Chinese Red Cross International Medical Relief Corps in Hong Kong 1939 | Gwulo: Old Hong Kong

Chinese Red Cross International Medical Relief Corps in Hong Kong 1939

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Submitted by robertmam on Thu, 2016-08-18 21:33

Dear Colleagues:

 I wondered if you could share any potential information that may be in your archives related to the Chinese Red Cross that was headquartered in Hong Kong from 1938 – 1942.  My specific interest is the international members of the medical relief corps of the Chinese Red Cross.

 They had been sent to China by the China Medical Aid Committees of England and Norway and the League of Nations. They were assisted in Hong Kong by the China Defence League of Madame Sun Yat Sen and the Foreign Auxilliary of the CRC led by Bishop Ronald Hall and Hilda Selwyn Clarke.

 We are completing a book on these physicians who then served with Dr. Robert Lim at the CRC headquarters in Guiyang China.  One member was my father, Dr. Erich Mamlok, who arrived in Hong Kong in September 1939 and was interned by the British in Hong Kong prior to his travel to Guiyang.  Any potential holdings regarding these physicians would be most helpful.  I will be visiting Hong Kong on September 6th and would very much like to view any potential information that may be available.  Your kind assistance is again most appreciated.

 

Best regards,

 

 

Robert Mamlok, MD

Professor of Pediatrics

Texas Tech University HSC

USA

 

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Submitted by David on Fri, 2016-08-19 13:43.

Hi Robert,

Have you been in touch with Elizabeth Ride to see if she has any information in her collection of information about the British Army Aid Group in China? They'd have been working in China at a similar time, so may have had contact with your group.

Let me know if you'd like me to put you in contact.

Regards, David

Submitted by robertmam on Sat, 2016-08-20 03:48.

Thanks David.  That would be great to be in contact.  This group was in Hong Kong in 1939, prior to the Japanese take over, but some members remained in contact with the CDL and it is possible that there may be some leads in that later  period.  I always hope that someone might know what happened to the lost Archives fo the Chinese Defense League and the Foreign Auxiliary of the National Red Cross Society of China that was in Hong Kong from 1938 - 1943.

 

Best regars,

 

Bob

Submitted by David on Sat, 2016-08-20 18:17.

I've just sent an email to put you and Elizabeth in touch.

Which of the Red Cross offices have you tried so far in the search for records?

Regards, David

Submitted by robertmam on Sun, 2016-08-21 20:36.

Hi David:

 

Thank you for putting me in touch with Elizabeth Ride.  It does indeed tak a whole village to unravel some of these stories through the fog of time, war and language.  We have relied on our parents diaries, the national archives of GB and the US and the archives of ABMAC at the Hoover Institute at Stanford and Columbia University.  The IRC and League of Nations offices  In Geneva may have some information I have not yet looked at.  My father was sposnored by the League of Nations, Dr. Cohn by the ABMAC and most of the rest by the informal China Medical Aid Committees in London and Oslo that worked with the Comintern and China Defense League to get them released from internment Camps after the Spanish Civil War..  Thanks again for your help.

 

Best regards,

 

Bob

Submitted by Admin on Mon, 2016-08-22 16:15.

Thanks Bob, glad that helped. Elizabeth gave permission to post the document she sent, it is online at http://gwulo.com/node/34158 I hadn't heard any of this before, and hope others find it interesting too.

Another possible source for you is the "Escape from Hong Kong" group. The original escapees met Dr Lim when they got near to Guiyang. The team that have reasearched the escape have a page about it at: http://www.hongkongescape.org/Lim.htm (MUTE YOUR SPEAKERS IF YOU ARE IN A QUIET PLACE! That page automatically starts playing a short recording when you visit it.)

For Red Cross sources, it looks as though Dr Lim and his organisation ended up in Taiwan, so I wondered if the Taiwan Red Cross would have any of these old records.

Regards, David