Monty Monying Lee was born March 17, 1923 and raised in Vancouver’s Chinatown at a time when Chinese born in Canada were denied the right to vote. He was the eldest son of a vegetable pedlar, Kum Shing (Sam) and his wife Kwok See Lee.

He was initially rejected by the RCAF when he tried to sign up. But eventually, the race restriction was lifted and in September 1941 Monty began training with the Air Force.

He went on to specialize as a bomb aimer and flew in a variety of bombers including the four-engine Halifax bomber.

Monty Lee in his Mae West

Monty was assigned to coastal patrol and was stationed out of Labrador. He spent hundreds of hours flying up and down the eastern coastline looking for German U-boats while accompanying merchant marine convoys out to sea.

His efforts enabled hundreds of ships to carry vital supplies from Halifax to war-ravaged Great Britain.

Monty was an active member of the Chinese Canadian Military Museum up until the very end of his life. Sadly, he died on December 4, 2019 at age 96.

Monty Lee in his heated flight suit

Watch Monty describe his experiences to his grandson in 2014.

Check out Monty’s interview for the Memory Project.

Check out a Summer 2017 interview with Monty.