had lost my mind. I knew this was suicide. I knew I would never live through that day and then I thought to myself, well, if they're gonna mutiny, now is the time because this order is insane...but I stood in front of my troops and said 'We're going in at one o'clock.'...Not a single man said 'I can't do it, I wanna be relieved, I've been wounded', not a single person asked to be excused from the attack. Not a single man". The D company of the Royal Rifles commanded by McDonell advanced across four hundred yards of open ground, but were helped by the fact that the Japanese were not expecting a counterattack. Upon reaching the Japanese lines, fierce hand-to-hand fighting occurred with both sides using their bayonets to avoid killing their own as the close quarters made it inadvisable to fire their rifles. Finally the Japanese were expelled by the Royal Rifles. As the Japanese retreated across the open road, McDonell had his men open fire on them with submachine guns and three Bren guns, remembering that their losses were substantial. Furious at being defeated, the Japanese vented their fury via the St. Stephen's College massacre, storming into the makeshift hospital operating at the St. Stephens College to massacre all of the wounded soldiers being treated there. During the battle for Stanley village, the Royal Rifles had taken 100 casualties, of which 28 were fatal. As for Japanese losses, McDonell remembered: "We killed an awful lot of them. My God". Later in the day, the Japanese began to counterattack and McDonell was forced to order a retreat after almost running out of ammunition. As the Royal Rifles were forced to retreat, McDonell stayed behind to operate a Bren gun. Later the same day, the news came that Maltby had surrendered, ordering all of the men under his command to lay day their arms and accept whatever mercy the Japanese were prepared to give. As the Royal Rifles collected their dead to bury them under Japanese guard, McDonell was struck by how much dried blood there was on the streets of Stanley. In the subsequent fight for Hong Kong island, the Canadians lost 290 personnel of which 130 were from the Grenadiers. The commander of West Brigade HQ, Brigadier Lawson, was killed. The remaining Canadian soldiers surrendered to the Japanese on Christmas Day. Awards Soldiers of 'C' Force