1

Like hundreds of others who enlisted, Jim Thom grew up in Transcona. He attended Central School. On September 4, 1939, a few short days of the war's declaration, Jim voluntarily enlisted with the Winnipeg Grenadiers. Within a short time, he left his home at 103 Harvard Avenue and his family: father Alex Thom, Police Chief of Transcona, sisters Olive, Ina, Ethel, and a brother Gordon. He also left his friends and co-workers at the Dominion Malting Plant.

2

Drawing by Jim Thom as a child
1930
Transcona, Manitoba, Canada

3

Between 1939 and 1945, over 800 men and women from Transcona are known to have enlisted in the Army, Navy, Air Force or Merchant Marine. These people, the finest of their generation, fought for the values we regard so highly today: freedom, peace, and democracy.

4

Jim Thom and Sandy Hinds worked at the Dominion Malting Plant Limited
1960
South Transcona, Transcona, Manitoba, Canada

5

When Japan launched the war in the Pacific in December 1941, four Transcona men were stationed in Hong Kong with the Winnipeg Grenadiers. Transcona's own George Lamoureux, Ralph Maxwell, Bob Nixon, and Jim Thom were among the soldiers who defended the British colony.

6

Card presented to Jim Thom
16 February 1940
South Transcona, Transcona, Manitoba, Canada

7

After 18 days of fighting, the Winnipeg Grenadiers and Royal Rifles of Canada were out of food, water, and ammunition. No longer able to hold off the Japanese, the defenders were overtaken. The soldiers who survived the battle were taken as Prisoners of War on Christmas Day 1941. Defeated at Hong Kong, Transcona's own George Lamoureax, Bob Nixon, and Jim Thom were among those who were taken as prisoners.

8

Photograph of Private James Thom, Winnipeg Grenadiers
1940
Jamaica

9

Communication was extremely limited and the letters from home were few and far between. The men were often reported killed in action or missing for months before their families learned that their loved ones had survived horrific encounters as Prisoners of War.

10

Article relating that Sgt. James Thom is a prisoner of war but doing well
1943
Transcona, Manitoba, Canada

Credits:
Transcona News

11

Conditions for the Hong Kong POWs were often cruel and inhumane. POWs were humiliated, tortured, and forced to labour in extremely poor conditions in prison and slave labour camps. The men suffered terribly from malnutrition, poor water, disease, and lack of medicine.

12

Telegram
21 November 1941
Transcona, Manitoba, Canada

13

Many soldiers like Ralph Maxwell were killed in the first days of the attack, though world was slow to get home. Others died from disease and malnutrition while imprisoned in POW camps. For some POWs, imprisonment lasted for years. Their pain - mental, physical, and emotional - lasted a lifetime.

14

Prisoner of war
14 October 1942
Transcona, Manitoba, Canada