Second World War / Japanese Canadian Military Service / Service in Europe Before Pearl Harbor
Members of the Tanaka family served in the First and Second World Wars. Taisuke Tanaka was from Kagoshima-ken. He arrived in Canada in 1910 and moved to Lethbridge, where he eventually worked as a barber. In 1916, he enlisted in the 209th Overseas Battalion. He served in France in the 10th Battalion. He was wounded at the Battle of Vimy Ridge on April 1917, and was wounded again on August 15, losing his right eye. He was hospitalized and returned to Canada for further medical care in 1919. He purchased farmland near Wymark, Saskatchewan and with his wife, raised five children. His sons Minoru and Harry volunteered for the Canadian Army during the Second World War in 1941 and served in armored regiments. Harry served in North Africa, Italy, Belgium, and Holland, returning home in 1945. Minoru served in France and Germany. He died in Germany in 1945 when his Sherman tank suffered a direct hit. He is buried in Nijmegen, Holland (Ito, 1984, p. 158).
