National and provincial leaders are paying tribute to Victoria-born war hero George Chow who has died at age 99.
“His service and legacy has been recognized through numerous war medals, Canadian Forces decorations and the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee,” said Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan in a statement. “These awards cannot measure the lasting impact George’s service will have on generations of young Canadians. We have lost a trailblazer who broke barriers and showed young children what service, duty and love for one’s country is. You may be gone my friend, but you will never be forgotten.”
Premier John Horgan said he was honoured to have met Chow, who fought on Juno Beach on D-Day and lived to continue serving Canada for many more years.
Chow died on Nov. 6.
He was born in Victoria in 1921. Two months before his 19th birthday, he went to the recruiting centre at the Bay Street Armoury in Victoria to sign up without his parents’ knowledge.
“I was just 18, not quite 19. So I walked into the armouries and they said, ‘Oh you want to join the army.’ I said ‘Yes.’ ‘You want a lot of action?’ I said ‘Yes’,” Chow told Veterans Affairs Canada.
Two days later, he went home in uniform to surprise his parents. They didn’t want him to go to war, but he was determined.
Chow was sent to Seaforth Armoury in Vancouver for basic training, to Windsor, Ont. for more training, then on to Halifax where he boarded a ship for England. Chow trained at Colchester, northeast of London, and became a member of the 16th Light Anti-Aircraft Battery. His unit was charged with defending the east coast of England against low-flying German planes that were bombing the coastal towns of Eastbourne and Brighton. Chow was part of the first all-Canadian gun crew to shoot down a German plane.
During the Normandy campaign, Chow was a member of the 2nd Army Group Royal Artillery. Fortunately, when they landed in Normandy, the water was only nine-inches deep. After D-Day, they moved inland to Caen and other regions of France before heading into Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands, according to an account from Veterans Affairs Canada.
“You just live from day to day actually. If someone says they weren’t scared then they’re just lying. Darn right you’re scared,” Chow recalled.
After the victory in Europe, Chow prepared for the Pacific theatre — until the atomic bomb was dropped on Japan. After the Second World War, Chow became a gunnery instructor in the Royal Canadian Artillery in the Bessborough Armoury in Vancouver. He reached the rank of master warrant officer, holding the position of battery sergeant major when he was honourably discharged in 1963.
In 2012, Chow was awarded the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal.
In a tribute on the website of the consulate general of France in Vancouver, consul general Philippe Sutter called Chow “a true hero, a beacon of our common fight for peace, security, and democracy.”
During the Second World War, his contribution to the liberation of France and Europe in 1944 was tremendous and France recognized his sacrifices by bestowing upon him the Légion d’Honneur, our highest distinction, Sutter said.
In May 2015, Chow joined the Government of Canada delegation commemorating the 75th anniversary of the liberation of the Netherlands.
Gordie Quan, 94, one of the last remaining Chinese-Canadians veterans, laid a wreath for the 60th time at a Remembrance Day service on Wednesday. Quan said he will miss the comradeship he had with Chow.
“We got together quite often and we met at Government House twice,” said Quan, who fought in the Burma campaign.
“We had a lot of get togethers on Remembrance Day in Vancouver and dinners honouring the veterans every year.”
Victoria councillor Charlayne Thornton Joe had a chance to meet Chow, and she thought of him this Remembrance Day with sadness and gratitude for all he had made possible in her lifetime. “He was a sweet man,” said Joe. “And I acknowledge all the Chinese veterans who served. I recognized if they had not fought, we would not know how long it would have taken Chinese to get the vote. Without their sacrifices, I would never have had the opportunity to serve as an elected official.”
Joe is comforted by the great age Chow lived to.
“He led a great life and lived a long life and in Chinese culture, that’s significant,” she said.