To commemorate the 70th anniversary of the end of the war in Europe, on May 9, 2015 we unveiled a refreshed museum with new exhibits and stories. Stories of courage, intrigue, perseverance, anguish and pain. Stories of individuals and stories of families and how the war shaped their lives.

Our goal is to research, collect and share with visitors the unique stories of the more 600 Chinese Canadians who fought in the Second World War. It was their sacrifices and loyalty to Canada that won all Chinese Canadians full citizenship.

• Read the story on navigator Jim Gen Lee who was killed just six weeks before the end of the war in Europe.

The Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia, the Honourable Judith Guichon, was on hand to cut the ribbon on our refurbished museum.

Museum President King Wan, Carol Lee, Lt. Governor Judith Guichon, MLA John Yap, Museum founder Howe Lee, and MLA Richard Lee.

Lieutenant Governor, the Honourable Judith Guichon, addresses the guests at the Museum opening.

Curator and exhibition designer Catherine Clement chats with WWII veteran Neill Chan.

Lieutenant Governor Judith Guichon speaks with museum historian Larry Wong.

WWII veteran Tommy CG Wong meets Lieutenant Governor Judith Guichon while another WWII veteran, Peggy Lee, looks on.

Chinese Cultural Centre board chair Fred Kwok, chats with William Kwok and Christine Faron Chan about one of the new exhibits.

Military historian and museum member Trevor Sam explains the story behind a model to family members. Trevor’s father — Douglas Sam — served in bomber command during the war. 

To commemorate the 100th anniversary of the start of WWI and to celebrate the 70th anniversary of D-Day, we unveiled a new exhibit at the museum for Asian Heritage Month.

The launch event was on May 14, 2015 and included a panel discussion with leading historians and a special screening of the documentary Operation Oblivion.

Panelists included: Dr. Henry Yu (UBC), Dr. Richard Vedan (UBC), Dr. John Price (Univ of Victoria) and Mr. Naveen Girn.

June 2013

A three-day summit – entitled Red Tails and Dragon Tales – brought together, for the first time ever, two groups of WWII veterans that faced discrimination: the Tuskegee Airmen and Chinese-Canadian veterans. Both groups’ military contributions were instrumental to helping the Allies win the war and also to changing societal attitudes in their home countries.

While most of their ranks have passed away, a few remaining veterans, mostly in their late 80s and 90s, met to share their stories.

During WWII, the Tuskegee airmen were the first group of African-American aviators to fly in combat for the US armed forces. At the time, the American military was still racially segregated. Many felt African-Americans lacked the intelligence and skill to perform anything beyond basic, menial tasks in military duty. Despite this segregation and prejudice, the Tuskegee Airmen went on to become one of the most highly respected fighter groups in the war. They were dubbed “the Red Tails” after one fighter group painted their P47s and later P51s with a red tail.

Meanwhile here in Canada, men and women of Chinese descent, who were born in Canada, were not allowed to vote. As well, the 1923 Exclusion Act was still in effect. That Act essentially banned Chinese Immigration to Canada. Despite this discrimination, when the WWII broke out, Chinese men and women volunteered in the hundreds to fight for Canada. They enlisted in every branch of the armed forces and participated in every theatre of war. The result: on May 14, 1947 Chinese-Canadians were finally granted the right to vote.

Dozens of people came out to hear the stories of these amazing veterans. It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to meet some veterans that changed everything.

Special thanks to the people and organizations that helped make this meeting possible: the Consulate of the United States Consulate; the City of Vancouver; and our very good friend and supporter, Don Chapman.

Our special exhibition explored the experiences of Chinese-Canadian who served in the Canadian military and volunteer services and in Allied war efforts during the Second World War. Though denied rights and subjected to widespread discrimination before the war, many Chinese-Canadians volunteered for military service and related duties, helping to secure victory abroad and greater equality at home.

One War, Two Victories exhibition at the Canadian War Museum (2012)

The exhibition presented fascinating wartime stories of unforgettable men and women. It examined their remarkable contributions to Canada and to the Chinese-Canadian community in war and peace. The research and exhibition, as well as digital archive of these precious materials, was made possible through a grant from the Community Historical Recognition Program.  We are also grateful for the wonderful support from the Canadian War Museum, and the City of Vancouver.

This exhibit was displayed at the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa from May 2012 to February 2013. It has travelled to other venues since then.

The display boards are available for loan to organizations who wish to share this important but lesser known part of Canadian history.

We thank the Citizenship and Immigration Canada for the grant to develop the display boards. And we thank the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa for their guidance and support in the development of the exhibition.

Here are some photos from the opening of the exhibit, thanks to our friend in Ottawa, Robert Yip.

WWII veterans (from left to right) Ed Lee; George Chow, Peggy Lee and Frank Wong cut the ribbon the One War, Two Victories exhibition at the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa.

Chinese Canadian veterans meet with Ottawa-area high school students and share their stories of the double victory at the Canadian War Museum. In this photo, Howe Lee, founding president of the Chinese Canadian Military Museum is presenting. 

WWII veteran Ed Lee, points to a photo of himself taken while he was stationed in India.

Chinese Canadian veterans delegation poses with Canadian War Museum and other supporters.