C Force was stationed at the Shamshuipo camp of spacious and comfortable huts built in the 1920s which however lacked toilets. As the daily wage for a servant in Hong Kong was 25 cents per day, every soldier had a servant assigned to him who shaved his face and washed their uniforms, leading men who had lived through the Great Depression to perceive life in Hong Kong as the height of luxury, though the absence of toilets' together with the daily rounds of the nightsoil trucks were considered to be revolting. The majority of the men liked Hong Kong, seen as an exotic "Eastern" city full of Western comforts. A great many of the soldiers had grown up in the small towns of rural Manitoba and Quebec enjoyed the "sophisticated nightlife" of Hong Kong. One soldier from Oshawa, Jeff Marston, wrote home to his mother on 23 November 1941, being very enthusiastic about Hong Kong, saying it was a "beautiful city". The same letter mentioned that the Canadians loved to spent their free time at the "Roller-Dome" for roller-skating that was full of the "loveliest looking Chinese girls I have ever seen" and a luxurious dance hall called the Dreamland where the latest "hit" American pop music was played. Marston stated that the Hong Kong Chinese at the Dreamland dance hall were "ever good dancers" and "the way they dress here is simply terrific...the girls wear their dress 'cut' and they reach as far down as their ankles. Although the colors are dazzling (and they all wear sandals)". Marston's letter, which was typical of the letters sent home from Hong Kong, concluded: "I am having a really marvelous time here, the food is excellent. Its marvelous to see the things I have read about in Picture Magazines only to come true before my very eyes". Though Canadians had previously served in Asia when a Canadian garrison occupied the Russian city of Vladivostok ("the star of the east") in Siberia during the Russian Civil War, members of C Force believed that they were the first Canadian military force to serve in Asia, which was seen as a great honor.