The Valour and the Horror

Personal Experiences: Bob "Flash" Clayton

Although he still has a limp from his wounds in Hong Kong and the beriberi he contracted as a prisoner of war, Bob Clayton, now 70, still jogs and bicycles every day.

Born in Toronto, he dropped out of school in Grade 8 at age l4. When he was l6, he joined the Queens York Rangers Militia to become, as he calls it, "a Saturday night soldier." In l940, he joined the Royal Rifles, and was posted in Newfoundland on garrison duty, where he received limited training.

He was 20 when he went to Hong Kong as a sergeant in C Company, l4th Platoon. He was wounded by shrapnel in the leg, followed by a bullet in the leg, then a grenade attack, which left him with a concussion and shrapnel in both legs. He was wounded again by flying glass in an ambulance. He was in the St. Stephen's hospital during the December 25th massacre. He was uninjured, but he witnessed the killings.

From January l942 to January l943, he was interned at North Point and Shamshuipo Camps. Then he was sent with 700 other Canadians to Camp 3D, Kawasaki, to work in Nippon Kokan shipyards. In March l945, he was shipped to Sendai Camp to work in coal mines for the remainder of the war.

Hong Kong & Macau

Upon returning to Canada, he went to work for the City of Toronto as a labourer. He was a district supervisor when he retired in l976. He now lives in Brechin, Ontario, and winters in New Smyrna Beach, Florida.

Before participating in The Valour and the Horror, he returned to Hong Kong and Japan in l973, with his wife, Jesse, and again in l975 on a Hong Kong Veterans Association pilgrimage.