Meagher was tired of reading how Canadian soldiers sent to Hong Kong performed poorly, were poorly led and let the British down by not forcing he Japanese to spend more men and materials as well as time capturing the colony. He blames Churchill and the British Government for misleading the Canadians on what they were going to face and Mackenzie King for trying to please Churchill and sending inadequately trained troops to sure defeat.

He is particularly harsh on the British commanders in Hong Kong who he claims did not use their resources correctly. As an example, he did not defend the highest parts of the island until the Japanese were on those heights and then wasted men trying to retake them. They too did not know enemy numbers or respect the fighting ability of the Japanese soldiers. They underused their naval resources and what little artillery they possessed and they had organized little military intelligence which resulted in major errors in organizing their forces which led to many more casualties.

His final salvo is that the British generals never accepted responsibility for their mismanagement of the battle and rather blamed the Canadian Army for the poor way the battle was fought.

A very readable brief analysis of this controversial battle. Contains photos and maps. ( )