One of Toronto's first Chinese-Canadian pharmacists also played a then-secret role in fighting WWII

Before George Thomas (Tom) Lock became one of the first pharmacists of Chinese descent to graduate from U of T, he was part of a small group of Chinese-Canadians recruited to a secret branch of the British military in the Second World War known as Force 136. Their mission, Operation Oblivion, was to parachute behind enemy lines in the southeast Asia to gather intelligence and support local resistance groups. The men who participated in Force 136 are being honoured on a commemorative Remembrance Day stamp released by Canada Post.While the details of his military career remained a secret for many years, Tom built a pharmacy career back at home in Toronto, always demonstrating a strong commitment to the Chinese community and his local neighbourhood.“I remember one of my first days working at the store, my dad told me that at Tom Lock Drugs we have one rule: We treat everybody the same, no matter what their station in life is,” says Keith Lock, one of Tom’s three children, now a filmmaker. “In those days, the customers were a wide range of people from a range of social statuses. Hanging around the store was like watching the parade of life because there was always so much going on.” Secret Chinese-Canadian unit trained for covert operations in AsiaTom was born in Toronto in 1916 and grew up in the Chinatown and Kensington Market neighbourhoods. At the time, Chinese-Canadians experienced significant discrimination and racism: Immigration from China was banned through the Chinese Immigration Act (often called the Chinese Exclusion Act), and Chinese-Canadians were not considered full citizens, were not able to vote and were limited to certain jobs. After the Second World War started in 1939, it was official government policy not to accept Chinese-Canadians who wanted to enlist in the military; however, a recruiter allowed Tom to enlist, and he started to receive training in dentistry to serve in the Royal Canadian Dental Corps.After Pearl Harbor was bombed in 1941 and the United States and Britain declared war on Japan, the British military looked for Chinese-Canadian soldiers who could lead secret intelligence missions behind enemy lines in southeast Asia. Tom was one of 13 soldiers who volunteered first for the highly dangerous operation. In 1944, the group began training in British Columbia and Australia, learning about guerilla warfare, jungle survival, explosives and parachuting. The unit prepared to gather intelligence, support local resistance groups and sabotage Japanese communication and infrastructure. Japan surrendered in August 1945, before some of the men could be deployed, and some of the unit assisted with freeing prisoners of war and assisting with the surrender. Tom returned to Toronto after the war and his military service were complete. Though Chinese immigration to Canada was still not permitted, his new wife, Joan, who was Chinese-Australian, was eventually able to join him as a war bride. Trained as a microbiologist in Australia, she worked at The Hospital for Sick Children, and Tom and Joan raised three children. The contributions of Chinese-Canadians in the Second World War, including Tom’s, have been credited with helping to change Canada’s discriminatory laws in 1947, which ended the Chinese Immigration Act, granted Chinese-Canadians full citizenship and the right to vote, and allowed them to pursue more professions.Tom Lock’s pharmacy served diverse and marginalized communitiesAlthough Tom had originally planned to study dentistry, he decided to attend U of T’s College of Pharmacy instead. He and his friend, Sam Chin, graduated in 1951 and are among the first Chinese-Canadian U of T pharmacy graduates.Tom opened his pharmacy, Tom Lock Drugs, in 1954 in the neighbourhood formerly known as the Ward, on Dundas Street West near the Bay Street bus terminal.Chinatown and the Ward were home to a large number of aging and unhoused Chinese men, forced to live alone as a result of Canada’s discriminatory immigration policies. But the neighbourhood was home to other marginalized and diverse groups – and Tom welcomed them all.Keith says that Tom purposely wanted a store that could serve the Chinese community of Toronto. In addition to Western medicines, he stocked a few Chinese traditional medicines and helped people translate medical information and complete government forms.“There weren’t any drug stores in Chinatown at the time, and Chinese pharmacists were very rare. Tom wanted to help the community and work with people, and he chose to open his store in Chinatown to serve that community,” says Keith. “He liked people and interacting with them, and having the store allowed him to be able to do that. He was always very open to talk with people and engage with them. He had a sense of humour and that probably helped him engage and interact with people from the neighbourhood.”As a child, Keith worked in the pharmacy after school. He remembers the brightly coloured walls – a nod to Tom’s artistic talents – and the buzz of activity that seemed to always be taking place in the store. Tom was a fixture of the neighbourhood who would ask Keith and his other kids for CDRs, “complete detailed reports,” of the neighbourhood happenings that day. “The people in the community would jokingly refer to him as the mayor of Chinatown,” remembers Keith. “He was always helping people with what they needed.”Tom made lasting impact in Chinese community and pharmacyTom operated his pharmacy until the mid-1970s, when the building was bought by a new owner and rents increased. He continued to practice in other community pharmacies in nearby neighbourhoods for more than a decade. In 1988, Tom received the Pfizer Bowl of Hygeia from the Ontario Pharmacists’ Association, recognizing his civic leadership and community service.Outside of his work at the pharmacy, Tom was heavily involved with the Mon Sheong Foundation, which he helped to establish in the 1960s to support the Chinese community in Toronto, particularly older Chinese men with no families. His work with the Foundation continued long after he retired. He passed away in 2003 at the age of 88.From Tom’s military service to his pharmacy career and volunteering in the community, he was committed to using his education and skills to supporting the community. “Being in the Chinese community and having an education and military experience that many Chinese people didn’t have, he had the ability to help people who didn’t have those experiences,” says Keith. “Serving the community was just part of who he was.”This story was originally published by the University of Toronto and is published here with permission.

One of Toronto's first Chinese-Canadian pharmacists also played a then-secret role in fighting WWII

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