Thomas MAYCOCK (aka Tommy) [c.1917-1946] | Gwulo: Old Hong Kong

Thomas MAYCOCK (aka Tommy) [c.1917-1946]

Primary tabs

Submitted by jill on Wed, 2012-01-25 03:55
Names
Given: 
Thomas
Family: 
Maycock
Alias / nickname: 
Tommy
Sex: 
Male
Status: 
Deceased
Birth
Date: 
c.1917-01-01 (Year, Month, Day are approximate)
Death
Date: 
c.1946-12-01 (Month, Day are approximate)
Connections: 
  • Log in or register to post comments

Comments

Submitted by jill on Wed, 2012-01-25 20:29.
Does anyone have any information about the Maycock family, who were friends of my own family (the Warrens)? They looked after my uncle, Leslie Warren, after he sent his family home in 1938 and stayed on in Hong Kong till 1941 to manage the family company. I have gleaned the following information from the Carl Smith Records:
 
Thomas Edward Maycock, known as Tommy, son of John and Yoshino Maycock was born in Hong Kong and educated at the Central British School. He died aged 29 at Vetnor, Isle of Wight after being interned at Stanley. (Reported SCMP Dec. 22 1946). He left four brothers, Johnnie, Willie, Robbie and Ernie. His brother Arthur had died in 1936 aged 24. Ernie (Ernest Richard Maycock) fought in the defence of Hong Kong and was taken prisoner at Chung Hom Kok on HK Island on Christmas Eve 1941. He was a POW in Shamshui po Camp 1941-late 1943 and in Japan from 1943 until the liberation of HK. He joined the government in Nov. 1946 and was decorated in the 1984 New Year Honours (Reported SCMP Dec. 31 1983)
 
The newspapers do not record how Tommy Maycock died. I’ve now heard from Tony Banham that Johnnie, Willie and Robbie were all POWs. Their parents, John, (d. 1954) Yoshino (d. 1952) and their brother, Arthur are buried in the Protestant cemetery in Happy Valley.
 
Barbara Anslow mentions in her Stanley diary that Tommy Maycock took clothes to her mother in the Queen Mary hospital just before the internment in Stanley. She has given me permission to add these details:
 
“Tommy Maycock (about my age) is on Greg Leck’s list as a motor mechanic, I knew him by sight, and I associate him in my mind with motor-bikes, I seem to remember him coming into ARP HQ at Happy Valley either shortly before the Jap attack, or maybe during the battle, and I think it possible that he was acting as an ARP messenger on his motor bike.   He seemed quite short and younger than his age. Am not at all sure about these suppositions though!”
 
She also mentions in her diary that Tommy was at the Garrison School when she and her sisters were there in 1929.
 
I’d be grateful to know if anyone has come across any information about this large and hospitable family particularly John Maycock snr. or Tommy himself before, during or after the war. 

Submitted by therapy1810 on Fri, 2013-10-18 19:09.

Hi Jill

Have just seen your query - quite by chance!I am Tommy's niece!

Submitted by jill on Sat, 2013-10-19 19:45.

Well, what a surprise to hear from you, therapy1810! Thank you for responding. Which Maycock was your father (or mother)? I’m not sure that Carl Smith registered all the members of your family. It seems that my uncle, Leslie Warren, (1900-1943) must have been a close friend of your family - perhaps of Tommy.  Do you know the original Hong Kong address of John and Yoshino? Which country do you live in? As I know nothing about the Maycocks except what I have posted above, it would be good to have a chat!

Jill

Submitted by jill on Mon, 2013-11-11 20:56.

Hello therapy1810

In case you ever come back to Gwulo, I wonder if, by any chance Tommy's brother, Ernest Maycock, is in the HKVD Signals Christmas photo of 1939 that I posted on 

http://gwulo.com/node/17124

I see from the Carl Smith card  quoted above, that, like my uncle Leslie Warren, Ernest was in the HKVD Corps in 1939. I don't know if he was in the Signals Corp though. Ernest was in the New Year Honours list of 31 December 1983. Let me repeat the text of the card again, as he deserves an individual post: "Ernest Richard Maycock, joined H.K. Volunteer Defence Corps in 1939. Fought in the defence of H.K. and was taken prisoner at Chung Hom Kok on H.K. Island on Christmas Eve 1941. He was prisoner in Shamshui Po Camp 1941-late 1943, and in Japan from 1943 until the liberation of H.K.  Joined the Govt. in Nov. 1946 and is due to retire at the end of the month." SCMP Dec. 22, 1946. There may be a line missing from the photocopy of the card, as it should say what honour he received. Is Ernest perhaps your father?

Jill

Submitted by Admin on Tue, 2013-11-12 22:02.

Henry Ching writes:

There were four brothers of Thomas who served in the HKVDC.  John was in the Field Company Engineers and Ernest was in No.2 Company; I don’t know the units for Robert and William.  All but Robert were sent to Japan in the Fifth Draft.

Before the war The Maycocks lived in Happy Valley, in a flat in Wang Tak Street. I think the building was called “Village Villas” – it was close by where I lived at No.9 Village Road.

Submitted by jill on Wed, 2013-11-13 02:35.

Thank you, Henry, for this information. As I've said in a previous post, my uncle Leslie Warren, an engineer like John, apparently stayed with the Maycocks at some point after his own family left for England in 1938. There may be another connection between the Warrens and the Maycocks in that both families seemingly had a base in the Isle of Wight. The four Warren children spent their holidays with an aunt in Shanklin, Isle of Wight during the years that they were at school in England. Tommy Maycock, after internment in Stanley, died in Ventnor, Isle of Wight in 1946 aged only 29 (SCMP Dec. 22 1946). Tony Banham mentions in his War Diary that the Maycocks were badly treated as prisoners on account of their Japanese mother.  

Jill

Submitted by chinagate on Thu, 2015-10-22 18:44.

Hi, Willie Maycock was a family friend and also later, a neighbour. He was an executive with Cold Storage for many years until bad health and age made for retirement. He was in Hong kong until the '60s. After that I do not know.

dennis Quong

Submitted by jill on Mon, 2017-07-10 00:43.

Hello Dennis. I'm sorry that I must have missed your post about Willie Maycock. As it happens, I've just received a copy of my uncle Leslie Warren's last letter to his wife from Hong Kong. It's dated 2nd May 1941. In it he writes: "I'm still with the Maycocks, Eva and Willie, and they look after me like a brother. I've put on 10 lbs since I came here!"

As I've said in my previous post, I understand that Willie was a POW and, like his brothers, treated badly on account of his Japanese mother. Thank you for posting the information about his career and the fact that he was in Hong Kong until the '60s.

Jill