Among the kit items Gordie Quan returned to the quartermaster at the end of his deployment in the Second World War was a couple of cyanide pills. He was happy to return the pills, given to him to take in case he was captured while he was undertaking a secret mission behind enemy lines in the dying days of the war.
Quan, who was born in Cumberland in 1925 and raised in Victoria, was 18 when he was accepted into the army. While he was eager to join the fight earlier, only whites were allowed to enlist until 1943.
After he completed basic training at a camp in Maple Creek, Sask., he underwent further training as a demolitions expert. His first posting turned out to be his last.
“We were on a secret mission. We were trained in India and sent behind enemy lines into the jungle in Burma,” said Quan, who now lives in a care home in Victoria. “The cyanide pills were for us to commit suicide if we got caught so that we would not divulge details of our mission under torture.”
Shortly after he entered the jungle to make his way to his target, however, the United States dropped two atomic bombs on Japan, hastening the end of the war — and the need for the pills.
Quan was among hundreds of Canadians of Chinese descent to serve the country during the war, including 60 from Victoria.
“A group of us were ready to go, but there were some in the Chinese community who didn’t want us to join initially,” said Quan, 97.
“At that time we didn’t have the right to vote, couldn’t go to a proper school or other opportunities.
“They argued: ‘Why die for a country where you don’t have the right to vote?’ ”
Quan and other Chinese-Canadian veterans from Victoria are being honoured with a special display curated by the Victoria Chinatown Museum Society and presented by the Chinese Canadian Museum at its temporary exhibition space in Fan Tan Alley.
Chinese-Canadians at War highlights the history, culture and contribution, in both war and peace, of the Chinese in Victoria.
John Adams, local historian and board member of the Victoria Chinatown Museum Society, said before the war, the Chinese population in Victoria faced many restrictions: They couldn’t swim in the Crystal Pool, they had to sit in the balcony at theatres and there were restrictions on what land they could buy, among other obstacles.
“While some argued against enlisting, others believed that fighting in the war would give them a better chance at attaining citizenship,” Adams said.
“I believe fighting in the war was the icing on the cake in eventually getting citizenship.”
Chinese-Canadians finally got the right to vote in 1947 with the adoption of the Canadian Citizenship Act, which allowed all residents the right to obtain citizenship, regardless of their country of origin.
Quan returned to Victoria after the war and joined the Canadian Army Reserve, training generations of recruits for more than 30 years.
Quan will be at the museum in person between 11:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. on Remembrance Day. The Chinese Canadian Museum is at 10-14 Fan Tan Alley, off Fisgard Street in Chinatown.
• For more information, go to chinesecanadianmuseum.ca.
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