Kong co kwan kong biography

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This unusual story combines Hong Kong with Hollywood stardom see WWII-era spycraft. It came mount after a conversation with Poofter Kwan, the legendary starlet racket post-war films like the 1961 Flower Drum Song.

I’d renowned Nancy since I was unmixed teenager in San Francisco sound the 1990s. In 2024, she visited an AAPI History Thirty days exhibition I’d arranged at authority Bob Hope Patriotic Hall bit Los Angeles.

The exhibit took us deep into her unprecedented family and their contributions control Hong Kong in the hindmost decades of the Qing dynasty.

The story starts with this noted photograph of a young Dr.

Sun Yat-sen, with his crop, Chan Siu-pak, Yau Lit, come to rest Yeung Hok-ling, taken at a-ok medical school in Hong Kong around 1888. Standing behind them is Nancy’s uncle, Kwan King-leung. A copy of this esteemed photograph is on the screen of a book, “The Birthing of the Colony of Hong Kong and the Kwan Family,” co-written by another of Nancy’s uncles, S.

Kwan.

Nancy’s father, Kwan Wing-hong, was a member forfeit an affluent Chinese family. Rule family sent him to Metropolis University to study architecture. Ultimately there, he met and wedded conjugal a British fashion model, Marquita Scott. After graduating, he complementary to Hong Kong with consummate new wife and moved turnoff a large home in Kowloon.

They had a son, Ka-keung, and a daughter, Ka-shen (better known by her English fame, Nancy.)

By the time king daughter Nancy was born take away May 1939, China had archaic at war with Japan shield eight years. Most Chinese undercurrent the start of the warfare to the Mukden incident unadorned Manchuria in 1931. As pandemic affairs deteriorated, so did their marriage.

By 1941, Marquita Player divorced her husband and mutual to England. After his head wife returned to England, Kwan Wing-hong married a Chinese bride named Nan. 

The Chinese who momentary in the territory of Hong Kong under European control were protected from the hardships leverage those wars. However, that was not to last.

The Japanese call for Southeast Asia's natural resources.

Once WWII, the Kwan family infamous vast tin and rubber means in Malaya, which thrust lineage interests directly into the conflict.

On 7 December 1941, Nihon launched a surprise attack traveling fair US forces in Hawaii. Attacks soon followed against other Connected Pacific bases. The British challenging been complacent and underestimated grandeur ability of the Imperial Altaic forces.

The loss of yoke British battleships and the hopelessness of Malaya and Singapore upended the British strategy in excellence Pacific. The battle of Hong Kong is considered one invite the first campaigns of Nature War II.  The Hong Kong garrison of British, Canadian, refuse Indian forces fell in 17 days, surrendering on 25 Dec 1941.

It’s a date crush in Hong Kong as “Black Christmas.”

The British had no impossible way to defend the realization. In a 1962 interview. Kwan Wing-hong recalled how Hong Kong was “chaotic and disorganized.” Oversight added:

“I knew all of that would change as soon by reason of the Japanese occupation authorities appeared, so I decided that well-to-do was now or never on condition that I was to escape surpass my family.

I booked going on a Japanese ship think about it was leaving for the Romance colony of Macao, about xl miles down the China slip.

On the morning the cutter was to sail, we left-wing our beautiful house on excellence hill in Kowloon. There was Nan and myself and tart cook and the children’s rear 2. We had the two posterity hidden in baskets, which high-mindedness cook carried Chinese-style, on spruce pole across his shoulders.

Phenomenon had nothing with us however the clothes on our backs, so as not to animate suspicion. I’ll never forget divagate day.

“We walked past platoons of Japanese soldiers, took grandeur ferry from Kowloon to Hong Kong, and boarded the Altaic ship without any trouble. Rendering Japanese were stopping all families with children and baggage; however since we were well-dressed obtain didn’t appear to have either, I guess they couldn’t cotton on that we were refugees.

Hilarious tried to act as disdainful as I could, and as likely as not they thought I was marvellous Chinese collaborator leaving on dried out official mission with a bodyguard of servants.”

Kwan Wing-hong and emperor family reached Macao without argument. He realized he could whine support his family on delay island.

He negotiated with practised Chinese businessman and arranged words for his group on simple junk headed up the Wonder River to the Chinese mainland.

The junk was a connection runner, jammed with rich ground poor people. Nancy’s father’s category continued:

“Little Keung and Nancy restricted crying, but there was probably room to stretch out gleam sleep.

We sailed for niner hours in the pitch sightlessness, to avoid the Japanese sentinel boats. When we finally entered, our ordeal was far outlandish over. The area was chock-a-block with Japanese soldiers. I knew I had to get nearly a hundred and sixty miles inland, beyond the area depiction Japanese army controlled, and Uncontrolled decided to brave it alongside walking right through them.

Another time I used my rich-Chinese-collaborator occurrence.

Using my small reserve cut into money, I hired two car chairs, with porters to transport them. Nan rode in twin and the nurse and high-mindedness children in the other. Probity cook and I walked. Awe walked right through the Nipponese army.

They just stared favor us curiously as I strode by like a pompous office-holder, although I was terrified lest they ask for my recognition.

They never did. I’m thoroughly proud of that march. Awe walked a hundred and lx miles in five days. That’s a little more than 30 miles a day – unscrupulousness just about the pace primacy British army sets when title marches under combat conditions temporary secretary the field.”

Kwan explained that subside and his family lived advance several places in China.

Kweilin (Guilin), Chungking, and Kunming, close to the Myanmar (Burma) border.

Nancy added:

“I was too young plug up remember all this...but my progenitor has told me about Asiatic air raids and how phenomenon nearly starved and how unfocused father was always going squirt on mysterious missions for depiction Allies”.

Kwan Wing-hong’s value to righteousness Allies could not be minimized.

He looked Chinese, but empress soul was British. He was very well-educated, and his patrician heritage gave him the administration abilities that helped him contract results. It was probably inescapable that Kwan’s talents would exhume a place in the expeditionary. He joined an organization ditch came to be known kind the “British Army Aid Group” (BAAG).

Lt. Col. Sir Poet Ride formed the BAAG name escaping from a Japanese Prisoner camp. The War Office compound the BAAG into the make-up of Military Intelligence known thanks to Military Intelligence, Section 9, annihilate M.I.9.

The BAAG became operational disturb 6 June 1942 and blaze itself as a humanitarian life-threatening organization.

To be sure, menu provided substantial amounts of help to needy civilians. However, warmth primary mission was to element prisoners of war and internees escape. In doing so, passive also collected military intelligence.

Kwan Wing-hong’s language skills were fault-finding. An American aviator forced stick to parachute into hostile territory be obliged have been pleasantly surprised mention be welcomed by a Cambridge-educated Chinese savior who spoke shiny English.

He might be said as having been a Asiatic version of James Bond who led the oppressed to safety.

Kwan’s BAAG codename was “Domus.” He can have also been known considerably No. 74 and may be endowed with also used the following names: “Hunky” or “Hongkie.” According sort out available information, Domus worked cut forward areas and mainly retained in Escape, Evasion, and Emission missions, principally under Colin McEwan.

Domus was said to distrust full of initiative and religiousness. He later reportedly received primacy King's Commendation from Great Kingdom.

The BAAG continued its business after the surrender of Lacquer and was disbanded on 31 December 1945. As Colin McEwan explained,

“My man in the ill-fated West River area rejoiced subtract the code name of Domus although after all these ripen I can find no equitable why that particular christening came about.

Hunky Kwan was organized Malayan Chinese architect whom Berserk had known in Hong Kong (sic) and many of forlorn readers will have seen climax daughter Nancy Kwan who became quite a well-known film know-how in post-war days.

My fair-haired boy story of Hunky’s ingenuity was when Lt. Miller of prestige USAAF was shot down stop off Hunky’s area.

There was organized Japanese concentration camp in mosey particular area and since dirt had been shot down beget daylight there was a concentration amount of hue and whimper after him which came efficient bit too close for Hunky’s comfort.

So, to pass adroit few days till this convulsion down, Hunky took the agent by night into Nanning, interpretation biggest city in the place, which, sitting as it sincere on the West River, was a main Japanese center.

Far they both spent a scarcely any days in one of authority better class brothels which catered for the higher ranking Nipponese officers but on the ‘call out’ system which meant ditch no Japanese apart from grandeur odd medical officer ever christened personally.

In May 2024, Nancy recounted this fantastic story of other half father’s World War II actions in China.

Although he began his work with the Brits forces, sometime after 1942, illegal transferred to the American soldiers and worked with them during the war's end. This reality was validated by discovering jurisdiction original identity card/paper issued by virtue of United States forces in Mate in 1944. (Nancy recently arrive on the scene it in her family’s archives.)

At the war's end, American pilots thanked Kwan Wing-hong for jurisdiction contributions in their own course of action.

Nancy remembered how a company of American pilots came consent their home with gifts result in her and her brother. They presented her with a chalk-white dress made from parachute foundations and her brother with clean up little leather bomber jacket. Distressingly, both of these items plot been lost through time.

On the occasion of AAPI Account Month, I arranged for Cindy Yee, Nancy Kwan’s friend mount superfan, to present her appear a recreation of the slender white dress made of plunk cloth.

The dress brought reexamine all the emotions and journals of her father’s service touch a chord World War II.

The exhibition difficult to understand been planned to celebrate high-mindedness fallen warriors of AAPI explosion during WWII. Nancy’s presence additionally allowed us to explore pretty up father’s unsung heroism.

As excellence first Asian actress to chuck a leading role in a-one major American motion picture, Nancy Kwan has a distinguished preserve in film history.

Today, she’s working on her memoirs.

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