When Gordon Quan was growing up in Victoria in the 1930s, he was not allowed to go to the swimming pool and had to sit in a separate part of the movie theater.

Canadians of Chinese origin could not vote and did not have access to certain professions.

Many even had to abandon their Chinese names in favor of English names deemed easier to pronounce. In Quan’s case, a teacher suggested that “Gordon” — from the comic strip Flash Gordon — was better than his real name, Juy Kong.

But when Quan turned 18 and was allowed to join the Canadian Army, he never hesitated.

“I said I will go and I will fight… I volunteered,” Quan said – now just two months shy of his 99th birthday – as he handed out poppies at Mayfair Mall on Friday for his branch of the Royal Canadian Legion, Britannia No. 7. .

Quan said it was his “duty” as a Canadian to go, even though he and thousands of others of his same heritage faced racism and were often separated in daily life. “It was like that,” said Quan, born in Cumberland in 1926.

By 1944, Quan was all in, volunteering to join a secret British-led commando unit – Force 136 – to fight the Japanese in the jungles of Burma.

The Burmese campaign, often referred to as the Forgotten War in comparison to the European and Pacific theaters, was a brutal campaign, fraught with arduous marches, sabotage and reconnaissance missions, against a backdrop of hot, humid conditions and the threat of disease. .

After basic training in Maple Creek, Saskatchewan, along with about 600 other Chinese Canadians, they were given a choice: fight the Germans in Europe or the Japanese in Southeast Asia.

It wasn’t a difficult decision.

During his early teenage years in Victoria, Quan had raised funds in Chinatown for the forces fighting the Japanese, who had invaded China in 1937. He also had a direct and personal connection to his parents’ country of origin. After Quan’s father died when he was five, his mother took her son to the family village in China, but they returned to Victoria when he was nine.

After his training, Quan was shipped to England and transferred to the British Army’s Special Operations Executive Force 136, which worked with resistance groups in Japanese-occupied countries like Burma, supplying them and helping to carry out sabotage operations.

They were flown to a camp near Poona, India, where Quan trained as a demolition expert as part of a 15-man commando team.

His team included another Victorian, Harry Chow.

Quan endured 50-kilometer marches during which officers used live machine gun fire to teach soldiers to keep their heads down.

He learned how to parachute behind enemy lines, use a knife and gun, what plants to eat in the jungle, and how to use detonators and plastic explosives to blow up bridges, railroad tracks, and munitions depots.

For two months in the jungle near the Malaysia-Burma border, Quan carried a .45 or .38 caliber handgun and, if captured, a cyanide pill.

But Quan never participated in the fight. In August 1945, as his team prepared for combat, he was told that the war was over after the United States dropped atomic bombs on Japan.

“Without that, I wouldn’t be here today,” Quan said.

He received the Canadian Forces Decoration with two bars, the Canadian Volunteer Service Medal, the Star of Burma medal and the Order of Military Merit, which Quon wears proudly.

When Quan finally got the chance to vote, it was in the 1949 federal election and he has voted in almost every election since.

He settled in Victoria after the war, washing dishes at the Victoria Cafe and The Mandarin restaurant and working in construction. He trained as an auto mechanic, raised a family of five, and eventually became a mechanical foreman for the City of Victoria.

Quan wanted to volunteer for the Korean conflict, but was rejected because he was raising a young family at the time.

He joined the Army Reserve, serving 35 years before retiring as Regimental Sergeant Major of the 11th Company of the 39th Service Battalion.

Quan said obstacles for Chinese Canadians began to ease after he returned from the war.

His childhood friend Andrew Wong, who served during the war in the American Merchant Marine and then the Canadian Merchant Marine, successfully challenged the rule barring Chinese from Crystal Pool.

Quan said that when the new facility was built on Quadra Street, Wong was one of the first rescuers.

Quan remains active at age 98. He is the proud owner of a three-wheel electric bike and regularly takes trips with his daughter and son-in-law to the North Saanich Airport trails. Most recently, he was able to board the Martin Mars water bomber on display at the BC Aviation Museum.

He regularly speaks to veterans groups and visits other ex-soldiers at Broadmead Care’s Veterans Memorial Lodge. He takes time to get to know everyone at his own residence on Ross Place, next to the site of the North Ward School, where he took classes decades ago.

Quan has been scattering poppies in anticipation of Remembrance Day for decades. “We cannot forget the knowledge of World War II,” he said. “That’s why I come today and I always do this. People cannot forget the sacrifices veterans make.

Quan’s daughter, Annette Quan, said her father retained his enthusiasm throughout his long life.

“He never had any hard feelings (about discrimination),” she said. “He never seemed to carry that or dwell on it. He just takes it as human kindness (on his part).

During a recent visit to the Victoria Chinatown Museum, her father spoke with younger children about the importance of the sacrifices made by veterans, Annette said.

As for Quan, he attributes his longevity to “discipline, diet and exercise.”

“I enjoyed the armed forces and if I was young, I would re-enlist again,” Quan said, adding that his experience in the military gave him useful lessons for life.

Quan said he feels lucky to keep his memory vivid – and his undeniable spirit – as the century approaches.

“I try to help people if possible, understand people and be respectful to people… if I continue to do that, then that’s good.”

– with files from Jack Knox

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