The Evacuation Question: Why did Medical Missionaries Remain at their posts?

Chatterton, Jocelyn

Abstract

Dr. Mary Redhead, a Methodist Missionary Society surgeon, in her diary entry for the evening of October 26th 1938 recorded that when the Japanese reached Hankou the city offered no resistance. Hearing detonations throughout the evening and observing fires in the city the staff of the Puai Yi Yuan went up to the roof to assess the situation. They could see the city’s burning cotton mills and the fires across the river in Wuchang. Earlier in the day a single strand of barbed wire designating the Safety Zone had been placed around an area that included the French Concession and the former British, German and Russian Concessions. Flags sporting a red cross encased by a blue circle had been hung from the barbed wire every fifteen yards and refugees were already in situ. The city waited for the Japanese to arrive.

Citation

Chatterton, J. (2008, April). The Evacuation Question: Why did Medical Missionaries Remain at their posts?. Paper presented at China Research Workshop, Cambridge University

• Presentation Conference Type: Conference Paper (unpublished)
• Conference Name: China Research Workshop
• Start Date: Apr 22, 2008
• End Date: Apr 23, 2008
• Deposit Date: Aug 22, 2013
• Keywords: Medical missionaries, War of Resistance, evacuation, Sino-Japanese hostilities, Chinese history
• Additional Information: Event Type : Workshop; References : Anderson, Miss., correspondence to unknown recipient. CBMS Box 368, File 2. Anonymous, Two and a Half Months After the Occupation of Hangchow by An Eyewitness, Report in the Conference of British Missionary Service file, CBMS Box 368, File 1. Craft, S. G., Peacemakers in China: American Missionaries and the Sino-Japanese War, 1937-1941 in Journal of Church and State, Summer 1999, Issue 3, pp. 575 – 592. Cram Family Papers, Cram/Papers/69. District of Hankow Newsletter, XVII September - October 1937, No. 7. American Episcopal Church Records. Flowers, W.S., correspondence to Chesterman, Dr., March 21st 1938, CBMS Box 368, File 2. Gilman Papers – RG 64 69 – 13, American Episcopal Church Records. Hankow Union Hospital Report 1941 - 1945, Medical Superintendent Owen Chapman, Gladys Stephenson Papers, Box 642, MF 1358 Herald Tribune Report March 1, 1938. American Episcopal Church Records, Gilman Papers, RG64 69 – 13 Medical Advisory Board, Minute No. 421, Plans regarding Medical Missionary Service in Wartime. MAB, CMSB Box 506. Moss, G.S., Copy correspondence to Russell, F.S., March 10th, 1938, CBMS Box 368, File 2. Supplementary Material for the China Information Service Bulletin, June 23rd, 1938. U.S.A., CBMS Box 368, file 1. Wilkins, M., The Role of U.S. Business, in Borg D., Shumpei O., (eds) Pearl Harbor as History: Japanese American Relations 1931 – 1941, Columbia University Press, N.Y. 1973