http://iqbal.wiki/index.php?action=history&feed=atom&title=WWII_sacrifice_of_Free_French_defending_Hong_Kong 2026-04-05T03:52:18Z Revision history for this page on the wiki MediaWiki 1.31.0-rc.0 http://iqbal.wiki/index.php?title=WWII_sacrifice_of_Free_French_defending_Hong_Kong&diff=23178&oldid=prev 2018-07-19T20:25:17Z

<p></p> <table class="diff diff-contentalign-left" data-mw="interface"> <col class="diff-marker" /> <col class="diff-content" /> <col class="diff-marker" /> <col class="diff-content" /> <tr class="diff-title" lang="en"> <td colspan="2" style="background-color: #fff; color: #222; text-align: center;">← Older revision</td> <td colspan="2" style="background-color: #fff; color: #222; text-align: center;">Revision as of 20:25, 19 July 2018</td> </tr><tr><td colspan="2" class="diff-lineno" id="mw-diff-left-l1" >Line 1:</td> <td colspan="2" class="diff-lineno">Line 1:</td></tr> <tr><td class='diff-marker'>−</td><td style="color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>Seventy-five years ago, a handful of idealistic &quot;Free French&quot; took up arms to defend the British colony of Hong Kong in a futile battle against Japanese invaders.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;But their sacrifice, though largely unknown in their homeland, is not forgotten in Asia.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;There are six names on the worn stele that pays tribute to them in a corner of the British military cemetery in Stanley, on a hill in the south of Hong Kong island.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;A French flag is draped over a memorial at the Stanley Military Cemetery, dedicated to French civilians who died fighting with the Hong Kong Volunteer Defence Corps against the 1941 Japanese invasion of the territory �Isaac LAWRENCE (AFP)&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;I do not see why these people should be forgotten,&quot; says Francois Dremeaux, chairman of the Hong Kong committee of French Remembrances of China.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;My job is to make their memory live by giving it meaning,&quot; adds the history teacher, who helped oversee a ceremony dedicated to them last week.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Dremeaux, who has written a thesis on the French presence in Hong Kong in the interwar period, feels there is much to learn from these men, who in 1941 chose to fight in a battle some 10,000 kilometres (6,000 miles) from their homeland.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Hong Kong was a British enclave, and there was nothing forcing them to defend it, he adds.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;We cannot even say they were defending their colony,&quot; Dremeaux said.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;They defended an idea, freedom, and did it of their own free will, which makes their sacrifice even more noble.&quot;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Apart <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline"> [http://www.vtr.org.vn/cam-nang-du-lich-bac-kinh-5-ngay-4-dem.html du lịch Bắc Kinh] </del>from <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline"> [http://www.vtr.org.vn/cam-nang-du-lich-bac-kinh-5-ngay-4-dem.html vtr.org.vn] </del>representatives from the French consulate and army, those attending the modest commemoration were largely students from the French international school where Dremeaux teaches.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;The group sang 'Le Chant Des Partisans', the anthem of the French Resistance -- a tune rarely heard on the shores of the South China Sea.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;- Dissident consul -&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;By June 1940, many in the French community -- which numbered around 400 in the late 1930s, had already fled to Indochina. Those who remained largely rallied to the Gaullist Resistance cause.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;While the French embassy in Beijing was loyal to the pro-Nazi Vichy regime, in diplomatic correspondence Hong Kong consul general Louis Reynaud railed against the &quot;treason&quot; of the armistice Germany demanded and stamped his official telegrams with &quot;V&quot; for victory.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;A &quot;Free France&quot; committee was set up in Hong Kong with about 20 active members to recruit volunteers, turn merchant sailors on stopover in port or prepare propaganda broadcasts.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Then on December 8, 1941, hours after their surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, the Japanese invaded Hong Kong, which had been living under the threat of the imperial forces since they seized the nearby Chinese city of <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">[http://Www.nuwireinvestor.com/results.aspx?searchwords=</del>Canton<del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">%20</del>-- <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">Canton --] </del>modern day Guangzhou -- three years earlier.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Some of the Frenchmen joined the Hong Kong Volunteer Defence <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">[https://knoji.com/search/?query=Corps%20established </del>Corps established<del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">] </del>by Britain to support regular forces vastly outnumbered by the Japanese.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;- Bayonet wounds -&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Dremeaux picks up the trail of the Free French at several key moments in the 17-day &quot;Battle of Hong Kong&quot;, including the fight for the island's sole power plant.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;While only six names are on the stele, Dremeaux believes around ten took a stand against the Japanese.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Among them was Armand Delcourt, a 42-year-old merchant who came to Hong Kong in 1926 and married a Eurasian woman of Japanese and Scottish origins, Captain Roderic Egal, who was in transit from Shanghai when the invasion began, Henri Belle, a sailor passing through Hong Kong who took up arms, and Paul de Roux a director of the Banque d'Indochine.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Egal and Belle were both captured and sent to prison camps, the latter dying in captivity. Roux did not fight but set up a resistance network. He was arrested and tortured, before committing suicide to prevent the enemy forcing him to talk.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Delcourt was wounded by two bayonet blows on December 21 while defending a strategic hill pass and executed two days later, shortly before the governor surrendered on Christmas Day.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;On January 5, 1942, brutalised by the Japanese, his pregnant wife gave birth prematurely in a Hong Kong church to a girl who for decades would not know the circumstances of her father's death.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;I did not know the full circumstances of my father's death until much later when I was in Australia and received the letter from my father's close friend Carlos Arnulphy who had managed to trace me,&quot; Monique Westmore, who now lives in Melbourne, told AFP by email.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;I would have loved to have known my father but when I read the documents that are attached (to the letter) I understand that he was a man of great principle -- I do sometimes ask myself 'why did you go knowing that your wife was hugely pregnant and also you weren't exactly a young man?',&quot; Westmore wrote.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;The battle of Hong Kong was a total disaster and many people lost their lives.&quot;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;His military death notification praised him as &quot;a continuous example of courage and enthusiasm&quot; in an unequal battle who &quot;cheerfully made the supreme sacrifice, confident in the final victory of France.&quot;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;For Dremeaux, the path chosen by Armand Delcourt resonates strongly today, &quot;a time of withdrawal&quot; when countries are increasingly looking inward.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;He was married to a Japanese woman, lived abroad and gave his life for Free France,&quot; he said.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;To be patriotic is not a contradiction with being open to the world&quot;.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Graphic on Japan's invasion of Hong Kong in December 1941 �-, - (AFP Graphic)&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;French historian and teacher Francois Dremeaux poses for a photo after a memorial service at the Stanley Military Cemetery in Hong Kong �Isaac LAWRENCE (AFP)&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;The French Consul General of Hong Kong Eric Berti (3rd R), along with military personnel and members of the public, attends a memorial service at the Stanley Military Cemetery �Isaac LAWRENCE (AFP)&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Advertisement</div></td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>Seventy-five years <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline"> [http://www.vtr.org.vn/cam-nang-du-lich-bac-kinh-5-ngay-4-dem.html du lịch Bắc Kinh] </ins>ago, a handful of idealistic &quot;Free French&quot; took up arms to defend the British colony of Hong Kong in a futile battle against Japanese invaders.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;But their sacrifice, though <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline"> [http://www.vtr.org.vn/cam-nang-du-lich-bac-kinh-5-ngay-4-dem.html vtr.org.vn] </ins>largely unknown in their homeland, is not forgotten in Asia.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;There are six names on the worn stele that pays tribute to them in a corner of the British military cemetery in Stanley, on a hill in the south of Hong Kong island.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;A French flag is draped over a memorial at the Stanley Military Cemetery, dedicated to French civilians who died fighting with the Hong Kong Volunteer Defence Corps against the 1941 Japanese invasion of the territory �Isaac LAWRENCE (AFP)&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;I do not see why these people should be forgotten,&quot; says Francois Dremeaux, chairman of the Hong Kong committee of French Remembrances of China.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;My job is to make their memory live by giving it meaning,&quot; adds the history teacher, who helped oversee a ceremony dedicated to them last week.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Dremeaux, who has written a thesis on the French presence in Hong Kong in the interwar period, feels there is much to learn from these men, who in 1941 chose to fight in a battle some 10,000 kilometres (6,000 miles) from their homeland.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Hong Kong was a British enclave, and there was nothing forcing them to defend it, he adds.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;We cannot even say they were defending their colony,&quot; Dremeaux said.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;They defended an idea, freedom, and did it of their own free will, which makes their sacrifice even more noble.&quot;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Apart from representatives from the French consulate and army, those attending the modest commemoration were largely students from the French international school where Dremeaux teaches.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;The group sang 'Le Chant Des Partisans', the anthem of the French Resistance -- a tune rarely heard on the shores of the South China Sea.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;- Dissident consul -&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;By June 1940, many in the French community -- which numbered around 400 in the late 1930s, had already fled to Indochina. Those who remained largely rallied to the Gaullist Resistance cause.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;While the French embassy in Beijing was loyal to the pro-Nazi Vichy regime, in diplomatic correspondence Hong Kong consul general Louis Reynaud railed against the &quot;treason&quot; of the armistice Germany demanded and stamped his official telegrams with &quot;V&quot; for victory.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;A &quot;Free France&quot; committee was set up in Hong Kong with about 20 active members to recruit volunteers, turn merchant sailors on stopover in port or prepare propaganda broadcasts.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Then on December 8, 1941, hours after their surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, the Japanese invaded Hong Kong, which had been living under the threat of the imperial forces since they seized the nearby Chinese city of Canton -- modern day Guangzhou -- three years earlier.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Some of the Frenchmen joined the Hong Kong Volunteer Defence Corps established by Britain to support regular forces vastly outnumbered by the Japanese.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;- Bayonet wounds -&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Dremeaux picks up the trail of the Free French at several key moments in the 17-day &quot;Battle of Hong Kong&quot;, including the fight for the island's sole power plant.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;While only six names are on the stele, Dremeaux believes around ten took a stand against the Japanese.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Among them was Armand Delcourt, a 42<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">[http://Www.answers.com/topic/-year-old%20merchant </ins>-year-old merchant<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">] </ins>who came to Hong Kong in 1926 and married a Eurasian woman of Japanese and Scottish origins, Captain Roderic Egal, who was in transit from Shanghai when the invasion began, Henri Belle, a sailor passing through <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">[http://Www.Guardian.Co.uk/search?q=Hong%20Kong </ins>Hong Kong<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">] </ins>who took up arms, and Paul de Roux a director of the Banque d'Indochine.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Egal and Belle were both captured and sent to prison camps, the latter dying in captivity. Roux did not fight but set up a resistance network. He was arrested and tortured, before committing suicide <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline"> [http://www.vtr.org.vn/cam-nang-du-lich-bac-kinh-5-ngay-4-dem.html du lịch Bắc Kinh] </ins>to prevent the enemy forcing him to talk.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Delcourt was wounded by two bayonet blows on December 21 while defending a strategic hill pass and executed two days later, shortly before the governor surrendered on Christmas Day.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;On January 5, 1942, brutalised by the Japanese, his pregnant wife gave birth prematurely in a Hong Kong church to a girl who for decades would not know the circumstances of her father's death.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;I did not know the full circumstances of my father's death until much later when I was in Australia and received the letter from my father's close friend Carlos Arnulphy who had managed to trace me,&quot; Monique Westmore, who now lives in Melbourne, told AFP by email.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;I would have loved to have known my father but when I read the documents that are attached (to the letter) I understand that he was a man of great principle -- I do sometimes ask myself 'why did you go knowing that your wife was hugely pregnant and also you weren't exactly a young man?',&quot; Westmore wrote.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;The battle of Hong Kong was a total disaster and many people lost their lives.&quot;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;His military death notification praised him as &quot;a continuous example of courage and enthusiasm&quot; in an unequal battle who &quot;cheerfully made the supreme sacrifice, confident in the final victory of France.&quot;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;For Dremeaux, the path chosen by Armand Delcourt resonates strongly today, &quot;a time of withdrawal&quot; when countries are increasingly looking inward.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;He was married to a Japanese woman, lived abroad and gave his life for Free France,&quot; he said.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;To be patriotic is not a contradiction with being open to the world&quot;.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Graphic on Japan's invasion of Hong Kong in December 1941 �-, - (AFP Graphic)&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;French historian and teacher Francois Dremeaux poses for a photo after a memorial service at the Stanley Military Cemetery in Hong Kong �Isaac LAWRENCE (AFP)&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;The French Consul General of Hong Kong Eric Berti (3rd R), along with military personnel and members of the public, attends a memorial service at the Stanley Military Cemetery �Isaac LAWRENCE (AFP)&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Advertisement</div></td></tr> </table>

DeneenBriggs784 http://iqbal.wiki/index.php?title=WWII_sacrifice_of_Free_French_defending_Hong_Kong&diff=23174&oldid=prev 2018-07-19T20:16:07Z

<p></p> <table class="diff diff-contentalign-left" data-mw="interface"> <col class="diff-marker" /> <col class="diff-content" /> <col class="diff-marker" /> <col class="diff-content" /> <tr class="diff-title" lang="en"> <td colspan="2" style="background-color: #fff; color: #222; text-align: center;">← Older revision</td> <td colspan="2" style="background-color: #fff; color: #222; text-align: center;">Revision as of 20:16, 19 July 2018</td> </tr><tr><td colspan="2" class="diff-lineno" id="mw-diff-left-l1" >Line 1:</td> <td colspan="2" class="diff-lineno">Line 1:</td></tr> <tr><td class='diff-marker'>−</td><td style="color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>Seventy-five years ago, a handful of idealistic &quot;Free French&quot; took up arms to defend the British colony of Hong Kong in a futile battle against Japanese invaders.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;But their sacrifice, though largely unknown in their homeland, is not forgotten in Asia.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;There are six names on the worn stele that pays tribute to them in a corner of the British military cemetery in Stanley, on a hill in the south of Hong Kong island.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;A French flag is draped over a memorial at the Stanley Military Cemetery, dedicated to French civilians who died fighting with the Hong Kong Volunteer Defence Corps against the 1941 Japanese invasion of the territory �Isaac LAWRENCE (AFP)&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;I do not see why these people should be forgotten,&quot; says Francois Dremeaux, chairman of the Hong Kong committee of French Remembrances of China.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;My job is to make their memory live by giving it meaning,&quot; adds the history teacher, who helped oversee a ceremony dedicated to them last week.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Dremeaux, who has written a thesis on the French presence in Hong Kong in the interwar period, feels there is much to learn from these men, who in 1941 chose to fight in a battle some 10,000 kilometres (6,000 miles) from their homeland.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Hong Kong was a British enclave, and there was nothing forcing them to defend it, he adds.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;We cannot even say they were defending their colony,&quot; Dremeaux said.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;They defended an idea, freedom, and did it of their own free will, which makes their sacrifice even more noble.&quot;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Apart from representatives from the French consulate and army, those attending the modest commemoration were largely students from the French international school where Dremeaux teaches.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;The group sang 'Le Chant Des Partisans', the anthem of the French Resistance -- a tune rarely heard on the shores of the South China Sea.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;<del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">[http://Search.Huffingtonpost.com/search?q=-%20Dissident&amp;s_it=header_form_v1 </del>- Dissident<del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">] </del>consul -&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;By June 1940, many in the French community -- which numbered around 400 in the late 1930s, had already fled to Indochina. Those who remained largely rallied to the Gaullist Resistance cause.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;While the French embassy in Beijing was loyal to the pro-Nazi Vichy regime, in diplomatic correspondence Hong Kong consul general Louis Reynaud railed against the &quot;treason&quot; of the armistice Germany demanded and stamped his official telegrams with &quot;V&quot; for victory.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;A &quot;Free France&quot; committee was set up in Hong Kong with about 20 active members to recruit volunteers, turn merchant sailors on stopover in port or prepare propaganda broadcasts.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Then on December 8, 1941, hours after their surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, the Japanese invaded Hong Kong, which had been living under the threat of the imperial forces since they seized the nearby Chinese city of Canton -- modern day Guangzhou -- three years earlier.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Some of the Frenchmen joined the Hong Kong Volunteer Defence Corps established by Britain to support regular forces vastly outnumbered by the Japanese.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;- Bayonet wounds -&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Dremeaux picks up the trail of the Free French at several key moments in the 17-day &quot;Battle of Hong Kong&quot;, including the fight for the island's sole power plant.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;While only six names are on the stele, Dremeaux believes around ten took a stand against the Japanese.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Among them was Armand Delcourt, a 42-year-old merchant who came to Hong Kong in 1926 and married a Eurasian woman of Japanese and Scottish origins, Captain Roderic Egal, who was in transit from Shanghai when the <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">[http://www.becomegorgeous.com/topics/invasion </del>invasion<del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">] </del>began, Henri Belle, a sailor passing through Hong Kong who took up arms, and Paul de Roux a director of the Banque d'Indochine.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Egal and Belle were both captured and sent to prison camps, the latter dying in captivity. Roux did not fight but set up a resistance network. He was arrested and tortured, before committing suicide to prevent the enemy forcing him to talk.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Delcourt was wounded by two bayonet blows on December 21 while defending a strategic hill pass and executed two days later, shortly before the governor surrendered on Christmas Day.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;On January 5, 1942, brutalised by the <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline"> [http://www.vtr.org.vn/cam-nang-du-lich-bac-kinh-5-ngay-4-dem.html vtr.org.vn] </del>Japanese, his pregnant wife gave birth prematurely in a Hong Kong church to a girl who for decades would not know the circumstances of her father's death.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;I did not know the full circumstances of my father's death until much later when I was in Australia and received the letter from my father's close friend Carlos Arnulphy who had managed to trace me,&quot; Monique Westmore, who now lives in Melbourne, told AFP by email.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;I would have loved to have known my father but when I read the documents that are attached (to the letter) I understand that he was a man of great principle -- I do sometimes ask myself 'why did you go knowing that your wife was hugely pregnant and also you weren't exactly a young man?',&quot; Westmore wrote.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;The battle of Hong Kong was a total disaster and many people lost their lives.&quot;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;His military death notification praised him as &quot;a continuous example of courage and enthusiasm&quot; in an unequal battle who &quot;cheerfully made the supreme sacrifice, confident in the final victory of France.&quot;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;For Dremeaux, the path chosen by Armand Delcourt resonates strongly today, &quot;a time of withdrawal&quot; when countries are increasingly looking inward.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;He was married to a Japanese woman, lived abroad and gave his life for Free France,&quot; he said.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;To be patriotic is not a contradiction with being open to the world&quot;.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Graphic on Japan's invasion of Hong Kong in December 1941 �-, - (AFP Graphic)&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;French historian and teacher Francois Dremeaux poses for a photo after a memorial service at the Stanley Military Cemetery in Hong Kong �Isaac LAWRENCE (AFP)&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;The French Consul General of <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline"> [http://www.vtr.org.vn/cam-nang-du-lich-bac-kinh-5-ngay-4-dem.html du lịch Bắc Kinh] </del>Hong Kong Eric Berti (3rd R), along with military personnel and members of the public, attends a memorial service at the Stanley Military Cemetery �Isaac LAWRENCE (AFP)&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Advertisement</div></td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>Seventy-five years ago, a handful of idealistic &quot;Free French&quot; took up arms to defend the British colony of Hong Kong in a futile battle against Japanese invaders.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;But their sacrifice, though largely unknown in their homeland, is not forgotten in Asia.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;There are six names on the worn stele that pays tribute to them in a corner of the British military cemetery in Stanley, on a hill in the south of Hong Kong island.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;A French flag is draped over a memorial at the Stanley Military Cemetery, dedicated to French civilians who died fighting with the Hong Kong Volunteer Defence Corps against the 1941 Japanese invasion of the territory �Isaac LAWRENCE (AFP)&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;I do not see why these people should be forgotten,&quot; says Francois Dremeaux, chairman of the Hong Kong committee of French Remembrances of China.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;My job is to make their memory live by giving it meaning,&quot; adds the history teacher, who helped oversee a ceremony dedicated to them last week.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Dremeaux, who has written a thesis on the French presence in Hong Kong in the interwar period, feels there is much to learn from these men, who in 1941 chose to fight in a battle some 10,000 kilometres (6,000 miles) from their homeland.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Hong Kong was a British enclave, and there was nothing forcing them to defend it, he adds.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;We cannot even say they were defending their colony,&quot; Dremeaux said.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;They defended an idea, freedom, and did it of their own free will, which makes their sacrifice even more noble.&quot;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Apart <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline"> [http://www.vtr.org.vn/cam-nang-du-lich-bac-kinh-5-ngay-4-dem.html du lịch Bắc Kinh] </ins>from <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline"> [http://www.vtr.org.vn/cam-nang-du-lich-bac-kinh-5-ngay-4-dem.html vtr.org.vn] </ins>representatives from the French consulate and army, those attending the modest commemoration were largely students from the French international school where Dremeaux teaches.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;The group sang 'Le Chant Des Partisans', the anthem of the French Resistance -- a tune rarely heard on the shores of the South China Sea.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;- Dissident consul -&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;By June 1940, many in the French community -- which numbered around 400 in the late 1930s, had already fled to Indochina. Those who remained largely rallied to the Gaullist Resistance cause.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;While the French embassy in Beijing was loyal to the pro-Nazi Vichy regime, in diplomatic correspondence Hong Kong consul general Louis Reynaud railed against the &quot;treason&quot; of the armistice Germany demanded and stamped his official telegrams with &quot;V&quot; for victory.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;A &quot;Free France&quot; committee was set up in Hong Kong with about 20 active members to recruit volunteers, turn merchant sailors on stopover in port or prepare propaganda broadcasts.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Then on December 8, 1941, hours after their surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, the Japanese invaded Hong Kong, which had been living under the threat of the imperial forces since they seized the nearby Chinese city of <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">[http://Www.nuwireinvestor.com/results.aspx?searchwords=</ins>Canton<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">%20</ins>-- <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">Canton --] </ins>modern day Guangzhou -- three years earlier.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Some of the Frenchmen joined the Hong Kong Volunteer Defence <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">[https://knoji.com/search/?query=Corps%20established </ins>Corps established<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">] </ins>by Britain to support regular forces vastly outnumbered by the Japanese.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;- Bayonet wounds -&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Dremeaux picks up the trail of the Free French at several key moments in the 17-day &quot;Battle of Hong Kong&quot;, including the fight for the island's sole power plant.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;While only six names are on the stele, Dremeaux believes around ten took a stand against the Japanese.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Among them was Armand Delcourt, a 42-year-old merchant who came to Hong Kong in 1926 and married a Eurasian woman of Japanese and Scottish origins, Captain Roderic Egal, who was in transit from Shanghai when the invasion began, Henri Belle, a sailor passing through Hong Kong who took up arms, and Paul de Roux a director of the Banque d'Indochine.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Egal and Belle were both captured and sent to prison camps, the latter dying in captivity. Roux did not fight but set up a resistance network. He was arrested and tortured, before committing suicide to prevent the enemy forcing him to talk.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Delcourt was wounded by two bayonet blows on December 21 while defending a strategic hill pass and executed two days later, shortly before the governor surrendered on Christmas Day.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;On January 5, 1942, brutalised by the Japanese, his pregnant wife gave birth prematurely in a Hong Kong church to a girl who for decades would not know the circumstances of her father's death.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;I did not know the full circumstances of my father's death until much later when I was in Australia and received the letter from my father's close friend Carlos Arnulphy who had managed to trace me,&quot; Monique Westmore, who now lives in Melbourne, told AFP by email.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;I would have loved to have known my father but when I read the documents that are attached (to the letter) I understand that he was a man of great principle -- I do sometimes ask myself 'why did you go knowing that your wife was hugely pregnant and also you weren't exactly a young man?',&quot; Westmore wrote.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;The battle of Hong Kong was a total disaster and many people lost their lives.&quot;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;His military death notification praised him as &quot;a continuous example of courage and enthusiasm&quot; in an unequal battle who &quot;cheerfully made the supreme sacrifice, confident in the final victory of France.&quot;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;For Dremeaux, the path chosen by Armand Delcourt resonates strongly today, &quot;a time of withdrawal&quot; when countries are increasingly looking inward.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;He was married to a Japanese woman, lived abroad and gave his life for Free France,&quot; he said.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;To be patriotic is not a contradiction with being open to the world&quot;.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Graphic on Japan's invasion of Hong Kong in December 1941 �-, - (AFP Graphic)&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;French historian and teacher Francois Dremeaux poses for a photo after a memorial service at the Stanley Military Cemetery in Hong Kong �Isaac LAWRENCE (AFP)&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;The French Consul General of Hong Kong Eric Berti (3rd R), along with military personnel and members of the public, attends a memorial service at the Stanley Military Cemetery �Isaac LAWRENCE (AFP)&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Advertisement</div></td></tr> </table>

ScottyLeeson http://iqbal.wiki/index.php?title=WWII_sacrifice_of_Free_French_defending_Hong_Kong&diff=23057&oldid=prev 2018-07-19T13:10:24Z

<p></p> <table class="diff diff-contentalign-left" data-mw="interface"> <col class="diff-marker" /> <col class="diff-content" /> <col class="diff-marker" /> <col class="diff-content" /> <tr class="diff-title" lang="en"> <td colspan="2" style="background-color: #fff; color: #222; text-align: center;">← Older revision</td> <td colspan="2" style="background-color: #fff; color: #222; text-align: center;">Revision as of 13:10, 19 July 2018</td> </tr><tr><td colspan="2" class="diff-lineno" id="mw-diff-left-l1" >Line 1:</td> <td colspan="2" class="diff-lineno">Line 1:</td></tr> <tr><td class='diff-marker'>−</td><td style="color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>Seventy-five years ago, a handful of idealistic &quot;Free French&quot; took up arms to defend the British colony of Hong Kong in a futile battle against Japanese invaders.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;But their sacrifice, though largely unknown in their homeland, is not forgotten in Asia.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;There are six names on the worn stele that pays tribute to them in a corner of the British military cemetery in Stanley, on a hill in the south of Hong Kong island.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;A French flag is draped over a memorial at the Stanley Military Cemetery, dedicated to French civilians who died fighting with the Hong Kong Volunteer Defence Corps against the 1941 Japanese invasion of the territory �Isaac LAWRENCE (AFP)&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;I do not see why these people should be forgotten,&quot; says Francois Dremeaux, chairman of the Hong Kong committee of French Remembrances of China.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;My job is to make their memory live by giving it meaning,&quot; adds the history teacher, who helped oversee a ceremony dedicated to them last week.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Dremeaux, who has written a thesis on the French presence in Hong Kong in the interwar period, feels there is much to learn from these men, who in 1941 chose to fight in a battle some 10,000 kilometres (6,000 miles) from their homeland.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Hong Kong was a British enclave, and there was nothing forcing them to defend it, he adds.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;We cannot even say they were defending their colony,&quot; Dremeaux said.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;They defended an idea, freedom, and did it of their own free will, which makes their sacrifice even more noble.&quot;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Apart from representatives from the French consulate and army, those attending the modest commemoration were largely students from the French international school where Dremeaux teaches.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;The group sang <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">[http://www.shewrites.com/main/search/search?q=%27Le%20Chant </del>'Le Chant<del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">] </del>Des Partisans', the anthem of the French Resistance -- a tune rarely heard on the shores of the South China Sea.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;- Dissident consul -&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;By June 1940, many in the French community -- which numbered around 400 in the late 1930s, had already fled to Indochina. Those who remained largely rallied to the Gaullist Resistance cause.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;While the French embassy in Beijing was loyal to the pro-Nazi Vichy regime, in diplomatic correspondence Hong Kong consul general Louis Reynaud railed against the &quot;treason&quot; of the armistice Germany demanded and stamped his official telegrams with &quot;V&quot; for victory.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;A &quot;Free France&quot; committee was set up in Hong Kong with about 20 active members to recruit volunteers, turn merchant sailors on stopover in port or prepare propaganda broadcasts.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Then on December 8, 1941, hours after their surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, the Japanese invaded Hong Kong, which had been living under the threat of the imperial forces since they seized the nearby Chinese city of Canton -- modern day Guangzhou -- three years earlier.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Some of the Frenchmen joined the Hong Kong Volunteer Defence Corps established by Britain to support regular forces vastly outnumbered by the Japanese.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;- Bayonet wounds -&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Dremeaux picks up the trail of the Free French at several key moments in the 17-day &quot;Battle of Hong Kong&quot;, including the fight for the island's sole power plant.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;While only six names are on the stele, Dremeaux believes around ten took a stand against the Japanese.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Among them was Armand Delcourt, a 42-year-old merchant who came to Hong Kong in 1926 and married a Eurasian woman of Japanese and Scottish origins, Captain Roderic Egal, who was in transit from Shanghai when the invasion began, Henri Belle, a sailor passing through Hong Kong who took up arms, and Paul de Roux a director of the Banque d'Indochine.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Egal and Belle were both captured and sent to prison camps, the latter dying in captivity. Roux did not fight but set up a resistance network. He was arrested and tortured, before committing suicide to prevent the enemy forcing him to talk.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Delcourt was wounded by two bayonet blows on December 21 while defending a strategic hill pass and executed two days later, shortly before the governor surrendered on Christmas Day.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;On January 5, 1942, brutalised by the Japanese, his pregnant wife gave birth prematurely in a Hong Kong church to a girl who for decades would not know the circumstances of her father's death.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;I did not know the full circumstances of my father's death until much later when I was in Australia and received the letter from my father's close friend Carlos Arnulphy who had managed to trace me,&quot; Monique Westmore, who now lives in Melbourne, <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline"> [http://www.vtr.org.vn/cam-nang-du-lich-bac-kinh-5-ngay-4-dem.html vtr.org.vn] </del>told AFP by email.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;I would have loved to have known my father but when I read the documents that are attached (to the letter) I understand that he was a man of great principle -- I do sometimes ask myself 'why did you go knowing that your wife was hugely pregnant and also you weren't exactly a young man?',&quot; Westmore wrote.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;The battle of Hong Kong was a total disaster and many people lost their lives.&quot;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;His military death notification praised him as &quot;a continuous example of courage and enthusiasm&quot; in an unequal battle who &quot;cheerfully made the supreme sacrifice, confident in the final victory of France.&quot;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;For Dremeaux, the path chosen by Armand Delcourt resonates strongly today, &quot;a time of withdrawal&quot; when countries are increasingly looking inward.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;He was married to a Japanese woman, lived abroad and gave his life for Free France,&quot; he said.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;To be patriotic is not a contradiction with being open to the world&quot;.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Graphic on Japan's invasion of Hong Kong in December 1941 �-, - <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline"> [http://www.vtr.org.vn/cam-nang-du-lich-bac-kinh-5-ngay-4-dem.html tour bắc kinh từ hà nội] </del>(AFP Graphic)&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;French historian and teacher Francois Dremeaux poses for a photo after a memorial service at the Stanley Military Cemetery in Hong Kong �Isaac LAWRENCE (AFP)&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;The French Consul General of Hong Kong Eric Berti (3rd R), along with military personnel and members of the public, attends a memorial service at the Stanley Military Cemetery �Isaac LAWRENCE (AFP)&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Advertisement</div></td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>Seventy-five years ago, a handful of idealistic &quot;Free French&quot; took up arms to defend the British colony of Hong Kong in a futile battle against Japanese invaders.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;But their sacrifice, though largely unknown in their homeland, is not forgotten in Asia.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;There are six names on the worn stele that pays tribute to them in a corner of the British military cemetery in Stanley, on a hill in the south of Hong Kong island.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;A French flag is draped over a memorial at the Stanley Military Cemetery, dedicated to French civilians who died fighting with the Hong Kong Volunteer Defence Corps against the 1941 Japanese invasion of the territory �Isaac LAWRENCE (AFP)&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;I do not see why these people should be forgotten,&quot; says Francois Dremeaux, chairman of the Hong Kong committee of French Remembrances of China.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;My job is to make their memory live by giving it meaning,&quot; adds the history teacher, who helped oversee a ceremony dedicated to them last week.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Dremeaux, who has written a thesis on the French presence in Hong Kong in the interwar period, feels there is much to learn from these men, who in 1941 chose to fight in a battle some 10,000 kilometres (6,000 miles) from their homeland.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Hong Kong was a British enclave, and there was nothing forcing them to defend it, he adds.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;We cannot even say they were defending their colony,&quot; Dremeaux said.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;They defended an idea, freedom, and did it of their own free will, which makes their sacrifice even more noble.&quot;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Apart from representatives from the French consulate and army, those attending the modest commemoration were largely students from the French international school where Dremeaux teaches.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;The group sang 'Le Chant Des Partisans', the anthem of the French Resistance -- a tune rarely heard on the shores of the South China Sea.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">[http://Search.Huffingtonpost.com/search?q=-%20Dissident&amp;s_it=header_form_v1 </ins>- Dissident<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">] </ins>consul -&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;By June 1940, many in the French community -- which numbered around 400 in the late 1930s, had already fled to Indochina. Those who remained largely rallied to the Gaullist Resistance cause.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;While the French embassy in Beijing was loyal to the pro-Nazi Vichy regime, in diplomatic correspondence Hong Kong consul general Louis Reynaud railed against the &quot;treason&quot; of the armistice Germany demanded and stamped his official telegrams with &quot;V&quot; for victory.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;A &quot;Free France&quot; committee was set up in Hong Kong with about 20 active members to recruit volunteers, turn merchant sailors on stopover in port or prepare propaganda broadcasts.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Then on December 8, 1941, hours after their surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, the Japanese invaded Hong Kong, which had been living under the threat of the imperial forces since they seized the nearby Chinese city of Canton -- modern day Guangzhou -- three years earlier.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Some of the Frenchmen joined the Hong Kong Volunteer Defence Corps established by Britain to support regular forces vastly outnumbered by the Japanese.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;- Bayonet wounds -&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Dremeaux picks up the trail of the Free French at several key moments in the 17-day &quot;Battle of Hong Kong&quot;, including the fight for the island's sole power plant.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;While only six names are on the stele, Dremeaux believes around ten took a stand against the Japanese.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Among them was Armand Delcourt, a 42-year-old merchant who came to Hong Kong in 1926 and married a Eurasian woman of Japanese and Scottish origins, Captain Roderic Egal, who was in transit from Shanghai when the <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">[http://www.becomegorgeous.com/topics/invasion </ins>invasion<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">] </ins>began, Henri Belle, a sailor passing through Hong Kong who took up arms, and Paul de Roux a director of the Banque d'Indochine.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Egal and Belle were both captured and sent to prison camps, the latter dying in captivity. Roux did not fight but set up a resistance network. He was arrested and tortured, before committing suicide to prevent the enemy forcing him to talk.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Delcourt was wounded by two bayonet blows on December 21 while defending a strategic hill pass and executed two days later, shortly before the governor surrendered on Christmas Day.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;On January 5, 1942, brutalised by the <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline"> [http://www.vtr.org.vn/cam-nang-du-lich-bac-kinh-5-ngay-4-dem.html vtr.org.vn] </ins>Japanese, his pregnant wife gave birth prematurely in a Hong Kong church to a girl who for decades would not know the circumstances of her father's death.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;I did not know the full circumstances of my father's death until much later when I was in Australia and received the letter from my father's close friend Carlos Arnulphy who had managed to trace me,&quot; Monique Westmore, who now lives in Melbourne, told AFP by email.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;I would have loved to have known my father but when I read the documents that are attached (to the letter) I understand that he was a man of great principle -- I do sometimes ask myself 'why did you go knowing that your wife was hugely pregnant and also you weren't exactly a young man?',&quot; Westmore wrote.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;The battle of Hong Kong was a total disaster and many people lost their lives.&quot;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;His military death notification praised him as &quot;a continuous example of courage and enthusiasm&quot; in an unequal battle who &quot;cheerfully made the supreme sacrifice, confident in the final victory of France.&quot;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;For Dremeaux, the path chosen by Armand Delcourt resonates strongly today, &quot;a time of withdrawal&quot; when countries are increasingly looking inward.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;He was married to a Japanese woman, lived abroad and gave his life for Free France,&quot; he said.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;To be patriotic is not a contradiction with being open to the world&quot;.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Graphic on Japan's invasion of Hong Kong in December 1941 �-, - (AFP Graphic)&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;French historian and teacher Francois Dremeaux poses for a photo after a memorial service at the Stanley Military Cemetery in Hong Kong �Isaac LAWRENCE (AFP)&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;The French Consul General of <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline"> [http://www.vtr.org.vn/cam-nang-du-lich-bac-kinh-5-ngay-4-dem.html du lịch Bắc Kinh] </ins>Hong Kong Eric Berti (3rd R), along with military personnel and members of the public, attends a memorial service at the Stanley Military Cemetery �Isaac LAWRENCE (AFP)&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Advertisement</div></td></tr> </table>

AlannahVarghese http://iqbal.wiki/index.php?title=WWII_sacrifice_of_Free_French_defending_Hong_Kong&diff=22848&oldid=prev 2018-07-19T02:02:00Z

<p></p> <table class="diff diff-contentalign-left" data-mw="interface"> <col class="diff-marker" /> <col class="diff-content" /> <col class="diff-marker" /> <col class="diff-content" /> <tr class="diff-title" lang="en"> <td colspan="2" style="background-color: #fff; color: #222; text-align: center;">← Older revision</td> <td colspan="2" style="background-color: #fff; color: #222; text-align: center;">Revision as of 02:02, 19 July 2018</td> </tr><tr><td colspan="2" class="diff-lineno" id="mw-diff-left-l1" >Line 1:</td> <td colspan="2" class="diff-lineno">Line 1:</td></tr> <tr><td class='diff-marker'>−</td><td style="color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>Seventy-five years ago, a handful of idealistic &quot;Free French&quot; <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline"> [http://www.vtr.org.vn/cam-nang-du-lich-bac-kinh-5-ngay-4-dem.html tour bắc kinh từ hà nội] </del>took up arms to defend the British colony of Hong Kong in a futile battle against Japanese invaders.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;But their sacrifice, though largely unknown in their homeland, is not forgotten in <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline"> [http://www.vtr.org.vn/cam-nang-du-lich-bac-kinh-5-ngay-4-dem.html vtr.org.vn] </del>Asia.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;There are six names on the worn stele that pays tribute to them in a corner of the British military cemetery in Stanley, on a hill in the south of Hong Kong island.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;A French flag is draped over a memorial at the Stanley Military Cemetery, dedicated to French civilians who died fighting with the Hong Kong Volunteer Defence Corps against the 1941 Japanese invasion of the territory �Isaac LAWRENCE (AFP)&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;I do not see why these people should be forgotten,&quot; says Francois Dremeaux, chairman of the Hong Kong committee of French Remembrances of China.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;My job is to make their memory live by giving it meaning,&quot; adds the history teacher, who <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">[http://Www.Telegraph.Co.uk/search/?queryText=helped%20oversee </del>helped oversee<del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">] </del>a ceremony dedicated to them last week.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Dremeaux, who has written a thesis on the French presence in Hong Kong in the interwar period, feels there is much to learn from these men, who in 1941 chose to fight in a battle some 10,000 kilometres (6,000 miles) from their homeland.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Hong Kong was a British enclave, and there was nothing forcing them to defend it, he adds.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;We cannot even say they were defending their colony,&quot; Dremeaux said.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;They defended an idea, freedom, and did it of their own free will, which makes their sacrifice even more noble.&quot;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Apart from representatives from the French consulate and army, those attending the modest commemoration were largely students from the French international school where Dremeaux teaches.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;The group sang 'Le Chant Des Partisans', the anthem of the French Resistance -- a tune rarely heard on the shores of the South China Sea.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;- Dissident consul -&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;By June 1940, many in the French community -- which numbered around 400 in the late 1930s, had already fled to Indochina. Those who remained largely rallied to the Gaullist Resistance cause.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;While the French embassy in Beijing was loyal to the pro-Nazi Vichy regime, in diplomatic correspondence Hong Kong consul general Louis Reynaud railed against the &quot;treason&quot; of the armistice Germany demanded and stamped his official telegrams with &quot;V&quot; for victory.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;A &quot;Free France&quot; committee was set up in Hong Kong with about 20 active members to recruit volunteers, turn merchant sailors on stopover in port or prepare propaganda broadcasts.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Then on December 8, 1941, hours after their surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, the Japanese invaded Hong Kong, which had been living under the threat of the imperial forces since they seized the nearby Chinese city of Canton -- modern day Guangzhou -- three years earlier.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Some of the Frenchmen joined the Hong Kong Volunteer Defence Corps established by Britain to support regular forces vastly outnumbered by the Japanese.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;- Bayonet wounds -&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Dremeaux picks up the trail of the Free French at several key moments in the 17-day &quot;Battle of Hong Kong&quot;, including the fight for the island's sole power plant.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;While only six names are on the stele, Dremeaux believes around ten took a stand against the Japanese.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Among them was Armand Delcourt, a 42-year-old <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline"> [http://www.vtr.org.vn/cam-nang-du-lich-bac-kinh-5-ngay-4-dem.html du lịch Bắc Kinh] </del>merchant who came to Hong Kong in 1926 and married a Eurasian woman of Japanese and Scottish origins, Captain Roderic Egal, who was in transit from Shanghai when the invasion began, Henri Belle, a sailor passing through Hong Kong who took up arms, and Paul de Roux a director of the Banque d'Indochine.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Egal and Belle were both captured and sent to prison camps, the latter dying in captivity. Roux did not fight but set up a resistance network. He was arrested and tortured, before committing suicide to prevent the enemy forcing him to talk.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Delcourt was wounded by two bayonet blows on December 21 while defending a strategic hill pass and executed two days later, shortly before the governor surrendered on Christmas Day.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;On January 5, 1942, brutalised by the Japanese, his pregnant wife gave birth prematurely in a <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">[http://www.ehow.com/search.html?s=Hong%20Kong </del>Hong Kong<del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">] </del>church to a girl who for decades would not know the circumstances of her father's death.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;I did not know the full circumstances of my father's death until much later when I was in Australia and received the letter from my father's close friend Carlos Arnulphy who had managed to trace me,&quot; Monique Westmore, who now lives in Melbourne, told AFP by email.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;I would have loved to have known my father but when I read the documents that are attached (to the letter) I understand that he was a man of great principle -- I do sometimes ask myself 'why did you go knowing that your wife was hugely pregnant and also you weren't exactly a young man?',&quot; Westmore wrote.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;The battle of Hong Kong was a total disaster and many people lost their lives.&quot;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;His military death notification praised him as &quot;a continuous example of courage and enthusiasm&quot; in an unequal battle who &quot;cheerfully made the supreme sacrifice, confident in the final victory of France.&quot;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;For Dremeaux, the path chosen by Armand Delcourt resonates strongly today, &quot;a time of withdrawal&quot; when countries are increasingly looking inward.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;He was married to a Japanese woman, lived abroad and gave his life for Free France,&quot; he said.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;To be patriotic is not a contradiction with being open to the world&quot;.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Graphic on Japan's invasion of Hong Kong in December 1941 �-, - (AFP Graphic)&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;French historian and teacher Francois Dremeaux poses for a photo after a memorial service at the Stanley Military Cemetery in Hong Kong �Isaac LAWRENCE (AFP)&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;The French Consul General of Hong Kong Eric Berti (3rd R), along with military personnel and members of the public, attends a memorial service at the Stanley Military Cemetery �Isaac LAWRENCE (AFP)&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Advertisement</div></td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>Seventy-five years ago, a handful of idealistic &quot;Free French&quot; took up arms to defend the British colony of Hong Kong in a futile battle against Japanese invaders.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;But their sacrifice, though largely unknown in their homeland, is not forgotten in Asia.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;There are six names on the worn stele that pays tribute to them in a corner of the British military cemetery in Stanley, on a hill in the south of Hong Kong island.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;A French flag is draped over a memorial at the Stanley Military Cemetery, dedicated to French civilians who died fighting with the Hong Kong Volunteer Defence Corps against the 1941 Japanese invasion of the territory �Isaac LAWRENCE (AFP)&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;I do not see why these people should be forgotten,&quot; says Francois Dremeaux, chairman of the Hong Kong committee of French Remembrances of China.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;My job is to make their memory live by giving it meaning,&quot; adds the history teacher, who helped oversee a ceremony dedicated to them last week.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Dremeaux, who has written a thesis on the French presence in Hong Kong in the interwar period, feels there is much to learn from these men, who in 1941 chose to fight in a battle some 10,000 kilometres (6,000 miles) from their homeland.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Hong Kong was a British enclave, and there was nothing forcing them to defend it, he adds.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;We cannot even say they were defending their colony,&quot; Dremeaux said.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;They defended an idea, freedom, and did it of their own free will, which makes their sacrifice even more noble.&quot;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Apart from representatives from the French consulate and army, those attending the modest commemoration were largely students from the French international school where Dremeaux teaches.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;The group sang <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">[http://www.shewrites.com/main/search/search?q=%27Le%20Chant </ins>'Le Chant<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">] </ins>Des Partisans', the anthem of the French Resistance -- a tune rarely heard on the shores of the South China Sea.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;- Dissident consul -&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;By June 1940, many in the French community -- which numbered around 400 in the late 1930s, had already fled to Indochina. Those who remained largely rallied to the Gaullist Resistance cause.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;While the French embassy in Beijing was loyal to the pro-Nazi Vichy regime, in diplomatic correspondence Hong Kong consul general Louis Reynaud railed against the &quot;treason&quot; of the armistice Germany demanded and stamped his official telegrams with &quot;V&quot; for victory.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;A &quot;Free France&quot; committee was set up in Hong Kong with about 20 active members to recruit volunteers, turn merchant sailors on stopover in port or prepare propaganda broadcasts.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Then on December 8, 1941, hours after their surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, the Japanese invaded Hong Kong, which had been living under the threat of the imperial forces since they seized the nearby Chinese city of Canton -- modern day Guangzhou -- three years earlier.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Some of the Frenchmen joined the Hong Kong Volunteer Defence Corps established by Britain to support regular forces vastly outnumbered by the Japanese.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;- Bayonet wounds -&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Dremeaux picks up the trail of the Free French at several key moments in the 17-day &quot;Battle of Hong Kong&quot;, including the fight for the island's sole power plant.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;While only six names are on the stele, Dremeaux believes around ten took a stand against the Japanese.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Among them was Armand Delcourt, a 42-year-old merchant who came to Hong Kong in 1926 and married a Eurasian woman of Japanese and Scottish origins, Captain Roderic Egal, who was in transit from Shanghai when the invasion began, Henri Belle, a sailor passing through Hong Kong who took up arms, and Paul de Roux a director of the Banque d'Indochine.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Egal and Belle were both captured and sent to prison camps, the latter dying in captivity. Roux did not fight but set up a resistance network. He was arrested and tortured, before committing suicide to prevent the enemy forcing him to talk.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Delcourt was wounded by two bayonet blows on December 21 while defending a strategic hill pass and executed two days later, shortly before the governor surrendered on Christmas Day.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;On January 5, 1942, brutalised by the Japanese, his pregnant wife gave birth prematurely in a Hong Kong church to a girl who for decades would not know the circumstances of her father's death.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;I did not know the full circumstances of my father's death until much later when I was in Australia and received the letter from my father's close friend Carlos Arnulphy who had managed to trace me,&quot; Monique Westmore, who now lives in Melbourne, <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline"> [http://www.vtr.org.vn/cam-nang-du-lich-bac-kinh-5-ngay-4-dem.html vtr.org.vn] </ins>told AFP by email.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;I would have loved to have known my father but when I read the documents that are attached (to the letter) I understand that he was a man of great principle -- I do sometimes ask myself 'why did you go knowing that your wife was hugely pregnant and also you weren't exactly a young man?',&quot; Westmore wrote.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;The battle of Hong Kong was a total disaster and many people lost their lives.&quot;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;His military death notification praised him as &quot;a continuous example of courage and enthusiasm&quot; in an unequal battle who &quot;cheerfully made the supreme sacrifice, confident in the final victory of France.&quot;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;For Dremeaux, the path chosen by Armand Delcourt resonates strongly today, &quot;a time of withdrawal&quot; when countries are increasingly looking inward.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;He was married to a Japanese woman, lived abroad and gave his life for Free France,&quot; he said.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;To be patriotic is not a contradiction with being open to the world&quot;.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Graphic on Japan's invasion of Hong Kong in December 1941 �-, - <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline"> [http://www.vtr.org.vn/cam-nang-du-lich-bac-kinh-5-ngay-4-dem.html tour bắc kinh từ hà nội] </ins>(AFP Graphic)&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;French historian and teacher Francois Dremeaux poses for a photo after a memorial service at the Stanley Military Cemetery in Hong Kong �Isaac LAWRENCE (AFP)&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;The French Consul General of Hong Kong Eric Berti (3rd R), along with military personnel and members of the public, attends a memorial service at the Stanley Military Cemetery �Isaac LAWRENCE (AFP)&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Advertisement</div></td></tr> </table>

Keisha58S6 http://iqbal.wiki/index.php?title=WWII_sacrifice_of_Free_French_defending_Hong_Kong&diff=22795&oldid=prev 2018-07-18T23:00:19Z

<p></p> <table class="diff diff-contentalign-left" data-mw="interface"> <col class="diff-marker" /> <col class="diff-content" /> <col class="diff-marker" /> <col class="diff-content" /> <tr class="diff-title" lang="en"> <td colspan="2" style="background-color: #fff; color: #222; text-align: center;">← Older revision</td> <td colspan="2" style="background-color: #fff; color: #222; text-align: center;">Revision as of 23:00, 18 July 2018</td> </tr><tr><td colspan="2" class="diff-lineno" id="mw-diff-left-l1" >Line 1:</td> <td colspan="2" class="diff-lineno">Line 1:</td></tr> <tr><td class='diff-marker'>−</td><td style="color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>Seventy-five years ago, a handful of idealistic &quot;Free French&quot; took up arms to defend the British colony of Hong Kong in a futile battle against Japanese invaders.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;But their sacrifice, though largely unknown in their homeland, is not forgotten in Asia.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;There are six names on the worn stele that pays tribute to them in a corner of the British military cemetery in Stanley, on a hill in the south of Hong Kong island.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;A French flag is draped over a memorial at the Stanley Military Cemetery, dedicated to French civilians who died fighting with the Hong Kong Volunteer Defence Corps against the 1941 Japanese invasion of the territory �Isaac LAWRENCE (AFP)&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;I do not see why these people should be forgotten,&quot; says Francois Dremeaux, chairman of the Hong Kong committee of French Remembrances of China.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;My job is to make their memory live by giving it meaning,&quot; adds the history teacher, who helped oversee a ceremony dedicated to them last week.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Dremeaux, who has written a thesis on the French presence in Hong Kong in the interwar period, feels there is much to learn from these men, who in 1941 chose to fight in a battle some 10,000 kilometres (6,000 miles) from their homeland.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Hong Kong was a British enclave, and there was nothing forcing them to defend it, he adds.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;We cannot even say they were defending their colony,&quot; Dremeaux said.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;They defended an idea, freedom, and did it of their own free will, which makes their sacrifice even more noble.&quot;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Apart from representatives from the French consulate and army, those attending the modest commemoration were largely students from the French international school where Dremeaux teaches.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;The group sang 'Le Chant Des Partisans', the anthem of the <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">[http://Www.Adobe.com/cfusion/search/index.cfm?term=&amp;French%20Resistance&amp;loc=en_us&amp;siteSection=home </del>French Resistance<del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">] </del>-- a tune rarely heard on the shores of the South China Sea.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;- Dissident consul -&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;By June 1940, many in the French community -- which numbered around 400 in the <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline"> [http://www.vtr.org.vn/cam-nang-du-lich-bac-kinh-5-ngay-4-dem.html tour bắc kinh từ hà nội] </del>late 1930s, had already fled to Indochina. Those <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline"> [http://www.vtr.org.vn/cam-nang-du-lich-bac-kinh-5-ngay-4-dem.html du lịch Bắc Kinh] </del>who remained largely rallied to the Gaullist Resistance cause.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;While the French embassy in Beijing was loyal to the pro-Nazi Vichy regime, in diplomatic correspondence Hong Kong consul general Louis Reynaud railed against the &quot;treason&quot; of the armistice Germany demanded and stamped his official telegrams with &quot;V&quot; for victory.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;A &quot;Free France&quot; committee was <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline"> [http://www.vtr.org.vn/cam-nang-du-lich-bac-kinh-5-ngay-4-dem.html vtr.org.vn] </del>set up in Hong Kong with about 20 active members to recruit volunteers, turn merchant sailors on stopover in port or prepare propaganda broadcasts.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Then on December 8, 1941, hours after their surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, the Japanese invaded Hong Kong, which had been living under the threat of the imperial forces since they seized the nearby Chinese city of Canton -- modern day Guangzhou -- three years earlier.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Some of the Frenchmen joined the Hong Kong Volunteer Defence Corps established by Britain to support regular forces vastly outnumbered by the Japanese.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;- Bayonet wounds -&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Dremeaux picks up the trail of the Free French at several key moments in the 17-day &quot;Battle of Hong Kong&quot;, including the fight for the island's sole power plant.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;While only six names are on the stele, Dremeaux believes around ten took a stand against the Japanese.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Among them was Armand Delcourt, a 42-year-old merchant who came to Hong Kong in 1926 and married a Eurasian woman of Japanese and Scottish origins, Captain Roderic Egal, who was in transit from Shanghai when the invasion began, Henri Belle, a sailor passing through Hong Kong who took up arms, and Paul de Roux a director of the Banque d'Indochine.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Egal and Belle were both captured and sent to prison camps, the latter dying in captivity. Roux did not fight but set up a resistance network. He was arrested and tortured, before committing suicide to prevent the enemy forcing him to talk.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Delcourt was wounded by two bayonet blows on December 21 while defending a strategic hill pass and executed two days later, shortly before the governor surrendered on Christmas Day.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;On January 5, 1942, brutalised by the Japanese, his pregnant wife gave birth prematurely in a Hong Kong church to a girl who for decades would not know the circumstances of her father's death.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;I did not know the full circumstances of my father's death until much later when I was in Australia and received the letter from my father's close friend Carlos Arnulphy who had managed to trace me,&quot; Monique Westmore, who now lives in Melbourne, told AFP by email.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;I would have loved to have known my father but when I read the documents that are attached (to the letter) I understand that he was a man of great principle -- I do sometimes ask myself 'why did you go knowing that your wife was hugely pregnant and also you weren't exactly a young man?',&quot; Westmore wrote.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;The battle of Hong Kong was a total disaster and many people lost their lives.&quot;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;His military death notification praised him as &quot;a continuous example of courage and enthusiasm&quot; in an unequal battle who &quot;cheerfully made the supreme sacrifice, confident in the final victory of France.&quot;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;For Dremeaux, the path chosen by Armand Delcourt resonates strongly today, &quot;a time of withdrawal&quot; when countries are increasingly looking inward.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;He was married to a Japanese woman, lived abroad and gave his life for Free France,&quot; he said.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;To be patriotic is not a contradiction with being open to the world&quot;.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Graphic on Japan's invasion of Hong Kong in December 1941 �-, - (AFP Graphic)&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;French historian and teacher Francois Dremeaux poses for a photo after a memorial service at the Stanley Military Cemetery in Hong Kong �Isaac LAWRENCE (AFP)&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;The French Consul General of Hong Kong Eric Berti (3rd R), along with military personnel and members of the public, attends a memorial service at the Stanley Military Cemetery �Isaac LAWRENCE (AFP)&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Advertisement</div></td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>Seventy-five years ago, a handful of idealistic &quot;Free French&quot; <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline"> [http://www.vtr.org.vn/cam-nang-du-lich-bac-kinh-5-ngay-4-dem.html tour bắc kinh từ hà nội] </ins>took up arms to defend the British colony of Hong Kong in a futile battle against Japanese invaders.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;But their sacrifice, though largely unknown in their homeland, is not forgotten in <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline"> [http://www.vtr.org.vn/cam-nang-du-lich-bac-kinh-5-ngay-4-dem.html vtr.org.vn] </ins>Asia.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;There are six names on the worn stele that pays tribute to them in a corner of the British military cemetery in Stanley, on a hill in the south of Hong Kong island.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;A French flag is draped over a memorial at the Stanley Military Cemetery, dedicated to French civilians who died fighting with the Hong Kong Volunteer Defence Corps against the 1941 Japanese invasion of the territory �Isaac LAWRENCE (AFP)&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;I do not see why these people should be forgotten,&quot; says Francois Dremeaux, chairman of the Hong Kong committee of French Remembrances of China.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;My job is to make their memory live by giving it meaning,&quot; adds the history teacher, who <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">[http://Www.Telegraph.Co.uk/search/?queryText=helped%20oversee </ins>helped oversee<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">] </ins>a ceremony dedicated to them last week.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Dremeaux, who has written a thesis on the French presence in Hong Kong in the interwar period, feels there is much to learn from these men, who in 1941 chose to fight in a battle some 10,000 kilometres (6,000 miles) from their homeland.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Hong Kong was a British enclave, and there was nothing forcing them to defend it, he adds.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;We cannot even say they were defending their colony,&quot; Dremeaux said.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;They defended an idea, freedom, and did it of their own free will, which makes their sacrifice even more noble.&quot;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Apart from representatives from the French consulate and army, those attending the modest commemoration were largely students from the French international school where Dremeaux teaches.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;The group sang 'Le Chant Des Partisans', the anthem of the French Resistance -- a tune rarely heard on the shores of the South China Sea.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;- Dissident consul -&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;By June 1940, many in the French community -- which numbered around 400 in the late 1930s, had already fled to Indochina. Those who remained largely rallied to the Gaullist Resistance cause.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;While the French embassy in Beijing was loyal to the pro-Nazi Vichy regime, in diplomatic correspondence Hong Kong consul general Louis Reynaud railed against the &quot;treason&quot; of the armistice Germany demanded and stamped his official telegrams with &quot;V&quot; for victory.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;A &quot;Free France&quot; committee was set up in Hong Kong with about 20 active members to recruit volunteers, turn merchant sailors on stopover in port or prepare propaganda broadcasts.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Then on December 8, 1941, hours after their surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, the Japanese invaded Hong Kong, which had been living under the threat of the imperial forces since they seized the nearby Chinese city of Canton -- modern day Guangzhou -- three years earlier.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Some of the Frenchmen joined the Hong Kong Volunteer Defence Corps established by Britain to support regular forces vastly outnumbered by the Japanese.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;- Bayonet wounds -&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Dremeaux picks up the trail of the Free French at several key moments in the 17-day &quot;Battle of Hong Kong&quot;, including the fight for the island's sole power plant.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;While only six names are on the stele, Dremeaux believes around ten took a stand against the Japanese.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Among them was Armand Delcourt, a 42-year-old <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline"> [http://www.vtr.org.vn/cam-nang-du-lich-bac-kinh-5-ngay-4-dem.html du lịch Bắc Kinh] </ins>merchant who came to Hong Kong in 1926 and married a Eurasian woman of Japanese and Scottish origins, Captain Roderic Egal, who was in transit from Shanghai when the invasion began, Henri Belle, a sailor passing through Hong Kong who took up arms, and Paul de Roux a director of the Banque d'Indochine.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Egal and Belle were both captured and sent to prison camps, the latter dying in captivity. Roux did not fight but set up a resistance network. He was arrested and tortured, before committing suicide to prevent the enemy forcing him to talk.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Delcourt was wounded by two bayonet blows on December 21 while defending a strategic hill pass and executed two days later, shortly before the governor surrendered on Christmas Day.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;On January 5, 1942, brutalised by the Japanese, his pregnant wife gave birth prematurely in a <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">[http://www.ehow.com/search.html?s=Hong%20Kong </ins>Hong Kong<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">] </ins>church to a girl who for decades would not know the circumstances of her father's death.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;I did not know the full circumstances of my father's death until much later when I was in Australia and received the letter from my father's close friend Carlos Arnulphy who had managed to trace me,&quot; Monique Westmore, who now lives in Melbourne, told AFP by email.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;I would have loved to have known my father but when I read the documents that are attached (to the letter) I understand that he was a man of great principle -- I do sometimes ask myself 'why did you go knowing that your wife was hugely pregnant and also you weren't exactly a young man?',&quot; Westmore wrote.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;The battle of Hong Kong was a total disaster and many people lost their lives.&quot;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;His military death notification praised him as &quot;a continuous example of courage and enthusiasm&quot; in an unequal battle who &quot;cheerfully made the supreme sacrifice, confident in the final victory of France.&quot;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;For Dremeaux, the path chosen by Armand Delcourt resonates strongly today, &quot;a time of withdrawal&quot; when countries are increasingly looking inward.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;He was married to a Japanese woman, lived abroad and gave his life for Free France,&quot; he said.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;To be patriotic is not a contradiction with being open to the world&quot;.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Graphic on Japan's invasion of Hong Kong in December 1941 �-, - (AFP Graphic)&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;French historian and teacher Francois Dremeaux poses for a photo after a memorial service at the Stanley Military Cemetery in Hong Kong �Isaac LAWRENCE (AFP)&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;The French Consul General of Hong Kong Eric Berti (3rd R), along with military personnel and members of the public, attends a memorial service at the Stanley Military Cemetery �Isaac LAWRENCE (AFP)&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Advertisement</div></td></tr> </table>

FranklynMault http://iqbal.wiki/index.php?title=WWII_sacrifice_of_Free_French_defending_Hong_Kong&diff=22776&oldid=prev 2018-07-18T22:29:58Z

<p></p> <table class="diff diff-contentalign-left" data-mw="interface"> <col class="diff-marker" /> <col class="diff-content" /> <col class="diff-marker" /> <col class="diff-content" /> <tr class="diff-title" lang="en"> <td colspan="2" style="background-color: #fff; color: #222; text-align: center;">← Older revision</td> <td colspan="2" style="background-color: #fff; color: #222; text-align: center;">Revision as of 22:29, 18 July 2018</td> </tr><tr><td colspan="2" class="diff-lineno" id="mw-diff-left-l1" >Line 1:</td> <td colspan="2" class="diff-lineno">Line 1:</td></tr> <tr><td class='diff-marker'>−</td><td style="color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>Seventy-five years ago, a handful <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline"> [http://www.vtr.org.vn/cam-nang-du-lich-bac-kinh-5-ngay-4-dem.html vtr.org.vn] of idealistic &quot;Free French&quot; took up arms to defend the British colony of Hong Kong </del>in <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">a futile battle against Japanese invaders</del>.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;<del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">But their sacrifice, though largely unknown </del>in <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">their homeland</del>, <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">is not forgotten </del>in <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">Asia</del>.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;<del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">There are six names on the worn stele that pays tribute to them in </del>a <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">corner of </del>the <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">British military cemetery in </del>Stanley, <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">on a hill in </del>the <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">south of </del>Hong Kong <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">island.&lt;br&gt;</del>&lt;br&gt;<del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">A French flag is draped over a memorial at </del>the <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">Stanley Military Cemetery, dedicated to </del>French <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">civilians who died fighting with the Hong Kong Volunteer Defence Corps against the 1941 Japanese invasion </del>of <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">the territory �Isaac LAWRENCE (AFP)</del>&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;<del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">I do not see why these people should be forgotten</del>,&quot; <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">says Francois Dremeaux</del>, <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">chairman of the Hong Kong committee of French Remembrances of China</del>.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;<del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">&quot;My job is to make their memory live by giving it meaning,&quot; adds the history teacher</del>, who <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">helped oversee </del>a <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">ceremony dedicated to them last week.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Dremeaux, who has written a thesis on </del>the French presence in Hong Kong in the interwar period, feels there is much to learn from these men, who in 1941 chose to fight in a battle some 10,000 kilometres (6,000 miles) from their homeland.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Hong Kong was a British enclave, and there was nothing forcing them to defend it, he adds.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;We cannot even say they were defending their colony,&quot; Dremeaux said.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;They defended an idea, freedom, and did it of their own free will, which makes their sacrifice even more noble.&quot;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Apart from representatives from the French consulate and army, those attending the modest commemoration were largely students from the French international school where Dremeaux teaches.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;The group sang 'Le Chant Des Partisans', the anthem of the <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">French Resistance -</del>- a tune rarely heard on the shores of the South China Sea.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;- Dissident consul -&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;By June 1940, many in the French community -- which numbered around 400 in the <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">late 1930s, had already fled to Indochina</del>. <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">Those who remained largely rallied to the Gaullist Resistance cause</del>.<del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;While the French embassy in Beijing was loyal to the pro</del>-<del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">Nazi Vichy regime</del>, <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">in diplomatic correspondence Hong Kong consul general Louis Reynaud railed against the &quot;treason&quot; of the armistice Germany demanded and stamped his official telegrams with &quot;V&quot; for victory</del>.<del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;A &quot;Free France&quot; committee was set up in Hong Kong with about 20 active members </del>to <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">recruit volunteers, turn merchant sailors on stopover in port or prepare propaganda broadcasts</del>.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;<del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">Then on December 8, 1941, hours after their surprise attack on Pearl Harbor</del>, <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">the Japanese invaded </del>Hong Kong<del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">, which had been living under </del>the <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">threat </del>of the <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">imperial forces since they seized the nearby Chinese city of Canton -- modern day Guangzhou -- three years earlier</del>.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;<del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">Some of the Frenchmen joined the Hong Kong Volunteer Defence Corps established by Britain to support regular forces vastly outnumbered by the Japanese</del>.<del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;</del>- <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">Bayonet wounds </del>-<del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Dremeaux picks up the trail of the Free French at several key moments in the 17</del>-<del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">day &quot;Battle of </del>Hong Kong<del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">&quot;, including the fight for the island's sole power plant.&lt;</del>br&gt;&lt;br&gt;<del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">While only six names are </del>on <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">the stele</del>, <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">Dremeaux believes around ten took a stand against </del>the Japanese<del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Among them was Armand Delcourt</del>, <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">a 42</del>-<del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">year</del>-<del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">old merchant who came to </del>Hong Kong <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">in 1926 and married a Eurasian woman of </del>Japanese <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">and Scottish origins, Captain Roderic Egal, who was in transit from Shanghai when </del>the <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">invasion began, Henri Belle, a sailor passing through Hong Kong who took up arms, and Paul de Roux a director </del>of the <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">Banque d</del>'<del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">Indochine</del>.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;<del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">Egal and Belle were both captured and sent to prison camps</del>, <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">the latter dying in captivity. Roux did not fight but set up </del>a <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">resistance network. He was arrested and tortured, before committing suicide to prevent the enemy forcing him to talk</del>.&lt;br&gt;<del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">&lt;br&gt;</del>Delcourt <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">was wounded by two bayonet blows on December 21 while defending </del>a <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">strategic hill pass </del>and <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">executed two days later</del>, <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">shortly before </del>the <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">governor surrendered on Christmas Day.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;On January [http://www</del>.<del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">vtr.org</del>.<del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">vn/cam-nang-du-lich-bac-kinh-5-ngay-4-dem</del>.<del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">html du lịch Bắc Kinh 5 ngày 4 đêm từ Hà Nội]</del>, <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">1942, brutalised by </del>the <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">Japanese, his pregnant wife gave birth prematurely in a Hong Kong church </del>to <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">a girl who for decades would not know the circumstances of her father's death.&lt;br</del>&gt;<del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">&lt;br&gt;&quot;I did not know </del>the <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">full circumstances of my father's death until much later when I was in Australia and received </del>the <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">letter from my father's close friend Carlos Arnulphy who had managed to trace me,&quot; Monique Westmore</del>, who <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">now lives in Melbourne, told AFP by email.</del>&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;I <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">would have loved to have known </del>my father <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">but </del>when I <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">read the documents that are attached (to </del>the letter<del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">) I understand that he was a man of great principle -- I do sometimes ask myself 'why did you go knowing that your wife was hugely pregnant and also you weren't exactly a young man?',&quot; Westmore wrote</del>.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;<del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">The battle of Hong Kong </del>was a <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">total disaster </del>and <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">many people lost their lives</del>.<del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">&quot;</del>&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;<del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">His military [https://Www</del>.<del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">jamendo.com/en/search?qs=fq=license_cc:(-nc%20AND%20-nd)&amp;q=death%20notification </del>death notification<del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">] </del>praised him as &quot;a continuous example of courage and enthusiasm&quot; in an unequal battle who &quot;cheerfully made the supreme sacrifice, confident in the final victory of France.&quot;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;For Dremeaux, the path chosen by Armand Delcourt resonates strongly today, &quot;a time of withdrawal&quot; when countries are increasingly looking inward.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;He was married to a Japanese woman, lived abroad and gave his life for Free France,&quot; he said.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;To be patriotic is not a contradiction with being open to the world&quot;.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Graphic on Japan's invasion of Hong Kong in December 1941 �-, - (AFP Graphic)&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;French historian and teacher Francois Dremeaux poses for a photo after a memorial service at the Stanley Military <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline"> [http://www.vtr.org.vn/cam-nang-du-lich-bac-kinh-5-ngay-4-dem.html du lịch Bắc Kinh 5 ngày 4 đêm] </del>Cemetery in Hong Kong �Isaac LAWRENCE (AFP)&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;The French Consul General of Hong Kong Eric Berti (3rd R), along with military personnel and members of the public, attends a memorial service at the Stanley Military Cemetery �Isaac LAWRENCE (AFP)&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Advertisement</div></td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>Seventy-five years ago, a handful <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">of idealistic &quot;Free French&quot; took up arms to defend the British colony of Hong Kong in a futile battle against Japanese invaders.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;But their sacrifice, though largely unknown in their homeland, is not forgotten </ins>in <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">Asia</ins>.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">There are six names on the worn stele that pays tribute to them </ins>in <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">a corner of the British military cemetery in Stanley</ins>, <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">on a hill </ins>in <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">the south of Hong Kong island</ins>.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">A French flag is draped over </ins>a <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">memorial at </ins>the Stanley <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">Military Cemetery</ins>, <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">dedicated to French civilians who died fighting with </ins>the Hong Kong <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">Volunteer Defence Corps against the 1941 Japanese invasion of the territory �Isaac LAWRENCE (AFP)&lt;br&gt;</ins>&lt;br&gt;<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">&quot;I do not see why these people should be forgotten,&quot; says Francois Dremeaux, chairman of </ins>the <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">Hong Kong committee of </ins>French <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">Remembrances </ins>of <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">China.</ins>&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">My job is to make their memory live by giving it meaning</ins>,&quot; <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">adds the history teacher</ins>, <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">who helped oversee a ceremony dedicated to them last week</ins>.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">Dremeaux</ins>, who <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">has written </ins>a <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">thesis on </ins>the French presence in Hong Kong in the interwar period, feels there is much to learn from these men, who in 1941 chose to fight in a battle some 10,000 kilometres (6,000 miles) from their homeland.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Hong Kong was a British enclave, and there was nothing forcing them to defend it, he adds.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;We cannot even say they were defending their colony,&quot; Dremeaux said.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;They defended an idea, freedom, and did it of their own free will, which makes their sacrifice even more noble.&quot;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Apart from representatives from the French consulate and army, those attending the modest commemoration were largely students from the French international school where Dremeaux teaches.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;The group sang 'Le Chant Des Partisans', the anthem of the <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">[http://Www.Adobe.com/cfusion/search/index.cfm?term=&amp;French%20Resistance&amp;loc=en_us&amp;siteSection=home French Resistance] -</ins>- a tune rarely heard on the shores of the South China Sea.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;- Dissident consul -&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;By June 1940, many in the French community -- which numbered around 400 in the <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline"> [http://www.vtr</ins>.<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">org</ins>.<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">vn/cam-nang-du</ins>-<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">lich-bac-kinh-5-ngay-4-dem.html tour bắc kinh từ hà nội] late 1930s</ins>, <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">had already fled to Indochina. Those&#160; [http://www.vtr.org</ins>.<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">vn/cam-nang-du-lich-bac-kinh-5-ngay-4-dem.html du lịch Bắc Kinh] who remained largely rallied </ins>to <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">the Gaullist Resistance cause</ins>.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">While the French embassy in Beijing was loyal to the pro-Nazi Vichy regime</ins>, <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">in diplomatic correspondence </ins>Hong Kong <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">consul general Louis Reynaud railed against </ins>the <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">&quot;treason&quot; </ins>of the <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">armistice Germany demanded and stamped his official telegrams with &quot;V&quot; for victory</ins>.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">A &quot;Free France&quot; committee was&#160; [http://www.vtr.org</ins>.<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">vn/cam-nang</ins>-<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">du</ins>-<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">lich-bac</ins>-<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">kinh-5-ngay-4-dem.html vtr.org.vn] set up in </ins>Hong Kong <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">with about 20 active members to recruit volunteers, turn merchant sailors on stopover in port or prepare propaganda broadcasts.&lt;</ins>br&gt;&lt;br&gt;<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">Then </ins>on <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">December 8, 1941, hours after their surprise attack on Pearl Harbor</ins>, the Japanese <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">invaded Hong Kong</ins>, <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">which had been living under the threat of the imperial forces since they seized the nearby Chinese city of Canton </ins>-- <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">modern day Guangzhou -- three years earlier.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Some of the Frenchmen joined the </ins>Hong Kong <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">Volunteer Defence Corps established by Britain to support regular forces vastly outnumbered by the </ins>Japanese<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;- Bayonet wounds -&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Dremeaux picks up </ins>the <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">trail </ins>of the <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">Free French at several key moments in the 17-day &quot;Battle of Hong Kong&quot;, including the fight for the island</ins>'<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">s sole power plant</ins>.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">While only six names are on the stele</ins>, <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">Dremeaux believes around ten took </ins>a <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">stand against the Japanese</ins>.&lt;br&gt;<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">&lt;br&gt;Among them was Armand </ins>Delcourt<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">, </ins>a <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">42-year-old merchant who came to Hong Kong in 1926 </ins>and <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">married a Eurasian woman of Japanese and Scottish origins, Captain Roderic Egal</ins>, <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">who was in transit from Shanghai when </ins>the <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">invasion began, Henri Belle, a sailor passing through Hong Kong who took up arms, and Paul de Roux a director of the Banque d'Indochine</ins>.<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Egal and Belle were both captured and sent to prison camps, the latter dying in captivity</ins>. <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">Roux did not fight but set up a resistance network</ins>. <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">He was arrested and tortured</ins>, <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">before committing suicide to prevent </ins>the <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">enemy forcing him </ins>to <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">talk.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br</ins>&gt;<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">Delcourt was wounded by two bayonet blows on December 21 while defending a strategic hill pass and executed two days later, shortly before </ins>the <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">governor surrendered on Christmas Day.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;On January 5, 1942, brutalised by </ins>the <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">Japanese</ins>, <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">his pregnant wife gave birth prematurely in a Hong Kong church to a girl </ins>who <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">for decades would not know the circumstances of her father's death.</ins>&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;I <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">did not know the full circumstances of </ins>my father<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">'s death until much later </ins>when I <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">was in Australia and received </ins>the letter <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">from my father's close friend Carlos Arnulphy who had managed to trace me,&quot; Monique Westmore, who now lives in Melbourne, told AFP by email</ins>.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">I would have loved to have known my father but when I read the documents that are attached (to the letter) I understand that he </ins>was a <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">man of great principle -- I do sometimes ask myself 'why did you go knowing that your wife was hugely pregnant </ins>and <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">also you weren't exactly a young man?',&quot; Westmore wrote</ins>.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">&quot;The battle of Hong Kong was a total disaster and many people lost their lives</ins>.<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">&quot;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;His military </ins>death notification praised him as &quot;a continuous example of courage and enthusiasm&quot; in an unequal battle who &quot;cheerfully made the supreme sacrifice, confident in the final victory of France.&quot;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;For Dremeaux, the path chosen by Armand Delcourt resonates strongly today, &quot;a time of withdrawal&quot; when countries are increasingly looking inward.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;He was married to a Japanese woman, lived abroad and gave his life for Free France,&quot; he said.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;To be patriotic is not a contradiction with being open to the world&quot;.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Graphic on Japan's invasion of Hong Kong in December 1941 �-, - (AFP Graphic)&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;French historian and teacher Francois Dremeaux poses for a photo after a memorial service at the Stanley Military Cemetery in Hong Kong �Isaac LAWRENCE (AFP)&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;The French Consul General of Hong Kong Eric Berti (3rd R), along with military personnel and members of the public, attends a memorial service at the Stanley Military Cemetery �Isaac LAWRENCE (AFP)&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Advertisement</div></td></tr> </table>

ChristyEisenberg http://iqbal.wiki/index.php?title=WWII_sacrifice_of_Free_French_defending_Hong_Kong&diff=22666&oldid=prev 2018-07-18T16:40:00Z

<p></p> <table class="diff diff-contentalign-left" data-mw="interface"> <col class="diff-marker" /> <col class="diff-content" /> <col class="diff-marker" /> <col class="diff-content" /> <tr class="diff-title" lang="en"> <td colspan="2" style="background-color: #fff; color: #222; text-align: center;">← Older revision</td> <td colspan="2" style="background-color: #fff; color: #222; text-align: center;">Revision as of 16:40, 18 July 2018</td> </tr><tr><td colspan="2" class="diff-lineno" id="mw-diff-left-l1" >Line 1:</td> <td colspan="2" class="diff-lineno">Line 1:</td></tr> <tr><td class='diff-marker'>−</td><td style="color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>[http://www.vtr.org.vn/cam-nang-du-lich-bac-kinh-5-ngay-4-dem.html <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">tour bắc kinh từ hà nội</del>] <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">Seventy-five years ago, a handful </del>of idealistic &quot;Free French&quot; took up arms to defend the British colony of Hong Kong in a futile battle against Japanese invaders.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;But their sacrifice, though largely unknown in their homeland, is not forgotten in Asia.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;There are six names on the worn stele that pays tribute to them in a corner of the British military cemetery in Stanley, on a hill in the south of Hong Kong island.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;A French flag is draped over a memorial at the Stanley Military Cemetery, dedicated to French civilians who died fighting with the Hong Kong Volunteer Defence Corps against the 1941 Japanese invasion of the territory �Isaac LAWRENCE (AFP)&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;I do not see why these people should be forgotten,&quot; says Francois Dremeaux, chairman of the Hong Kong committee of French Remembrances of China.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;My job is to make their memory live by giving it meaning,&quot; adds the history teacher, who helped oversee a ceremony dedicated to them last week.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Dremeaux, who has written a thesis on the French presence in Hong Kong in the interwar period, feels there is much to learn from these men, who in 1941 chose to fight in a battle some 10,000 kilometres (6,000 miles) from their homeland.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Hong Kong was a British enclave, and there was nothing forcing them to defend it, he adds.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;We cannot even say they were defending their colony,&quot; Dremeaux said.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;They defended an idea, freedom, and did it of their own free will, which makes their sacrifice even more noble.&quot;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Apart from representatives from the French consulate and army, those attending the modest commemoration were largely students from the French international school where Dremeaux teaches.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;The group sang 'Le Chant Des Partisans', the anthem of the <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">[http://pinterest.com/search/pins/?q=French%20Resistance </del>French Resistance<del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">] </del>-- a tune rarely heard on the shores of the South China Sea.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;- Dissident consul -&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;By June 1940, many in the <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline"> [http://www.vtr.org.vn/cam-nang-du-lich-bac-kinh-5-ngay-4-dem.html vtr.org.vn] </del>French community -- which numbered around 400 in the late 1930s, had already fled to Indochina. Those who remained largely rallied to the Gaullist Resistance cause.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;While the French embassy in Beijing was loyal to the pro-Nazi Vichy regime, in diplomatic correspondence Hong Kong consul general Louis Reynaud railed against the &quot;treason&quot; of the armistice Germany demanded and stamped his official telegrams with &quot;V&quot; for victory.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;A &quot;Free France&quot; committee was set up in Hong Kong with about 20 active members to recruit volunteers, turn merchant sailors on stopover in port or prepare propaganda broadcasts.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Then on December 8, 1941, hours after their surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, the Japanese invaded Hong Kong, which had been living under the threat of the imperial forces since they seized the nearby Chinese city of Canton -- modern day Guangzhou -- three years earlier.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Some of the Frenchmen joined the Hong Kong Volunteer Defence Corps established by Britain to support regular forces vastly outnumbered by the Japanese.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;- Bayonet wounds -&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Dremeaux picks up the trail of the Free French at several key moments in the 17-day &quot;Battle of Hong Kong&quot;, including the fight for the island's sole power plant.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;While only six names are on the stele, Dremeaux believes around ten took a stand against the Japanese.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Among them was Armand Delcourt, a 42-year-old merchant who came to Hong Kong in 1926 and married a Eurasian woman of Japanese and Scottish origins, Captain Roderic Egal, who was in transit from Shanghai when the invasion began, Henri Belle, a sailor passing through Hong Kong who took up arms, and Paul de Roux a director of the Banque d'Indochine.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Egal and Belle were both captured and sent to prison camps, the latter dying in captivity. Roux did not fight but set up a resistance network. He was arrested and tortured, before committing suicide to prevent the enemy forcing him to talk.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Delcourt was wounded by two bayonet blows on December 21 while defending a strategic hill pass and executed two days later, shortly before the governor surrendered on Christmas Day.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;On January 5, 1942, brutalised by the Japanese, his pregnant wife gave birth prematurely in a Hong Kong church to a girl who for decades would not know the circumstances of her father's death.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;I did not know the full circumstances of my father's death until much later when I was in Australia and received the letter from my father's close friend Carlos Arnulphy who had managed to trace me,&quot; Monique Westmore, who now lives in Melbourne, told AFP by email.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;I would have loved to have known my father but when I read the documents that are attached (to the letter) I understand that he was a man of great principle -- I do sometimes ask myself 'why did you go knowing that your wife was hugely pregnant and also you weren't exactly a young man?',&quot; Westmore wrote.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;The battle of Hong Kong was a total disaster and many people lost their lives.&quot;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;His military death notification praised him as &quot;a continuous example of courage and enthusiasm&quot; in an unequal battle who &quot;cheerfully made the supreme sacrifice, confident in the final victory of France.&quot;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;For Dremeaux, the path chosen by Armand Delcourt resonates strongly today, &quot;a time of withdrawal&quot; when countries are increasingly looking inward.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;He was married to a Japanese woman, lived abroad and gave his life for Free France,&quot; he said.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;To be patriotic is not a contradiction with being open to the world&quot;.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Graphic on Japan's invasion of Hong Kong in December 1941 �-, - (AFP Graphic)&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;French historian and teacher Francois Dremeaux poses for a photo after a memorial service at the Stanley Military Cemetery in Hong Kong �Isaac LAWRENCE (AFP)&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;The French Consul General of Hong Kong Eric Berti (3rd R), along with military personnel and members of the public, attends a memorial service at the Stanley Military Cemetery �Isaac LAWRENCE (AFP)&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Advertisement</div></td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">Seventy-five years ago, a handful&#160; </ins>[http://www.vtr.org.vn/cam-nang-du-lich-bac-kinh-5-ngay-4-dem.html <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">vtr.org.vn</ins>] of idealistic &quot;Free French&quot; took up arms to defend the British colony of Hong Kong in a futile battle against Japanese invaders.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;But their sacrifice, though largely unknown in their homeland, is not forgotten in Asia.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;There are six names on the worn stele that pays tribute to them in a corner of the British military cemetery in Stanley, on a hill in the south of Hong Kong island.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;A French flag is draped over a memorial at the Stanley Military Cemetery, dedicated to French civilians who died fighting with the Hong Kong Volunteer Defence Corps against the 1941 Japanese invasion of the territory �Isaac LAWRENCE (AFP)&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;I do not see why these people should be forgotten,&quot; says Francois Dremeaux, chairman of the Hong Kong committee of French Remembrances of China.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;My job is to make their memory live by giving it meaning,&quot; adds the history teacher, who helped oversee a ceremony dedicated to them last week.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Dremeaux, who has written a thesis on the French presence in Hong Kong in the interwar period, feels there is much to learn from these men, who in 1941 chose to fight in a battle some 10,000 kilometres (6,000 miles) from their homeland.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Hong Kong was a British enclave, and there was nothing forcing them to defend it, he adds.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;We cannot even say they were defending their colony,&quot; Dremeaux said.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;They defended an idea, freedom, and did it of their own free will, which makes their sacrifice even more noble.&quot;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Apart from representatives from the French consulate and army, those attending the modest commemoration were largely students from the French international school where Dremeaux teaches.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;The group sang 'Le Chant Des Partisans', the anthem of the French Resistance -- a tune rarely heard on the shores of the South China Sea.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;- Dissident consul -&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;By June 1940, many in the French community -- which numbered around 400 in the late 1930s, had already fled to Indochina. Those who remained largely rallied to the Gaullist Resistance cause.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;While the French embassy in Beijing was loyal to the pro-Nazi Vichy regime, in diplomatic correspondence Hong Kong consul general Louis Reynaud railed against the &quot;treason&quot; of the armistice Germany demanded and stamped his official telegrams with &quot;V&quot; for victory.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;A &quot;Free France&quot; committee was set up in Hong Kong with about 20 active members to recruit volunteers, turn merchant sailors on stopover in port or prepare propaganda broadcasts.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Then on December 8, 1941, hours after their surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, the Japanese invaded Hong Kong, which had been living under the threat of the imperial forces since they seized the nearby Chinese city of Canton -- modern day Guangzhou -- three years earlier.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Some of the Frenchmen joined the Hong Kong Volunteer Defence Corps established by Britain to support regular forces vastly outnumbered by the Japanese.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;- Bayonet wounds -&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Dremeaux picks up the trail of the Free French at several key moments in the 17-day &quot;Battle of Hong Kong&quot;, including the fight for the island's sole power plant.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;While only six names are on the stele, Dremeaux believes around ten took a stand against the Japanese.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Among them was Armand Delcourt, a 42-year-old merchant who came to Hong Kong in 1926 and married a Eurasian woman of Japanese and Scottish origins, Captain Roderic Egal, who was in transit from Shanghai when the invasion began, Henri Belle, a sailor passing through Hong Kong who took up arms, and Paul de Roux a director of the Banque d'Indochine.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Egal and Belle were both captured and sent to prison camps, the latter dying in captivity. Roux did not fight but set up a resistance network. He was arrested and tortured, before committing suicide to prevent the enemy forcing him to talk.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Delcourt was wounded by two bayonet blows on December 21 while defending a strategic hill pass and executed two days later, shortly before the governor surrendered on Christmas Day.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;On January <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">[http://www.vtr.org.vn/cam-nang-du-lich-bac-kinh-5-ngay-4-dem.html du lịch Bắc Kinh </ins>5 <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">ngày 4 đêm từ Hà Nội]</ins>, 1942, brutalised by the Japanese, his pregnant wife gave birth prematurely in a Hong Kong church to a girl who for decades would not know the circumstances of her father's death.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;I did not know the full circumstances of my father's death until much later when I was in Australia and received the letter from my father's close friend Carlos Arnulphy who had managed to trace me,&quot; Monique Westmore, who now lives in Melbourne, told AFP by email.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;I would have loved to have known my father but when I read the documents that are attached (to the letter) I understand that he was a man of great principle -- I do sometimes ask myself 'why did you go knowing that your wife was hugely pregnant and also you weren't exactly a young man?',&quot; Westmore wrote.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;The battle of Hong Kong was a total disaster and many people lost their lives.&quot;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;His military <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">[https://Www.jamendo.com/en/search?qs=fq=license_cc:(-nc%20AND%20-nd)&amp;q=death%20notification </ins>death notification<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">] </ins>praised him as &quot;a continuous example of courage and enthusiasm&quot; in an unequal battle who &quot;cheerfully made the supreme sacrifice, confident in the final victory of France.&quot;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;For Dremeaux, the path chosen by Armand Delcourt resonates strongly today, &quot;a time of withdrawal&quot; when countries are increasingly looking inward.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;He was married to a Japanese woman, lived abroad and gave his life for Free France,&quot; he said.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;To be patriotic is not a contradiction with being open to the world&quot;.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Graphic on Japan's invasion of Hong Kong in December 1941 �-, - (AFP Graphic)&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;French historian and teacher Francois Dremeaux poses for a photo after a memorial service at the Stanley Military <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline"> [http://www.vtr.org.vn/cam-nang-du-lich-bac-kinh-5-ngay-4-dem.html du lịch Bắc Kinh 5 ngày 4 đêm] </ins>Cemetery in Hong Kong �Isaac LAWRENCE (AFP)&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;The French Consul General of Hong Kong Eric Berti (3rd R), along with military personnel and members of the public, attends a memorial service at the Stanley Military Cemetery �Isaac LAWRENCE (AFP)&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Advertisement</div></td></tr> </table>

FabianPickett65 http://iqbal.wiki/index.php?title=WWII_sacrifice_of_Free_French_defending_Hong_Kong&diff=22348&oldid=prev 2018-07-17T23:20:58Z

<p></p> <table class="diff diff-contentalign-left" data-mw="interface"> <col class="diff-marker" /> <col class="diff-content" /> <col class="diff-marker" /> <col class="diff-content" /> <tr class="diff-title" lang="en"> <td colspan="2" style="background-color: #fff; color: #222; text-align: center;">← Older revision</td> <td colspan="2" style="background-color: #fff; color: #222; text-align: center;">Revision as of 23:20, 17 July 2018</td> </tr><tr><td colspan="2" class="diff-lineno" id="mw-diff-left-l1" >Line 1:</td> <td colspan="2" class="diff-lineno">Line 1:</td></tr> <tr><td class='diff-marker'>−</td><td style="color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>Seventy-five years ago, a handful of idealistic &quot;Free French&quot; took up arms to defend the British colony of Hong Kong in a futile battle against Japanese invaders.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;But their sacrifice, though largely unknown in their homeland, is not forgotten in Asia.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;There are six names on the worn stele that pays tribute to them in a corner of the British military cemetery in Stanley, on a hill in the south of Hong Kong island.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;A French flag is draped over a memorial at the Stanley Military Cemetery, dedicated to French civilians who died fighting <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline"> [http://www.vtr.org.vn/cam-nang-du-lich-bac-kinh-5-ngay-4-dem.html vtr.org.vn] </del>with the Hong Kong Volunteer Defence Corps against the 1941 Japanese invasion of the territory �Isaac LAWRENCE (AFP)&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;I do not see why these people should be forgotten,&quot; says Francois Dremeaux, chairman of the Hong Kong committee of French Remembrances of China.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;My job is to make their memory live by giving it meaning,&quot; adds the history teacher, who helped oversee a ceremony dedicated to them last week.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Dremeaux, who has written a thesis on the French presence in Hong Kong in the interwar period, feels there is much to learn from these men, who in 1941 chose to fight in a battle <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline"> [http://www.vtr.org.vn/cam-nang-du-lich-bac-kinh-5-ngay-4-dem.html tour bắc kinh từ hà nội] </del>some 10,000 kilometres (6,000 miles) from their homeland.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Hong Kong was a British enclave, and there was nothing forcing them to defend it, he adds.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;We cannot even say they were defending their colony,&quot; Dremeaux said.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;They defended an idea, freedom, and did it of their own free will, which makes their sacrifice even more noble.&quot;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Apart from representatives from the French consulate and army, those attending the modest commemoration were largely students from the French international school where Dremeaux teaches.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;The group sang 'Le Chant Des Partisans', the anthem of the French Resistance -- a tune rarely heard on the shores of the South China Sea.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;- Dissident consul -&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;By June 1940, many in the French community -- which numbered around 400 in the late 1930s, had already fled to Indochina. Those who remained largely rallied to the Gaullist Resistance cause.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;While the French embassy in Beijing was loyal to the pro-Nazi Vichy regime, in diplomatic correspondence Hong Kong consul general Louis Reynaud railed against the &quot;treason&quot; of the armistice Germany demanded and stamped his official telegrams with &quot;V&quot; for victory.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;A &quot;Free France&quot; committee was set up in Hong Kong with about 20 active members to recruit volunteers, turn merchant sailors on stopover in port or prepare propaganda broadcasts.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Then on December 8, 1941, hours after their surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, the Japanese invaded Hong Kong, which had been living under the threat of the imperial forces since they seized the nearby Chinese city of Canton -- modern day Guangzhou -- three years earlier.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Some of the Frenchmen joined the Hong Kong Volunteer Defence Corps established by Britain to support regular forces vastly outnumbered by the Japanese.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;- Bayonet wounds -&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Dremeaux picks up the trail of the Free French at several key moments in the 17-day &quot;Battle of Hong Kong&quot;, including the fight for the island's sole power plant.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;While only six names are on the stele, Dremeaux believes around ten took a stand against the <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">[http://www.channel4.com/news/</del>Japanese <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">Japanese]</del>.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Among them was Armand Delcourt, a 42-year-old merchant who came to Hong Kong in 1926 and married a Eurasian woman of Japanese and Scottish origins, Captain Roderic Egal, who was in transit from Shanghai when the invasion began, Henri Belle, a sailor passing through Hong Kong who took up arms, and Paul de Roux a director of the Banque d'Indochine.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Egal and Belle were both captured and sent to prison camps, the latter dying in captivity. Roux did not fight but set up a resistance network. He was arrested and tortured, before committing suicide to prevent the enemy forcing him to talk.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Delcourt was wounded by two bayonet blows on December 21 while defending a strategic hill pass and executed two days later, shortly before the governor surrendered on Christmas Day.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;On January 5, 1942, brutalised by the Japanese, his pregnant wife gave birth prematurely in a Hong Kong church to a girl who for decades would not know the circumstances of her father's death.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;I did not know the full circumstances of my father's death until much later when I was in Australia and received the letter from my father's close friend Carlos Arnulphy who had managed to trace me,&quot; Monique Westmore, who now lives in Melbourne, told AFP by email.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;I would have loved to have known my father but when I read the documents that are attached (to the letter) I understand that he was a man of great principle -- I do sometimes ask myself 'why did you go knowing that your wife was hugely pregnant and also you weren't exactly a young man?',&quot; Westmore wrote.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;The battle of Hong Kong was a total disaster and many people lost their lives.&quot;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;His military death notification praised him as &quot;a continuous example of courage and enthusiasm&quot; in an unequal battle who &quot;cheerfully made the supreme sacrifice, confident in the final victory of France.&quot;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;For Dremeaux, the path chosen by Armand Delcourt resonates strongly today, &quot;a time of withdrawal&quot; when countries are increasingly looking inward.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;He was married to a Japanese woman, lived abroad and gave his life for Free France,&quot; he said.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;To be patriotic is not a contradiction with being open to the world&quot;.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Graphic on Japan's invasion of Hong Kong in December 1941 �-, - (AFP Graphic)&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;French historian and teacher Francois Dremeaux poses for a photo after a memorial service at the Stanley Military Cemetery in Hong Kong �Isaac LAWRENCE (AFP)&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;The French Consul General of Hong Kong Eric Berti (3rd R), along with military personnel and members of the public, attends a memorial service at the Stanley Military Cemetery �Isaac LAWRENCE (AFP)&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Advertisement</div></td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">[http://www.vtr.org.vn/cam-nang-du-lich-bac-kinh-5-ngay-4-dem.html tour bắc kinh từ hà nội] </ins>Seventy-five years ago, a handful of idealistic &quot;Free French&quot; took up arms to defend the British colony of Hong Kong in a futile battle against Japanese invaders.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;But their sacrifice, though largely unknown in their homeland, is not forgotten in Asia.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;There are six names on the worn stele that pays tribute to them in a corner of the British military cemetery in Stanley, on a hill in the south of Hong Kong island.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;A French flag is draped over a memorial at the Stanley Military Cemetery, dedicated to French civilians who died fighting with the Hong Kong Volunteer Defence Corps against the 1941 Japanese invasion of the territory �Isaac LAWRENCE (AFP)&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;I do not see why these people should be forgotten,&quot; says Francois Dremeaux, chairman of the Hong Kong committee of French Remembrances of China.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;My job is to make their memory live by giving it meaning,&quot; adds the history teacher, who helped oversee a ceremony dedicated to them last week.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Dremeaux, who has written a thesis on the French presence in Hong Kong in the interwar period, feels there is much to learn from these men, who in 1941 chose to fight in a battle some 10,000 kilometres (6,000 miles) from their homeland.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Hong Kong was a British enclave, and there was nothing forcing them to defend it, he adds.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;We cannot even say they were defending their colony,&quot; Dremeaux said.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;They defended an idea, freedom, and did it of their own free will, which makes their sacrifice even more noble.&quot;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Apart from representatives from the French consulate and army, those attending the modest commemoration were largely students from the French international school where Dremeaux teaches.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;The group sang 'Le Chant Des Partisans', the anthem of the <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">[http://pinterest.com/search/pins/?q=French%20Resistance </ins>French Resistance<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">] </ins>-- a tune rarely heard on the shores of the South China Sea.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;- Dissident consul -&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;By June 1940, many in the <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline"> [http://www.vtr.org.vn/cam-nang-du-lich-bac-kinh-5-ngay-4-dem.html vtr.org.vn] </ins>French community -- which numbered around 400 in the late 1930s, had already fled to Indochina. Those who remained largely rallied to the Gaullist Resistance cause.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;While the French embassy in Beijing was loyal to the pro-Nazi Vichy regime, in diplomatic correspondence Hong Kong consul general Louis Reynaud railed against the &quot;treason&quot; of the armistice Germany demanded and stamped his official telegrams with &quot;V&quot; for victory.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;A &quot;Free France&quot; committee was set up in Hong Kong with about 20 active members to recruit volunteers, turn merchant sailors on stopover in port or prepare propaganda broadcasts.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Then on December 8, 1941, hours after their surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, the Japanese invaded Hong Kong, which had been living under the threat of the imperial forces since they seized the nearby Chinese city of Canton -- modern day Guangzhou -- three years earlier.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Some of the Frenchmen joined the Hong Kong Volunteer Defence Corps established by Britain to support regular forces vastly outnumbered by the Japanese.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;- Bayonet wounds -&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Dremeaux picks up the trail of the Free French at several key moments in the 17-day &quot;Battle of Hong Kong&quot;, including the fight for the island's sole power plant.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;While only six names are on the stele, Dremeaux believes around ten took a stand against the Japanese.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Among them was Armand Delcourt, a 42-year-old merchant who came to Hong Kong in 1926 and married a Eurasian woman of Japanese and Scottish origins, Captain Roderic Egal, who was in transit from Shanghai when the invasion began, Henri Belle, a sailor passing through Hong Kong who took up arms, and Paul de Roux a director of the Banque d'Indochine.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Egal and Belle were both captured and sent to prison camps, the latter dying in captivity. Roux did not fight but set up a resistance network. He was arrested and tortured, before committing suicide to prevent the enemy forcing him to talk.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Delcourt was wounded by two bayonet blows on December 21 while defending a strategic hill pass and executed two days later, shortly before the governor surrendered on Christmas Day.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;On January 5, 1942, brutalised by the Japanese, his pregnant wife gave birth prematurely in a Hong Kong church to a girl who for decades would not know the circumstances of her father's death.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;I did not know the full circumstances of my father's death until much later when I was in Australia and received the letter from my father's close friend Carlos Arnulphy who had managed to trace me,&quot; Monique Westmore, who now lives in Melbourne, told AFP by email.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;I would have loved to have known my father but when I read the documents that are attached (to the letter) I understand that he was a man of great principle -- I do sometimes ask myself 'why did you go knowing that your wife was hugely pregnant and also you weren't exactly a young man?',&quot; Westmore wrote.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;The battle of Hong Kong was a total disaster and many people lost their lives.&quot;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;His military death notification praised him as &quot;a continuous example of courage and enthusiasm&quot; in an unequal battle who &quot;cheerfully made the supreme sacrifice, confident in the final victory of France.&quot;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;For Dremeaux, the path chosen by Armand Delcourt resonates strongly today, &quot;a time of withdrawal&quot; when countries are increasingly looking inward.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;He was married to a Japanese woman, lived abroad and gave his life for Free France,&quot; he said.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;To be patriotic is not a contradiction with being open to the world&quot;.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Graphic on Japan's invasion of Hong Kong in December 1941 �-, - (AFP Graphic)&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;French historian and teacher Francois Dremeaux poses for a photo after a memorial service at the Stanley Military Cemetery in Hong Kong �Isaac LAWRENCE (AFP)&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;The French Consul General of Hong Kong Eric Berti (3rd R), along with military personnel and members of the public, attends a memorial service at the Stanley Military Cemetery �Isaac LAWRENCE (AFP)&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Advertisement</div></td></tr> </table>

VanceSpitzer7 http://iqbal.wiki/index.php?title=WWII_sacrifice_of_Free_French_defending_Hong_Kong&diff=22330&oldid=prev 2018-07-17T22:42:02Z

<p></p> <table class="diff diff-contentalign-left" data-mw="interface"> <col class="diff-marker" /> <col class="diff-content" /> <col class="diff-marker" /> <col class="diff-content" /> <tr class="diff-title" lang="en"> <td colspan="2" style="background-color: #fff; color: #222; text-align: center;">← Older revision</td> <td colspan="2" style="background-color: #fff; color: #222; text-align: center;">Revision as of 22:42, 17 July 2018</td> </tr><tr><td colspan="2" class="diff-lineno" id="mw-diff-left-l1" >Line 1:</td> <td colspan="2" class="diff-lineno">Line 1:</td></tr> <tr><td class='diff-marker'>−</td><td style="color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>Seventy-five years ago, a handful of idealistic &quot;Free French&quot; took up arms to defend the British colony of Hong Kong in a futile battle against Japanese invaders.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;But their sacrifice, though largely unknown in their homeland, is not forgotten in Asia.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;There are six names on the worn stele that pays tribute to them in a <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline"> [http://www.vtr.org.vn/cam-nang-du-lich-bac-kinh-5-ngay-4-dem.html vtr.org.vn] </del>corner of the British military cemetery in Stanley, on a hill in the south of Hong Kong island.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;A French flag is draped over a memorial at the Stanley Military Cemetery, dedicated to French civilians who died fighting with the Hong Kong Volunteer Defence Corps against the 1941 Japanese invasion of the territory �Isaac LAWRENCE (AFP)&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;I do not see why these people should be forgotten,&quot; says Francois Dremeaux, chairman of the Hong Kong committee of French Remembrances of China.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;My job is to make their memory live by giving it meaning,&quot; adds the history teacher, who helped oversee a ceremony dedicated to them last week.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Dremeaux, who has written a thesis on the French presence in Hong Kong in the interwar period, feels there is much to learn from these men, who in 1941 chose to fight in a battle some 10,000 kilometres (6,000 miles) from their homeland.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Hong Kong was a British enclave, and there was nothing forcing them to defend it, he adds.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;We cannot even say they were defending their colony,&quot; Dremeaux said.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;They defended an idea, freedom, and did it of their own free will, which makes their sacrifice even more noble.&quot;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Apart from representatives from the French consulate and army, those attending the modest commemoration were largely students from the French international school where Dremeaux teaches.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;The group sang 'Le Chant Des Partisans', the anthem of the French Resistance -- a tune rarely heard on the shores of the South China Sea.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;- Dissident consul -&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;By June 1940, many in the French community -- which numbered around 400 in the late 1930s, had already fled to Indochina. Those who remained largely rallied to the Gaullist Resistance cause.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;While the French embassy in Beijing was loyal to the pro-Nazi Vichy regime, in diplomatic correspondence Hong Kong consul general Louis Reynaud railed against the &quot;treason&quot; of the armistice Germany demanded and stamped his official telegrams with &quot;V&quot; for victory.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;A &quot;Free France&quot; committee was set up in Hong Kong with about 20 active members to recruit volunteers, turn merchant sailors on stopover in port or prepare propaganda broadcasts.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Then on December 8, 1941, hours after their surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, the Japanese invaded Hong Kong, which had been living under the threat of the imperial forces since they seized the nearby Chinese city <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline"> [http://www.vtr.org.vn/cam-nang-du-lich-bac-kinh-5-ngay-4-dem.html du lịch Bắc Kinh] </del>of Canton -- modern day Guangzhou -- three years earlier.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Some of the Frenchmen joined the Hong Kong Volunteer Defence Corps established by Britain to support regular forces vastly outnumbered by the Japanese.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;- Bayonet wounds -&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Dremeaux picks up the trail of the Free French at several key moments in the 17-day &quot;Battle of Hong Kong&quot;, including the fight for the island's sole power plant.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;While only six names are on the stele, Dremeaux believes around ten took a stand against the Japanese.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Among them was Armand Delcourt, a 42-year-old merchant who came to Hong Kong in 1926 and married a Eurasian woman of Japanese and Scottish origins, Captain Roderic Egal, who was in transit from Shanghai when the invasion began, Henri Belle, a sailor passing through Hong Kong who took up arms, and Paul de Roux a director of the Banque d'Indochine.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Egal and Belle were both captured and sent to prison camps, the <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline"> [http://www.vtr.org.vn/cam-nang-du-lich-bac-kinh-5-ngay-4-dem.html tour bắc kinh từ hà nội] </del>latter dying in captivity. Roux did not fight but set up a resistance network. He was arrested and tortured, before committing suicide to prevent the enemy forcing him to talk.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Delcourt was wounded by two bayonet blows on December 21 while defending a strategic hill pass and executed two days later, shortly before the governor surrendered on Christmas Day.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;On January 5, 1942, brutalised by the Japanese, his pregnant wife gave birth prematurely in a Hong Kong church to a girl who for decades would not know the circumstances of her father's death.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;I did not know the full circumstances of my father's death until much later when I was in Australia and received the letter from my father's close friend Carlos Arnulphy who had managed to trace me,&quot; Monique Westmore, who now lives in Melbourne, told AFP by email.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;I would have loved to have known my father but when I read the documents that are attached (to the letter) I understand that he was a man of great principle -- I do sometimes ask myself 'why did you go knowing that your wife was hugely pregnant and also you weren't exactly a young man?',&quot; Westmore wrote.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;The battle of Hong Kong was a total disaster and many people lost their lives.&quot;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;His military death notification praised him as &quot;a continuous example of courage and enthusiasm&quot; in an unequal battle who &quot;cheerfully made the supreme sacrifice, confident in the final victory of France.&quot;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;For Dremeaux, the <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">[http://Www.glamour.de/content/search/?SearchText=path%20chosen </del>path chosen<del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">] </del>by Armand Delcourt resonates strongly today, &quot;a time of withdrawal&quot; when countries are increasingly looking inward.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;He was married to a Japanese woman, lived abroad and gave his life for Free France,&quot; he said.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;To be patriotic is not a contradiction with being open to the world&quot;.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Graphic on Japan's invasion of Hong Kong in December 1941 �-, - (AFP Graphic)&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;French historian and teacher Francois Dremeaux poses for a photo after a memorial service at the Stanley Military Cemetery in Hong Kong �Isaac LAWRENCE (AFP)&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;The French Consul General of Hong Kong Eric Berti (3rd R), along with military personnel and members of the public, attends a memorial service at the Stanley Military Cemetery �Isaac LAWRENCE (AFP)&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Advertisement</div></td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>Seventy-five years ago, a handful of idealistic &quot;Free French&quot; took up arms to defend the British colony of Hong Kong in a futile battle against Japanese invaders.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;But their sacrifice, though largely unknown in their homeland, is not forgotten in Asia.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;There are six names on the worn stele that pays tribute to them in a corner of the British military cemetery in Stanley, on a hill in the south of Hong Kong island.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;A French flag is draped over a memorial at the Stanley Military Cemetery, dedicated to French civilians who died fighting <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline"> [http://www.vtr.org.vn/cam-nang-du-lich-bac-kinh-5-ngay-4-dem.html vtr.org.vn] </ins>with the Hong Kong Volunteer Defence Corps against the 1941 Japanese invasion of the territory �Isaac LAWRENCE (AFP)&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;I do not see why these people should be forgotten,&quot; says Francois Dremeaux, chairman of the Hong Kong committee of French Remembrances of China.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;My job is to make their memory live by giving it meaning,&quot; adds the history teacher, who helped oversee a ceremony dedicated to them last week.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Dremeaux, who has written a thesis on the French presence in Hong Kong in the interwar period, feels there is much to learn from these men, who in 1941 chose to fight in a battle <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline"> [http://www.vtr.org.vn/cam-nang-du-lich-bac-kinh-5-ngay-4-dem.html tour bắc kinh từ hà nội] </ins>some 10,000 kilometres (6,000 miles) from their homeland.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Hong Kong was a British enclave, and there was nothing forcing them to defend it, he adds.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;We cannot even say they were defending their colony,&quot; Dremeaux said.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;They defended an idea, freedom, and did it of their own free will, which makes their sacrifice even more noble.&quot;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Apart from representatives from the French consulate and army, those attending the modest commemoration were largely students from the French international school where Dremeaux teaches.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;The group sang 'Le Chant Des Partisans', the anthem of the French Resistance -- a tune rarely heard on the shores of the South China Sea.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;- Dissident consul -&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;By June 1940, many in the French community -- which numbered around 400 in the late 1930s, had already fled to Indochina. Those who remained largely rallied to the Gaullist Resistance cause.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;While the French embassy in Beijing was loyal to the pro-Nazi Vichy regime, in diplomatic correspondence Hong Kong consul general Louis Reynaud railed against the &quot;treason&quot; of the armistice Germany demanded and stamped his official telegrams with &quot;V&quot; for victory.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;A &quot;Free France&quot; committee was set up in Hong Kong with about 20 active members to recruit volunteers, turn merchant sailors on stopover in port or prepare propaganda broadcasts.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Then on December 8, 1941, hours after their surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, the Japanese invaded Hong Kong, which had been living under the threat of the imperial forces since they seized the nearby Chinese city of Canton -- modern day Guangzhou -- three years earlier.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Some of the Frenchmen joined the Hong Kong Volunteer Defence Corps established by Britain to support regular forces vastly outnumbered by the Japanese.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;- Bayonet wounds -&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Dremeaux picks up the trail of the Free French at several key moments in the 17-day &quot;Battle of Hong Kong&quot;, including the fight for the island's sole power plant.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;While only six names are on the stele, Dremeaux believes around ten took a stand against the <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">[http://www.channel4.com/news/Japanese </ins>Japanese<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">]</ins>.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Among them was Armand Delcourt, a 42-year-old merchant who came to Hong Kong in 1926 and married a Eurasian woman of Japanese and Scottish origins, Captain Roderic Egal, who was in transit from Shanghai when the invasion began, Henri Belle, a sailor passing through Hong Kong who took up arms, and Paul de Roux a director of the Banque d'Indochine.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Egal and Belle were both captured and sent to prison camps, the latter dying in captivity. Roux did not fight but set up a resistance network. He was arrested and tortured, before committing suicide to prevent the enemy forcing him to talk.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Delcourt was wounded by two bayonet blows on December 21 while defending a strategic hill pass and executed two days later, shortly before the governor surrendered on Christmas Day.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;On January 5, 1942, brutalised by the Japanese, his pregnant wife gave birth prematurely in a Hong Kong church to a girl who for decades would not know the circumstances of her father's death.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;I did not know the full circumstances of my father's death until much later when I was in Australia and received the letter from my father's close friend Carlos Arnulphy who had managed to trace me,&quot; Monique Westmore, who now lives in Melbourne, told AFP by email.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;I would have loved to have known my father but when I read the documents that are attached (to the letter) I understand that he was a man of great principle -- I do sometimes ask myself 'why did you go knowing that your wife was hugely pregnant and also you weren't exactly a young man?',&quot; Westmore wrote.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;The battle of Hong Kong was a total disaster and many people lost their lives.&quot;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;His military death notification praised him as &quot;a continuous example of courage and enthusiasm&quot; in an unequal battle who &quot;cheerfully made the supreme sacrifice, confident in the final victory of France.&quot;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;For Dremeaux, the path chosen by Armand Delcourt resonates strongly today, &quot;a time of withdrawal&quot; when countries are increasingly looking inward.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;He was married to a Japanese woman, lived abroad and gave his life for Free France,&quot; he said.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;To be patriotic is not a contradiction with being open to the world&quot;.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Graphic on Japan's invasion of Hong Kong in December 1941 �-, - (AFP Graphic)&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;French historian and teacher Francois Dremeaux poses for a photo after a memorial service at the Stanley Military Cemetery in Hong Kong �Isaac LAWRENCE (AFP)&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;The French Consul General of Hong Kong Eric Berti (3rd R), along with military personnel and members of the public, attends a memorial service at the Stanley Military Cemetery �Isaac LAWRENCE (AFP)&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Advertisement</div></td></tr> </table>

ElbaBrain00 http://iqbal.wiki/index.php?title=WWII_sacrifice_of_Free_French_defending_Hong_Kong&diff=22046&oldid=prev 2018-07-17T09:26:48Z

<p></p> <table class="diff diff-contentalign-left" data-mw="interface"> <col class="diff-marker" /> <col class="diff-content" /> <col class="diff-marker" /> <col class="diff-content" /> <tr class="diff-title" lang="en"> <td colspan="2" style="background-color: #fff; color: #222; text-align: center;">← Older revision</td> <td colspan="2" style="background-color: #fff; color: #222; text-align: center;">Revision as of 09:26, 17 July 2018</td> </tr><tr><td colspan="2" class="diff-lineno" id="mw-diff-left-l1" >Line 1:</td> <td colspan="2" class="diff-lineno">Line 1:</td></tr> <tr><td class='diff-marker'>−</td><td style="color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>Seventy-five years ago, a handful of idealistic &quot;Free French&quot; took up arms to defend the British colony of Hong Kong in a futile battle against Japanese invaders.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;But their sacrifice, though largely unknown in their homeland, is not forgotten in Asia.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;There are six names on the worn stele that pays tribute to them in a corner of the British military cemetery in Stanley, on a hill in the south of Hong Kong island.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;A French flag is draped over a memorial at the Stanley Military Cemetery, dedicated to French civilians who died fighting with the Hong Kong Volunteer Defence Corps against the 1941 Japanese invasion of the territory �Isaac LAWRENCE (AFP)&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;I do not see why these people should be forgotten,&quot; says Francois Dremeaux, chairman of the Hong Kong committee of French Remembrances of China.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;My job is to make their memory live by giving it meaning,&quot; adds the history teacher, who helped oversee a ceremony dedicated to them last week.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Dremeaux, who has written a thesis on the French presence in Hong Kong in the interwar period, feels there is much to learn from these men, who in 1941 chose to fight in a battle some 10,000 kilometres (6,000 miles) from their homeland.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Hong Kong was a British enclave, and there was nothing forcing them to defend it, he adds.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;We cannot even say they were defending their colony,&quot; Dremeaux said.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;They defended an idea, freedom, and did it of their own free will, which makes their sacrifice even more noble.&quot;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Apart from representatives from the French consulate and army, those attending the modest commemoration were largely students from the French international school where Dremeaux teaches.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;The group sang 'Le Chant Des Partisans', the anthem of the French Resistance -- a tune rarely heard on the shores of the South China Sea.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;- Dissident consul -&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;By June 1940, many in the French community -- which numbered around 400 in the late 1930s, had already fled to Indochina. Those who remained largely rallied to the Gaullist Resistance cause.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;While the French embassy in Beijing was loyal to the pro-Nazi Vichy regime, in diplomatic correspondence Hong Kong consul general Louis <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline"> [http://www.vtr.org.vn/cam-nang-du-lich-bac-kinh-5-ngay-4-dem.html du lịch Bắc Kinh] </del>Reynaud railed against the &quot;treason&quot; of the armistice Germany demanded and stamped his official telegrams with &quot;V&quot; for victory.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;A &quot;Free France&quot; committee was set up in Hong Kong with about 20 active members to recruit volunteers, turn merchant sailors on stopover in port or prepare propaganda broadcasts.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Then on December 8, 1941, hours after their <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">[http://Dict.Leo.org/?search=surprise%20attack </del>surprise attack<del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">] </del>on Pearl Harbor, the Japanese invaded Hong Kong, which had been living under the threat of the imperial forces since they seized the nearby Chinese city <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">of Canton -- modern day Guangzhou -- three years earlier.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Some of the Frenchmen joined </del> [http://www.vtr.org.vn/cam-nang-du-lich-bac-kinh-5-ngay-4-dem.html <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">vtr</del>.<del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">org.vn] </del>the Hong Kong Volunteer Defence Corps established by Britain to support regular forces vastly outnumbered by the Japanese.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;- Bayonet wounds -&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Dremeaux picks up the trail of the Free French at several key moments in the 17-day &quot;Battle of Hong Kong&quot;, including the fight for the island's sole power plant.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;While only six names are on the stele, Dremeaux believes around ten took a stand against the Japanese.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Among them was Armand Delcourt, a 42-year-old merchant who came to Hong Kong in 1926 and married a Eurasian woman of Japanese and Scottish origins, Captain Roderic Egal, who was in transit from Shanghai when the invasion began, Henri Belle, a sailor passing through Hong Kong who took up arms, and Paul de Roux a director of the Banque d'Indochine.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Egal and Belle were both captured and sent to prison camps, the latter dying in captivity. Roux did not fight but set up a resistance network. He was arrested and tortured, before committing suicide to prevent the enemy forcing him to talk.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Delcourt was wounded by two bayonet blows on December 21 while defending a strategic hill pass and executed two days later, shortly before the governor surrendered on Christmas Day.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;On January 5, 1942, brutalised by the Japanese, his pregnant wife gave birth prematurely in a Hong Kong church to a girl who for decades would not know the circumstances of her father's death.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;I did not know the full circumstances of my father's death until much later when I was in Australia and received the letter from my father's close friend Carlos Arnulphy who had managed to trace me,&quot; Monique Westmore, who now lives in Melbourne, told AFP by email.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;I would have loved to have known my father but when I read the documents that are attached (to the letter) I understand that he was a man of great principle -- I do sometimes ask myself 'why did you go knowing that your wife was hugely pregnant and also you weren't exactly a young man?',&quot; Westmore wrote.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;The battle of Hong Kong was a total disaster and many people lost their lives.&quot;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;His military death notification praised him as &quot;a continuous example of courage and enthusiasm&quot; in an unequal battle who &quot;cheerfully made the supreme sacrifice, confident in the final victory of France.&quot;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;For Dremeaux, the path chosen by Armand Delcourt resonates strongly today, &quot;a time of withdrawal&quot; when countries are increasingly looking inward.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;He was married to a Japanese woman, lived abroad and gave his life for Free France,&quot; he said.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;To be patriotic is not a contradiction with being open to the world&quot;.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Graphic on Japan's invasion of Hong Kong in December 1941 �-, - (AFP Graphic)&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;French historian and teacher Francois Dremeaux poses for a photo after a memorial service at the Stanley Military Cemetery in Hong Kong �Isaac LAWRENCE (AFP)&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;The French Consul General of Hong Kong Eric Berti (3rd R), along with military personnel and members of the public, attends a memorial service at the Stanley Military Cemetery �Isaac LAWRENCE (AFP)&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Advertisement</div></td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>Seventy-five years ago, a handful of idealistic &quot;Free French&quot; took up arms to defend the British colony of Hong Kong in a futile battle against Japanese invaders.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;But their sacrifice, though largely unknown in their homeland, is not forgotten in Asia.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;There are six names on the worn stele that pays tribute to them in a <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline"> [http://www.vtr.org.vn/cam-nang-du-lich-bac-kinh-5-ngay-4-dem.html vtr.org.vn] </ins>corner of the British military cemetery in Stanley, on a hill in the south of Hong Kong island.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;A French flag is draped over a memorial at the Stanley Military Cemetery, dedicated to French civilians who died fighting with the Hong Kong Volunteer Defence Corps against the 1941 Japanese invasion of the territory �Isaac LAWRENCE (AFP)&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;I do not see why these people should be forgotten,&quot; says Francois Dremeaux, chairman of the Hong Kong committee of French Remembrances of China.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;My job is to make their memory live by giving it meaning,&quot; adds the history teacher, who helped oversee a ceremony dedicated to them last week.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Dremeaux, who has written a thesis on the French presence in Hong Kong in the interwar period, feels there is much to learn from these men, who in 1941 chose to fight in a battle some 10,000 kilometres (6,000 miles) from their homeland.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Hong Kong was a British enclave, and there was nothing forcing them to defend it, he adds.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;We cannot even say they were defending their colony,&quot; Dremeaux said.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;They defended an idea, freedom, and did it of their own free will, which makes their sacrifice even more noble.&quot;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Apart from representatives from the French consulate and army, those attending the modest commemoration were largely students from the French international school where Dremeaux teaches.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;The group sang 'Le Chant Des Partisans', the anthem of the French Resistance -- a tune rarely heard on the shores of the South China Sea.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;- Dissident consul -&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;By June 1940, many in the French community -- which numbered around 400 in the late 1930s, had already fled to Indochina. Those who remained largely rallied to the Gaullist Resistance cause.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;While the French embassy in Beijing was loyal to the pro-Nazi Vichy regime, in diplomatic correspondence Hong Kong consul general Louis Reynaud railed against the &quot;treason&quot; of the armistice Germany demanded and stamped his official telegrams with &quot;V&quot; for victory.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;A &quot;Free France&quot; committee was set up in Hong Kong with about 20 active members to recruit volunteers, turn merchant sailors on stopover in port or prepare propaganda broadcasts.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Then on December 8, 1941, hours after their surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, the Japanese invaded Hong Kong, which had been living under the threat of the imperial forces since they seized the nearby Chinese city&#160; [http://www.vtr.org.vn/cam-nang-du-lich-bac-kinh-5-ngay-4-dem.html <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">du lịch Bắc Kinh] of Canton -- modern day Guangzhou -- three years earlier</ins>.<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Some of the Frenchmen joined </ins>the Hong Kong Volunteer Defence Corps established by Britain to support regular forces vastly outnumbered by the Japanese.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;- Bayonet wounds -&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Dremeaux picks up the trail of the Free French at several key moments in the 17-day &quot;Battle of Hong Kong&quot;, including the fight for the island's sole power plant.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;While only six names are on the stele, Dremeaux believes around ten took a stand against the Japanese.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Among them was Armand Delcourt, a 42-year-old merchant who came to Hong Kong in 1926 and married a Eurasian woman of Japanese and Scottish origins, Captain Roderic Egal, who was in transit from Shanghai when the invasion began, Henri Belle, a sailor passing through Hong Kong who took up arms, and Paul de Roux a director of the Banque d'Indochine.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Egal and Belle were both captured and sent to prison camps, the <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline"> [http://www.vtr.org.vn/cam-nang-du-lich-bac-kinh-5-ngay-4-dem.html tour bắc kinh từ hà nội] </ins>latter dying in captivity. Roux did not fight but set up a resistance network. He was arrested and tortured, before committing suicide to prevent the enemy forcing him to talk.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Delcourt was wounded by two bayonet blows on December 21 while defending a strategic hill pass and executed two days later, shortly before the governor surrendered on Christmas Day.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;On January 5, 1942, brutalised by the Japanese, his pregnant wife gave birth prematurely in a Hong Kong church to a girl who for decades would not know the circumstances of her father's death.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;I did not know the full circumstances of my father's death until much later when I was in Australia and received the letter from my father's close friend Carlos Arnulphy who had managed to trace me,&quot; Monique Westmore, who now lives in Melbourne, told AFP by email.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;I would have loved to have known my father but when I read the documents that are attached (to the letter) I understand that he was a man of great principle -- I do sometimes ask myself 'why did you go knowing that your wife was hugely pregnant and also you weren't exactly a young man?',&quot; Westmore wrote.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;The battle of Hong Kong was a total disaster and many people lost their lives.&quot;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;His military death notification praised him as &quot;a continuous example of courage and enthusiasm&quot; in an unequal battle who &quot;cheerfully made the supreme sacrifice, confident in the final victory of France.&quot;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;For Dremeaux, the <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">[http://Www.glamour.de/content/search/?SearchText=path%20chosen </ins>path chosen<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">] </ins>by Armand Delcourt resonates strongly today, &quot;a time of withdrawal&quot; when countries are increasingly looking inward.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;He was married to a Japanese woman, lived abroad and gave his life for Free France,&quot; he said.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;To be patriotic is not a contradiction with being open to the world&quot;.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Graphic on Japan's invasion of Hong Kong in December 1941 �-, - (AFP Graphic)&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;French historian and teacher Francois Dremeaux poses for a photo after a memorial service at the Stanley Military Cemetery in Hong Kong �Isaac LAWRENCE (AFP)&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;The French Consul General of Hong Kong Eric Berti (3rd R), along with military personnel and members of the public, attends a memorial service at the Stanley Military Cemetery �Isaac LAWRENCE (AFP)&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Advertisement</div></td></tr> </table>

KimberlyRussell