Kenneth BIDMEAD (aka Ken) [????-2007] | Gwulo: Old Hong Kong

Kenneth BIDMEAD (aka Ken) [????-2007]

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Submitted by Admin on Mon, 2012-04-16 18:26
Names
Given: 
Kenneth
Family: 
Bidmead
Alias / nickname: 
Ken
Sex: 
Male
Status: 
Deceased
Death
Date: 
2007-10-11
Tags: 
police
WW2: Interned at Stanley Camp
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Comments

Submitted by HO Lim-peng on Wed, 2012-05-02 07:05.

Police Officer, eventually became an Assistant Commissioner.

Submitted by Admin on Mon, 2012-05-21 17:32.

andylambert wrote:

My mother was Ken's secretary 1955 - 1957. Does anyone have news of him?

Thanks in anticipation.

Andy Lambert (her son).

C replied:

Hi Andy,

Below is the information I can find online.  Hope it is helpful.

When war broke out in Hong Kong in 1941, he was a superintendent at Police Headquarters, and an assistant to Senior Superintendent Willie La B. Sparrow.  After the fall of Hong Kong, he was initially imprisoned in Luk Hoi Tong Boarding House.
(Source:  http://www.hongkongwardiary.com/searchgarrison/uniformedcivilians.html)

Escaped from Stanley Internment Camp on 8 Apr. 1942, but was captured on the same day and was imprisoned at St. Margaret's School.
(Source:  We Shall Suffer There: Hong Kong's Defenders Imprisoned, 1942-45.  By Tony Banham)

King's Police and Fire Services Medal -- 2 Jan. 1950 (he was Assistant Commissioner of Police, Hong Kong)
Ordinary Officer of the Civil Division of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) -- 1 Jan. 1957 (he was Deputy Commissioner of Police, Hong Kong)
(Source:  Supplement to the London Gazette)

"Retired Deputy Commissioner Kenneth Andrew Bidmead passed away in the UK on October 11. He retired in August 1963."
(Source: OffBeat, Issue 859, 7 to 20 Nov. 2007;  http://www.police.gov.hk/offbeat/859/eng/  -->  Click "In Brief" at top right corner --> Obituary)

His widow donated a portrait of former Commissioner Mr Duncan MacIntosh to the Hong Kong Police Force Museum.  He was "Deputy Commissioner from 1953 to 1954" [Note: The year "1954" is wrong.  According to the information above, he was still Deputy Commissioner on 1 Jan. 1957].
(Source:  OffBear, Issue 890, 11 to 24, Mar. 2009;  http://www.police.gov.hk/offbeat/890/eng/n17.htm)

Submitted by C on Mon, 2012-05-21 21:01.

More......

Funeral Notice:

BIDMEAD, Kenneth Andrew, O.B.E., K.P.M. died peacefully on October 11th, aged 98. Deeply loved husband, father, grandfather and great-grandfather. The private funeral has already taken place. A Memorial Service will be held in Brushford Church, Somerset, on November 26th at 11:30am. No flowers please, but donations, if desired, to the Alzheimer’s Society, or to the Royal Hong Kong Police Association.

(Source: http://www.whsquires.co.uk/obituaries_archive_2007.html)

 

Deceased Estates Notice in the London Gazette, which has the name of his widow or relative -- Karen Elizabeth Bidmead:

Name of Deceased (Surname first):  BIDMEAD, Kenneth Andrew
Address, description and date of death of Deceased:  Nutsford House, Brushford, Dulverton, Somerset TA22 9RT. 11 October 2007.
Names, addresses and descriptions of Persons to whom notices of claims are to be given and names, in parentheses, of Personal Representatives:  Ashfords Solicitors, Gotham House, Tiverton, Devon EX16 6LT. (Karen Elizabeth Bidmead)
Claim Date:  13 June 2008
Notice Number:  (488957)

(Source: http://www.london-gazette.co.uk/issues/58656/notices/488882/all=Richmond)

Submitted by Philip on Sat, 2012-08-11 15:49.

There are a number of references to him in Prisoner of the Turnip Heads (George Wright-Nooth) some not entirely complimentary and maybe for that reason he appears under the pseudonom of Kevin Smyth. He did ofcourse make a failed escape from Stanley and was sentenced to period in Stanley Prison under very difficult conditions. Best rgds,  Philip Cracknell

Submitted by moddsey on Sat, 2014-03-22 20:58.

R. MacKenzie, then CIP in 1964 in this issue of the Police Magazine recounts

" I was put up into a 'palatial place' called the Luk Hoi Tong with about 150 of my fellow officers. The two-storey Luk Hoi Tong was situated near to Connaught Road Central and the Sincere Company premises. I shared a room with four others, two to a bed, no exercise and never ending supplies of half-cooked chicken feet and a cacophony of sound from the rats running across the wire mesh above our beds.

On 22 January 1942, we left this 'hotel' and were marched to Sam Kok Ma Tau (Triangular Pier) where we all boarded an enormous junk and were towed by a launch via Green Island and Aberdeen to Stanley."

Submitted by Jessica Bidmead on Sat, 2016-04-16 05:08.
Hi. Can you please tell me how you know it's a puesdo name? I'm gonna read this book as he is my grandad.. Best wishes

Submitted by David on Mon, 2016-04-18 13:17.

Hi Jessica,

In Wright-Nooth's book he lists "Kevin Smythe" as one of four members of an escape party, with the other three as Fay, Randall, and Morrison.

All the contemporary reports list your Grandfather as the fourth member of the party, eg: http://gwulo.com/node/19944

If you can add any information about his time in Stanley and Hong Kong, we'll be very interested to read it.

Regards, David

Submitted by Jessica Bidmead on Wed, 2016-04-20 16:50.

Hello,

This is very interesting!

Yes I know that Ken worked with George Wright - Nooth in the police force and that they did not get on. They also lived very close (even next door) to each other. 
My mum can tell you a lot more as she grew up in Hong Kong and was his daughter.

Would like to ask specific questions? or just get her memories? She went to Peak school also for many years.

Regards,

Jessica Bidmead

Submitted by David on Wed, 2016-04-20 16:59.

Any memories of Ken's wartime years, and of your mum growing up in Hong Kong will be very interesting to hear. (We enjoy seeing any old photos too!) Then here are some specific questions I can think of:

  • Did Ken keep any diary, or write any memoir of his wartime years? We have a small collection of diaries and memoirs from that time that we're always hoping to add to: http://gwulo.com/list-of-diaries
  • If not, were there any particular events from that time he used to talk about that we could hear about?
  • Where did your mum live on the Peak? What was it like?
  • Did she go to the original Peak School (http://gwulo.com/node/5230) or the new one (http://gwulo.com/peak-school) ? What does she remember of that?
  • Are there any other memories of life in Hong Kong that deserve a special mention?

Thanks & regards, David

Submitted by Tideswell27 on Tue, 2017-06-20 07:14.

Hello Jessica

I refer to your query above regarding "pseudo names." I don't know if you have been able to read the captioned book yet, but I thought I would point out that George Wright-Nooth was (shall we say) at times somewhat circumspect in what he wrote. He was also on occasion critical of people with whom he either did not along or whom he did not like, and therefore chose to change names of individuals.

In addition I think it fair to say that time often plays tricks with the memory, and there are examples of that in his book. Best regards.

 

Submitted by moddsey on Tue, 2018-07-10 09:34.

One of the early products of the Far East Flying Training School. Ken Bidmead received his pilot's licence in August 1938. HK Daily Press 5 August 1938 refers.