Submitted by his nephew Rod Lee. rodlee64@hotmail.com
Montreal Daily Star. 14Nov1944.
As this article mentions, Pte. Lee was the first member of the Montreal Chinese community to lose his life on active service in WWII.
29Jan2022
Hello,
I have been recently researching information about my uncle, Ivan Guy Lee.
From some documents I found online, I discovered he was a part of the South Saskatchewan Regiment when he was KIA in September 1944.
Thank you very much for your work in maintaining your website; it's helped fill in some gaps of a family member I never knew but have found to be very inspirational.
Perhaps you want use the attached to add to your database and/or for Weyburn Legion Hall.
Thank you!
Kind regards,
Rod Lee
5Feb2022
Hi Greg,
Thanks very much for the update and looking after my uncle's info.
I've managed to come across some other interesting info connected to my uncle.
One of Mark Zuehlke's books about Canada's involvement in the war is entitled "Terrible Victory: First Canadian Army and the Scheldt Estuary Campaign, September 13–November 6, 1944". The SSR is mentioned throughout the book. In Chapter 7, there is a passage mentioning September 27 which seems to refer to my uncle (see highlighted text below). Correspondence with Mr. Zuehlke confirms this.
I came across a "hidden" document on your website (not so easy to find/access) which I found very interesting - a Casualty List by date: http://saskatchewanmilitarymuseum.ca/SSR/Casualty/SSRCAS6D.htm
If this list is being updated, for my uncle (found under September 27, 1944), his army records indicate that he "DoW". His place of birth was Montreal, Que.
Other similar lists were found here:
http://saskatchewanmilitarymuseum.ca/SSR/Casualty/SSRCAS7M.htm
http://www.saskatchewanmilitarymuseum.ca/SSR/Casualty/SSRCAS5D.htm
http://saskatchewanmilitarymuseum.ca/SSR/Casualty/ssrm.htm
Perhaps others might find these lists interesting and helpful. As a suggestion, perhaps they can be made easier to find, for example as part of the main or sub menu.
My cousin pointed out that our uncle made these sacrifices to our country at a time when Chinese Canadians didn't have the vote and were excluded from emigrating to Canada under the Chinese Immigration Act (aka the Chinese Exclusion Act) which was not repealed until 1947. According to the Government of Canada website, during the entire WW2, only about 600 Chinese Canadians chose to serve in any capacity (army, air, navy). For me, this makes my uncle's actions even more courageous.
One more document; his list of medals:
Thanks once again Greg for your dedication to keeping the memories alive!
Kind regards,
Rod
28Jan2023
An article from Vancouver Sun 11Nov2004: "The Contribution of Chinese Canadians"
An article from Antwerp Gazette 13Sep2022: "Ivan Guy 'Chick' Lee wilde mogelijk respect afdwingen"
GCS/gs 16Feb2022/31Jan2023
