Lance Corporal Wilfred John McDowell

Wilfred John McDowell was born at Huntingdon, Quebec, on 4 October 1905. An electrician by trade, he enlisted in the Canadian Army at Montreal South on 17 July 1941 and served with the Canadian Provost Corps. He joined Force C and went to Hong Kong, where he was captured on 25 December 1941. McDowell spent the remainder of the war as a Japanese prisoner of war, first in Hong Kong and later in Japan, where he was subjected to forced labour. His postwar sworn statements became part of war-crimes investigations into the treatment of Allied prisoners. After liberation on 5 September 1945 he returned to Canada in mid September 1945, first flown to San Fancisco and from ther ot Vancouver by train,  suffering from significant nutritional, neurological and visual effects of captivity.His medical examination on release indicates that he is "not fit for any but the lightest work and nothing requiring much use of his eyes."

LIke many of the POWs from the war, McDowell was anxious to leave the army and return to civilian life. After landing in Vancouver in mid September 1945 he was granted 42 days leave, from which he did not return, causing him first to be declared Absent Without Leave, then later classified as a desrter, a status overturned at the end of december, 1945..

He was discharged on 8 March 1946. He later lived in Valleyfield. McDowell died at Queen Mary Veterans Hospital in Montreal on 12 March 1973 and was buried in Valleyfield.

1905-10-04 — Born.
1941-07-17 — Enlisted in the Canadian Army as a Private.
1941-07-20 — Proceeded on command to No. 14 Provost Company.
1941-09-15 — Classified Motorcyclist Class II.
1941-09-29 — Transferred/posting to No. 14 Company, Canadian Provost Corps.
1941-10-17 — Struck off strength No. 14 Company on reposting to Force C composition.
1941-10-24 — Taken on strength Headquarters Force C.
1941-10-27 — Embarked Canada with Force C.
1941-11-16 — Attached to Royal Rifles of Canada for rations and quarters.
1941-11-21 — Attached to Corps of Military Police Hong Kong.
1941-12-25 — Captured at Hong Kong and became a prisoner of war.
1941-12-27 — Taken to Sham Shui Po after the Hong Kong surrender.
1942-01-23 — Transferred to North Point Barracks.
1942-10 — Returned to Sham Shui Po.
1943-08 — Embarked with about 500 POWs, including roughly 250 Canadians, for transport to Japan in crowded ship holds.
1943-09-02 — Arrived in Osaka after transport via Formosa.
1943-09-06 — Began forced labour at a coal mine operated by Rinko.
1943-12-02 — 1948 interrogation summary places him at Niigata Camp 5B from this date.
1945-06-01 to 1945-11-19 — Later granted Japanese Campaign Pay for 172 days.
1945-09-05 — Post-liberation medical assessment recorded beri-beri, pellagra, frostbite/cold injury and malnutrition.
1945-09-08 to 1945-09-12 — Evacuated from Manila and moved through Guam on repatriation route.
1945-09-18 — Disembarked in Canada.
1945-09-19 to 1945-11-04 — Granted 42 days disembarkation leave plus travel time.
1945-11-06 — Administrative record began an AWL entry.
1945-11-12 to 1945-12-04 — Hospitalized for detailed examination of POW-related disabilities.
1945-12-03 — Court of Inquiry administrative record declared him illegally absent and S.O.S. as deserter.
1945-12-28 — Amendments cancelled the relevant AWL/deserter administrative orders.
1946-03-07 — Release Medical Board reviewed residual POW-related disabilities and referred him to DVA.
1946-03-08 — Honourably discharged on demobilization / return to civil life.
1946-03-21 — Wartime will returned after discharge.
1946-05-09 — Wrote to Army authorities about delayed War Service Gratuity, stating that he had received no payment since discharge and was in need of money.
1946-06-05 — Again wrote regarding unpaid War Service Gratuity; stated he was unable to work, Victory Bonds used as collateral were falling due, and his dependants’ allowance through DVA had also been delayed.
1946-06-20 — Paymaster-General advised that his War Service Gratuity application had been received and passed to Treasury for payment.
1948-06-15 — Gave sworn statement for United States/United Nations war-crimes investigation.
1949-04-26 — Japanese Campaign Pay formally authorized by After Order No.119.
1973-03-12 — Died at Queen Mary Veterans Hospital.