Hong Kong surrendered on Christmas Day; British forces failed to check the invader at any point in Malaya for more than a moment, and Singapore, with a great force of troops, was lost on 15 February; in the Philippines, General MacArthur's forces continued to fight on in Bataan, but it was clear that there could be only one end.
Simultanément et conformément à des ordres antérieurs, trois batteries d'artillerie de campagne quittaient leurs postes des Prairies pour aller à New-Westminster, où elles formèrent le 21e régiment de campagne de l'Artillerie royale canadienne.