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Posts tagged ‘Chinese Canadian’

25T19 Berlin’s own piece of the Commonwealth

E18, B13.

In Berlin’s Westend is a 4-hectare site on Heerstrasse that is administered by an international commission under the protection of the British Crown. To that end, the site is a little piece of the United Kingdom, albeit in an unofficial capacity.

The British 1939-1945 War Cemetery is managed by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) whose members are Australia, Canada, India, New Zealand, South Africa, and the United Kingdom. The cemetery is home to about 3600 burials, most of whom were aircrew killed in action over Germany in World War II. Of those buried, 75% are from the United Kingdom, but the next group are Canadians at 15%.

I’ve returned here on a warm overcast late-spring evening; feels different than my first visit here in late-November 2021 when the world slowly returned to travel and autumn prepared its cold continental grip. I’ve come back to re-engage with a Vancouver connection.

Known also as “Britischer Soldatenfriedhof” (British Soldiers’ Cemetery), the location is 1.5 km (1 mi) from Olympic Stadium.
Stone of Remembrance: “Their name liveth for evermore.”
Q.J. Louie was a member of the Royal Canadian Air Force’s 420th “Snowy Owl” Squadron 🇨🇦. On an Allied bombing raid over northern Germany, their plane was shot down, killing 5 of the 7-man flight crew, including Q.J. Louie, who was a member of Vancouver’s Louie merchant family.
“Per ardua ad astra – Flying Officer Q.J. Louie – Air Bomber – Royal Canadian Air Force – 16th January 1945”. The graves for the other 4 crew killed on the same mission are found along the same row 5G: A.K.Parker 🇬🇧, W.J.D.Partridge 🇨🇦, E.W.Watson 🇨🇦, and C.W.Way 🇬🇧.
Register of all persons buried at the Berlin 1939-1945 War Cemetery, April 2024 version.
On page 131 is the entry for Quan Jil Louie; his listing in the CWGC database is located here. He died 2 weeks shy of his 24th birthday.
A peek from the late-afternoon sun.

Q.J. Louie’s final fatal mission: Royal Canadian Air Force Bomber Command 420 “Snowy Owl” Squadron: 16 January 1945, evening takeoff from Royal Air Force base Tholthorpe (England); nighttime bombing raid with over 120 Allied Halifax bomber planes targeting Magdeburg in northern Germany; their Halifax III plane NA192 PT-Q shot down; 5 dead and 2 captured as prisoners of war. See Aircrewremembered.com and 6BomberGroup.ca.

I made all images above with an iPhone15 on 26 May 2025. This post composed within Jetpack for iOS appears on Fotoeins Fotografie at fotoeins DOT com.

My Berlin: Chinese-Canadian Q.J. Louie at the Commonwealth War Cemetery

Above/featured: Cemetery view facing west, from the shelter building to the Stone of Remembrance, Cross of Sacrifice, and Terrace in the distance (WCL-X70: 14/21mm).

There’s a presence from western Canada buried in eastern Germany.

In Vancouver, Canada, the H.Y. Louie family has long been a part of the Chinese-Canadian community and the overall merchant community. Their current business holdings include the London Drugs chain of stores and the IGA grocery-store chain; both are well recognized throughout greater Vancouver.

One member of the family is resting permanently 8000 kilometres away in Berlin, Germany. An important goal in my return to the German capital city is a visit to the cemetery where a member of the Louie family, Q.J. Louie, is buried. It’s never been a matter of if, but when I return to Berlin.

( Click here for images and more )

Chinatown Memorial Plaza, Chinatown Memorial Square, Chinatown Memorial Monument, Chinatown, Vancouver, BC, Canada, fotoeins.com

My Vancouver: Chinatown Memorial Square

Above/featured: Chinatown Memorial Square, Vancouver, Canada – 15 Mar 2019 (X70).

Living in and between two societies can often mean a fractured existence; unclear and ambiguous it might be at times between cultural identity at birth with the country of birth.

But my truth is and always has been very simple.

I am Canadian. I am Chinese. I am Chinese-Canadian. I am Canadian-Chinese.

I am all of these, and all of these make up who I am.

I believe my parents would not have emigrated to Canada, that my sister and I would not have been born and raised here in this country, had it not been for the perseverance and hard work by early-generations of Chinese Canadians.

Memorial to Chinese Canadians

The history of the city of Vancouver and of the province of British Columbia includes the history of Chinese people in Canada. These histories are inseparable.

What is significant and well-documented are: the impact by Chinese on the construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR), the completion of which delivered in 1871 the “promise” of British Columbia joining Canadian confederation; the 19th-century “gold rush”; fighting racism and state-sponsored repression; volunteering to fight for a country who didn’t want or recognize them; and their subsequent rightful claims of their right to become Canadian citizens and the right to vote.

Standing at the northeast corner of Keefer Street and Columbia Street in Vancouver’s Chinatown is a memorial to early Chinese-Canadians. The stylized “中” character is surrounded by two sculptures representing important times in Canadian history: a Chinese-Canadian working on the national railway, and a Chinese-Canadian soldier serving in World War Two. In the context of the memorial, the character “中” also represents harmony in spirit, and a declaration and recognition of the past and present, and hopes for the future.

Inscriptions at the memorial are as follows:

This Chinatown Memorial Monument is the creation of sculptor Mr. Arthur Shu-Ren Cheng. The bronze statues of the railway worker and the World War II veteran represent the sacrifices made by Chinese Canadians in building a united and prosperous Canada. The main column is a stylized form of the Chinese character “centre” (“中”) which symbolizes Chinese culture. The Chinese couplet inscribed on the front and back of the column reads:

(Front/Left) “Rich legacies of Chinese pioneers shining bright as the sun and moon.”

(Back/Right) “Great deeds of noble forbears zeal entrenched as mountains and rivers.”

In commemoration of the significant contributions of Chinese Canadians to the growth, vitality and prosperity of Vancouver, British Columbia and Canada.

The Chinatown Memorial Monument is funded by the City of Vancouver, Province of British Columbia, and Government of Canada under the Vancouver agreement.

Unveiled on the 2nd November 2003

 

 

Chinatown Memorial Square can be reached by TransLink with the SkyTrain to Stadium-Chinatown Station, or with any of bus routes 3, 4, 7, 8, 14, 16, 19, 20, 22, 50, or C23.

More

•   Chinese building the CPR: “Nitro”, video by Historica Canada.
•   Chinese Canadians in military service Chinese Canadian Military Museum.
•   Remembering Gim Wong

This post appears on Fotoeins Fotografie at fotoeins DOT com as https://wp.me/p1BIdT-3YG. Initial photos for the 2013 post have been removed, and a 2019 photo has been inserted in a 2021 edit.