Cameron was living in Buckingham and working in his father’s General Motors Garage and Dealership, before enlisting in the Royal Canadian Army. In July 1940, Cameron enlisted in Ottawa in the Royal Canadian Army Service Corps as a private in Unit No. 9 Detachment.

A few months later he was transferred to the Royal Canadian Ordnance corps in Unit HQ Force "C".

He then traveled by train to Winnipeg and Vancouver and sailed for Hong Kong in October 1941. He arrived in Hong Kong in November 1941 and became part of "C" Force Brigade Headquarters staff. He worked in Hong Kong as a Clerk.

After the Japanese captured Hong Kong in December 1941, Cameron was first interned as a Prisoner of War there. Later he was transported to Japan where he worked in the Nippon-Koken shipyard in the Yokohama-Tokyo area as forced slave labour.

On January 20, 1944, a large fire broke out in this yard, completely destroying the steel shed, ship outfitting stores, prisoner of war mess hall, riggers’ lobby, tool rooms, part of the ship fitters shop and mould loft. The fire reduced the production of the yard by about 60% for a period of at least eight months.

At this time the yard was building escort destroyers and merchant shipping. also, before the fire, there was considerable repair work being carried out.

The fire was started by Sgt. Clark and Corp. Kenneth Cameron, Royal Canadian Ordnance Corps. The method used was a candle, the bottom of which was surrounded with celluloid shavings accumulated from soap boxes. The length of the candle determined the time of firing. This incendiary medium was placed behind some rubbish in one of the little-used and inspected storerooms.

The Japanese authorities made a very thorough investigation of the damage caused by the fire but were unable to determine its cause or the part played by these two men.

If the part that Clark and Cameron had played in this sabotage, had been discovered, undoubtedly they would have been executed or tortured to death.