Henry Albert Hank Wong
Henry Albert (Hank) Wong enlisted in the army in 1940. He served with the Kent regiment until he was recruited for Operation Oblivion, in 1944.
Larry Wong
To
Me
CC
Catherine Clement
Today at 5:14 PM
Hello Ann,
I presume you are in New Zealand?
This is Larry Wong from Vancouver, Canada. I am the curator of the museum.
Thanks for your Facebook message to the Chinese Canadian Military Museum
and your excerpt from your publication, From China to Borneo and Beyond.
Your story of the nine men from Canada is very interesting and
revealing. Revealing because when those men returned to Canada, they
could not tell their story or give details of their mission. They were
trained in secret and indeed, they were swore to secrecy under the
Official Secrecy Act of Canada for at least twenty years. All we knew
was that they went overseas to live with a tribe of headhunters in
Borneo and when they returned, they were decorated with the highest
military honour (at that time), the Military Medal.
Out of the nine men, only one is still alive and that's Hank Wong of
London, Ontario. In a documentary made two years ago, the secret
training was re-enacted with Norman as a narrator. The attached link is
to the film maker's website. The documentary has not been released
commercially but certainly you can read about the making of the documentary.
http://mediamonkey.ca/operation-oblivion/
Are you familiar with a Canadian publication, The Dragon and the Maple
Leaf? It was researched and written by Marjorie Wong. She
self-published it 1994 under Pirie Publishing, P.O. Box 39073, London,
Ontario. It is now out of print but may be available at your local
library. The ISBN is 0-9698086-0-7. Unfortunately she passed away in
2001 and her husband, Norman, soon followed. Norman Wong was the cousin
to Hank or Henry Wong who was in Operation Oblivion, the name given to
the secret training. The book contained much detail of the training and
much to Marjorie's research, she interviewed many of the soldiers after
the war.- It still the only such written history of our Chinese
Canadian soldiers.
During their training here in Canada, it was assumed they may not return
and whether you know it or not, each men had a cyanide pill in case they
were captured by the enemy.
Your book has much details of their mission, a very interesting insight,
indeed. I am happy that their mission was a success and had such an
influence on you, a generation later. For you to remember and write
their stories is a tribute to their bravery and gallantry. You have
added another dimension. Not even their families know about their mission.
You might ask: what happened to them after their return. Well, John Ko
Bong opened a sporting goods shop next to his father who was a watch
maker. Roy Chan worked for the post office and was active in a Canadian
Army Reserve band. George Lock became the first Chinese pharmacist in
Toronto. Doug Jung became a lawyer and was the first Chinese Canadian
Member of Parliament in 1957. Henry Wong became a union organizer in
his hometown.
Again, many thanks,
Sincerely,
Larry
I presume you are in New Zealand?
This is Larry Wong from Vancouver, Canada. I am the curator of the museum.
Thanks for your Facebook message to the Chinese Canadian Military Museum
and your excerpt from your publication, From China to Borneo and Beyond.
Your story of the nine men from Canada is very interesting and
revealing. Revealing because when those men returned to Canada, they
could not tell their story or give details of their mission. They were
trained in secret and indeed, they were swore to secrecy under the
Official Secrecy Act of Canada for at least twenty years. All we knew
was that they went overseas to live with a tribe of headhunters in
Borneo and when they returned, they were decorated with the highest
military honour (at that time), the Military Medal.
Out of the nine men, only one is still alive and that's Hank Wong of
London, Ontario. In a documentary made two years ago, the secret
training was re-enacted with Norman as a narrator. The attached link is
to the film maker's website. The documentary has not been released
commercially but certainly you can read about the making of the documentary.
http://mediamonkey.ca/operation-oblivion/
Are you familiar with a Canadian publication, The Dragon and the Maple
Leaf? It was researched and written by Marjorie Wong. She
self-published it 1994 under Pirie Publishing, P.O. Box 39073, London,
Ontario. It is now out of print but may be available at your local
library. The ISBN is 0-9698086-0-7. Unfortunately she passed away in
2001 and her husband, Norman, soon followed. Norman Wong was the cousin
to Hank or Henry Wong who was in Operation Oblivion, the name given to
the secret training. The book contained much detail of the training and
much to Marjorie's research, she interviewed many of the soldiers after
the war.- It still the only such written history of our Chinese
Canadian soldiers.
During their training here in Canada, it was assumed they may not return
and whether you know it or not, each men had a cyanide pill in case they
were captured by the enemy.
Your book has much details of their mission, a very interesting insight,
indeed. I am happy that their mission was a success and had such an
influence on you, a generation later. For you to remember and write
their stories is a tribute to their bravery and gallantry. You have
added another dimension. Not even their families know about their mission.
You might ask: what happened to them after their return. Well, John Ko
Bong opened a sporting goods shop next to his father who was a watch
maker. Roy Chan worked for the post office and was active in a Canadian
Army Reserve band. George Lock became the first Chinese pharmacist in
Toronto. Doug Jung became a lawyer and was the first Chinese Canadian
Member of Parliament in 1957. Henry Wong became a union organizer in
his hometown.
Again, many thanks,
Sincerely,
Larry
No comments:
Post a Comment