Max Berger was born on November 6, 1919, the son of Morris Berger and Regina Berger of 167 Davis St., Sarnia. His sister was Laura Berger. The Bergers were a Jewish family–father Morris was born in Geszterid, Hungary about 1862. They immigrated to New York in 1902, moved to Michigan, and then to Sarnia in 1914. Morris was a shoemaker by trade who operated out of his home. Max grew up in Sarnia and attended Sarnia Collegiate. After graduation, he worked for Maidment’s Taxi; he was active in Canadian Young Judaea, and he was later employed at St. Thomas, as an electrician. Max, single at the time, enlisted in the army in 1939.
In late October of 1941, Max was part of a force of 1,975 Canadians who left Vancouver, B.C. for Hong Kong to help defend the Crown Colony. While on board the ship to Hong Kong, Max wrote a letter home to his parents in November. It would be the last time Morris and Regina would hear from their son. The Canadian force comprised two battalions-the Winnipeg Grenadiers and the Royal Rifles of Canada; a brigade headquarters group; and various specialist details (including a signal section, two medical officers, two nursing sisters and three chaplains). The Canadian force would be a part of 14,000 Allied troops (also from the United Kingdom, Hong Kong, China and India) who were tasked to defend the island of Hong Kong and the adjacent mainland areas. The Canadian battalions (with no battle experience) arrived November 16, 1941, and, along with Britain’s Middlesex Regiment, were tasked to defend the island. It was felt that the Canadian soldiers would have some time in Hong Kong to get more training. Instead, they became the first Canadian soldiers to fight as a unit in the Second World War when Japan attacked almost simultaneously Pearl Harbour, Northern Malaya, the Phillippines, Guam, Wake Island and Hong Kong.
The Japanese attacked the Colony’s mainland positions on December 8 (December 7 in North America), resulting in all mainland troops withdrawing to the island. It was here that the first Canadian infantryman to die in World War II was killed. Private John Gray was captured and executed by the Japanese on December 13, 1941 in Hong Kong. Japan invaded Hong Kong Island on December 18, 1941. The invasion force was overwhelming in strength and backed with a heavy arsenal of artillery and air support. Heavily outnumbered, the Allied troops had no significant air or naval defence and had no hope of being relieved or resupplied. The Canadians performed valiantly and held out for as long as possible.
Max Berger spent the early part of the battle delivering supplies to frontline units with a dwindling pool of motor transport, including local taxis. When it became impossible to continue their supply activities, Max’s unit became a part of an adhoc unit of Royal Canadian Army Service Corps. They then joined another scratch force made up of Royal Canadian Army Ordinance troops who were holding the north end of what was called the Ridge position. The Ridge position was the only link between the two main British positions and, if it were lost, the Allied formations would be split in two. The fighting for the position was fierce and, faced with overwhelming odds, on December 18, the British forces tried to pull back. It took them two tries and they succeeded the second time. Sometime between December 19th and 22nd Private Max Berger and Corporal Albert Jackson of the Royal Canadian Army Service Corps were killed, along with Corporal G.G. Desroches, Staff sergeant G. Jackman and Private F.C. McGuire of the Royal Canadian Army Ordinance troops.
On Christmas Day, 1941, after 17 ½ days of fighting, the British Colony was surrendered. Even before the battle had officially ended, Canadians would endure great hardships at the hands of their Japanese captors. On December 24, the Japanese overran a makeshift hospital in Hong Kong, assaulting and murdering nurses and bayoneting wounded Canadian soldiers in their beds. The fall of Hong Kong marked the end of the Canadian Army’s first combat action in the Second World War, with significant losses: 290 dead and 493 wounded. Most of the Canadian survivors were held in prisoner of war camps either in Hong Kong or in Japan. Many of them died there; others endured almost four years of suffering until the end of the War. Of the 1,975 Canadians who sailed from Vancouver to Hong Kong, 557 were killed in battle or died in POW camps, and 493 were wounded, a casualty rate of more than 50%. Altogether, over 2000 men and women of the British Commonwealth died in the defence of Hong Kong.
Private Max Berger was not listed as Missing in Action until October 1942, and it was not until January 1943 that Max was eventually listed as, Overseas casualty, killed in action, in the field (Hong Kong). Max Berger’s body was never recovered. Twenty-two year old Max Berger is commemorated on the Sai Wan Memorial, Victoria, Hong Kong, China, Column 28. On this white granite memorial are inscribed the names of over 2,000 people, 228 of them Canadian, who died in Hong Kong and who have no known grave. Max Berger, one of the 290 Canadian soldiers killed during the defence of Hong Kong from December 8-December 25, 1941, has his name inscribed on this memorial. Max Berger’s name is also inscribed on the Hong Kong Veterans Memorial Wall in Ottawa, Ontario. Unveiled in August 2009, the six-metre granite wall is etched with the names of the 1,978 Canadians who fought in the Battle of Hong Kong.
Max Berger and thirteen other local men had their names engraved on a plaque honouring fourteen Jewish members of the armed services from Sarnia. The plaque was unveiled in the Ahavas Isaac Synagogue, Davis Street, Sarnia on March 30, 1945. The men, all from Sarnia, honoured on the plaque were: M. Berger, S. Bernard, R. Heller, I. Haber, M. Kirk, Dr. I. Mann, A. Rosen, G. Shabsove, M. Skosov, Mitchell Smith, Murray Smith, L. Swartz, I.B. Zierler, Isaac Zierler. Three of the men–Max Berger, Mitchell Smith and Isaac Buck Zierler–made the supreme sacrifice.
SOURCES: A, B, C, D, E, F, G, J, L, N, 2C, 2D, h