and didn’t know if we could continue further. We weren’t the only ones suffering from this prolonged battle; when I look around, there are depressed soldiers everywhere, lamenting on their comrades’ deaths or casualties. Then, another disaster arrived in the 18th... It was a dark night but nothing stopped the Japanese from invading us. Indeed, they invaded at night, which was unexpected. Not one but four separate attacks! They came from the sea and roamed everywhere. Even though it was so sudden, we did our best to combat, suffering from hunger and weariness. Company Sergeant Major (CSM) Osborn especially did a heroic deed. When he couldn’t return the grenade that Japanese threw, he warned us and sacrificed his life by plunging into it. We were all dumbfounded by what he did for us and decided to fight harder. However, our West Brigade Headquarters got surrounded by Japanese and everything was against us. It was a failure... There were other numerous severe injuries, one of which was my dear school friend, Cameron, who is also part of the Winnipeg Grenadiers. We were close at school so we continued to encourage each other as we went through the hardship. Hence, my peers and I went to him after the long struggle, trying to cheer him up and hoping for his fast recovery. Well, yesterday’s incident didn’t make up for the tragedy either; the communication between the East and West Brigades had some problems when the Japanese were advancing. Thus, even though I don’t want to be pessimistic, it’s quite impossible win the battle, let alone to go on with the war. I’m beginning to think that I’d rather want this war to end...

** Diary #4: August 29, 1943 ** I have no energy... I’m weak and depressed even though the war had ended, finally. I’m stuck here, in this filthy prison...I think this will be the last diary I’ll ever get to write... After the day I wrote my previous entry, there were series of intense hostilities again. We kept on fighting as if we were going to win, trying to be optimistic about our situations. However, the more we fought, the more we failed... In one of our battles, we had to withdraw because of the shortage of food and water. See, we had even came to the point where there are not enough supplies! Then again, when we guarded the Mount Cameron, Japanese blew us with their attacks in the darkness. It was a mystery how we were never sufficiently prepared to win them in the dark. Unfortunately, since the miseries persisted, we eventually surrendered completely to the Japanese. It happened to be on Christmas, which is ironic because Christmas is supposed to be a joyful day. Although I wanted to win, it was better to surrender before even more of us would meet death. After the Battle of Hong Kong, I realized why we couldn’t win: we lacked experience. We barely had enough training in the first hand. Thus, as I think back of the war, we combated fairly well, considering the fact that we had much less experience than the Japanese. Nonetheless, the aftermath of the battle was horrible as well. In fact, the day before our complete surrender, the cruelty of the Japanese started; they suddenly invaded our hospital and killed our soldiers! It was unbelievable! I mean, they had already killed so many of our comrades and to murder more was indeed, ruthless. I really didn’t know Japanese would be so vicious and strong. Anyways, where I ended up was in the prison in Hong Kong. Few of my peers were sent to the prison in Japan, which upset me because the last thing I wanted was to get separated from my friends. Moreover, everything happened so suddenly that we didn’t get to say proper goodbyes. Like many others, I became a miserable POW who hardly was conscious due to the intake of only eight hundred calories per day while working twelve hours in mines. This prison is the dirtiest place I’ve ever encountered and Japanese carried on with their brutality. (the POWs) I miss my family and friends so much but I don’t think I can see them anymore. I should have been a better son and a brother... I can feel my strength weakening, diffusing out of my body. This is my last attempt to write further...... Bye.

**Works Cited** "The Defence of Hong Kong." //Veterans Affairs Canada//. N.p., 26 July 2005. Web. 23 May 2010. .

"The Attack on the Island." //Veterans Affairs Canada//. N.p., 26 July 2005. Web. 23 May 2010. .

"Aftermath." //Veterans Affairs Canada//. N.p., 26 July 2005. Web. 23 May 2010. .