What’s New? . . . Posted on January 4th, 2009
19 May 2009: Scans of articles and letters sent to me by Mark Cunningham, son of the late Capt. James Cunningham. See entry for 15 May for background on today’s entries
Mark: “The first is an article that appeared in one of the Winston Salem, NC newspapers about Paul Beauchamp. I think it ran shortly before I met him in the 1984/85 timeframe.”
Ruth: I have added a transcript of the part that mentions my father, Harry Fisher. It comes at the bottom of the first scan and beginning of the second:
Along the road to Burma, Beauchamp encountered an English missionary whose wife had died delivering their fifth child. The children didn’t have enough to eat. The missionary didn’t have enough to eat. Nobody in those frigid mountains had enough to eat. The missionary gave Beauchamp a letter to Gen. Alexander, then in India commanding the China-Burma-India theater, asking for help. He was embarrassed about it; he said that he never had asked anyone for help before. But the whole village, including his motherless children, was against the wall.
Beauchamp stuck the letter in his pocket and walked on. When he reached the Chinese Army at the Burma Road, the soles of his new boots were wired to the uppers with the wire he happened to be carrying, and 38 days after the plane crashed, he was in India. He delivered the letter to Gen. Alexander, and the missionary subsequently stood in awe of Providence as three planeloads of supplies fell from the sky on his village and 11 truckloads of supplies followed, relayed by mule from the farthest point that the trucks could travel northward into the mountains.
The missionary eventually returned to England and died. One of his hungry children is a missionary in China now.
Mark: “The second is a write-up when I spoke to the local CBI Veterans organization [in 2004] and told the story about my dad. It was quite a moving experience for me.”
Mark: “Shortly after Beauchamp bailed out and was picked up by the Chinese of Chong Pai (not sure of the spelling and I have never been able to find the location on a map) he sent a note with some runners that reached the crew of plane #305, who had bailed out and made it to Lanping, which is also documented in your blog. The attachment is a response from Gruber and Jones, who piloted that plane and you write about in your book. The note is dated 5 Feb, 1944. According to your father’s journal they departed on 7 Feb, the same day that Beauchamp arrived in Lan Ping. The original is framed and hanging on the wall at Paul’s home. I met him and his wife Nancy when I visited and they graciously had a copy made for me.”
February 5, 1944
Lan Ping, Yunnan, ChinaCrew 262:
Received note from Paul J. Beauchamp (20413021) this date. Note tells of crash Jan. 24, 1944.
If this message reaches any member of crew 262 you are in safe hands. We are of plane 305 and had some experience in same territory. Follow guides; they will take you to Lan Ping – where you first made contact with natives (Chong pai) you are 4 days from here going generally Southeast.
At Lan Ping there is a British Mission where you will receive very good care, better than at Jorhat. Mr. Fisher is the Missionary.
Cooked native food is OK to eat and water should be boiled.
Under no circumstances should you go west. Go generally Southeast for 4 or 5 days. You are along Mekong River.
Search plane comes to Lan Ping and you will get further instructions here.
Crew 305
Lt. C.M. Jones
Lt. C.G. Gruber
15 May 2009: Another American contacts me in relation to my father’s notebook . . .
On 7th May I received an email from America from the son of an airman mentioned in my father’s notebook. I’ll let his words tell you the story:
“My name is Mark Cunningham the son of the late Capt. James T. Cunningham. He was killed on Jan. 24/25, 1944 on a C-87 flight (#7262) over the “Hump” that crashed in the Lanping area. The lone survivor, Sgt. Paul Beauchamp made his way to Lanping and was helped by your Father. My son found your web site last Sunday evening and called me immediately and what a surprise it was to read thru those journal entries. I have been researching my Dad’s death my entire adult life and have made several attempts to locate Father Fisher, all unsuccessful.
When the crash occurred in 1944, my Mother received very limited information regarding the details of what happened. He was reported missing on 1st Feb. 1944 and she was notified of his death on 15th June 1944. In fact she did not know there was a survivor for more than a year and finally met Paul Beauchamp and he gave her his account. Still there were many unanswered questions related to remains recovery, burial, identification, etc. His remains were finally returned in 1949; however, he was never individually identified and is buried with Sgt. Gunn the Radio Operator on the flight in Zachery Taylor National Cemetery, Louisville, Ky. My Mom died in 1976.
I met Paul Beauchamp in about 1985 and he told me that he thought Father Fisher, would have arranged for the remains recovery. He also said he did not think any Americans ever reached the crash site. I only found out about Cpl. Evertsen’s involvement a couple of years ago, which your Dad’s journal confirms. Paul died in 2000 and I have not been able to locate Cpl. Evertsen.
I would be very interested to know if there are any other references in your Father’s journal that would clarify or shed new light on who, when, and how the bodies were recovered. If you have and can share any other information I would be forever grateful.
I had heard from other sources that your Father was highly thought of for helping downed American Flyers and for his missionary work in that part of the world. Had it not been for him my Father’s remains may never have been found. All I can say is thank you.”
If you go to the Photos page and then to the link, you’ll find the names of the people mentioned above, on the pages of my father’s notebook. Since that initial email contact, Mark has sent me some scans of letters etc. which I will add here or on the photo blog in due course.
15 May 2009: At last the spring . . .
The lake has returned and early morning gives us this spectacular view – when the sun is shining that is. . .
. . . and just to put that in persepective, this is a photo of almost the same view on 4 April 2009!
4 May 2009: Some Chinglish explained . . .
If you go to the Articles tab you’ll find an explanation for one of the menu items mentioned in “China Connections”. And make sure you read to the end.
29 April 2009: My first Book Review on Radio86.com!
Stina Björkell from “Radio86″, who came to interview me in February, has now posted a book review on their site. Check it out at . . .
8 April 2009: Interview on Radio86.com!
In February, “Radio86″ came to interview me about China Connections – the article and some photos are now on their site. (Why didn’t I check my hair before she took the photo?!)
2 April 2009: “NOW”
Several years ago I read a book published in 1999, called The Power of Now by Eckart Tolle, which helped me to see how I had been living my life in the past and the future, but very little in the actual present – the only part of life which is mine. I have just finished reading Meditations by Marcus Aurelias (AD 121-180), who had this to say – “Remember that man lives only in the present, in this fleeting instant: all the rest of his life is either past and gone, or not yet revealed.” It seems that the saying ‘there is nothing new under the sun’ might be true . . .
1 April 2009: China History Forum
This forum is now back online and seemingly running smoothly again. Link is below.
16 March 2009: China History Forum
Since writing about this forum three weeks ago, it appears that the whole site has been ‘hacked and stolen’. Such a shame, as it was obvious that many people had contributed a lot of information over the past five years.
21 Feb 2009: China-related sites
I have found two wonderful sites about China which I would like to share with you. One is a forum about Chinese history where you can discover just about anything you might want to know, or ask, about China’s past.
The other has a forum on many matters to do with China, as well as lots of interesting and informative material covering, among other things, current news in China and travelling. When I found their site, thanks to Google, I was unaware that they are based in Finland! There will be more news about this connection soon . . .
10 Feb 2009: Connection between China and my Finnish hometown
Last autumn, one of my students was visiting the new graveyard in our town doing some research for a series of talks she was giving about local history, when she came across the gravestone pictured below. It is of Edla Myllylä, a school teacher by training, who spent two stretches of time in China as a missionary, from 1915 to 1920 and then again from 1925 to 1929.
My father went to China in 1928, and by coincidence was born on Edla’s 11th birthday!
9 Feb 2009: Lilies (from last summer!)
Not exactly up to the minute news, but with all the English news about too much snow and too little salt, as well as from Australia about too much fire and too little rain, I thought these photos from our garden last summer might cheer us all up. I was surprised when the butterfly and insect were still there after I had rushed into the house, found the camera, and was able to press the button – twice.
27 Jan 2009: Snowflakes
Yesterday evening I walked through our small town on my way to work and marvelled at the beauty of snow. It was gently falling, small flakes untossed by the wind, drifting effortlessly to the already white ground. Seen through the yellow glow of the street lights it was magical and I forgot to let my brain interrupt with thoughts that in some days - or weeks – it will be treachorous ice. I managed to live in the moment and it was stunning. Let’s try to do the same every day - live our lives today, not wishing for a better tomorrow or fearing a worse one.
22 Jan 2009: Dongba Script
I have just added two pages (out of a possible 65) of Dongba Hieroglyphs with English meanings to the “Lijiang 2006″ page on the photoblog (see photo page). If you would like to see any particular kind of vocabulary, please ask me . . .
17 Jan 2009: A new subtitle for my book?
I am now beginning to receive some feedback about China Connections, and have realised that maybe I should have had a further subtitle – A Guide to the Conveniences of China. However, I am not going to apologise for my over-interest in these basic commodities, as the lack of them, their style if you happened to find one, how exposed they were to the world, and especially the condition they were in, coloured (and scented) every day of my two trips!
15 Jan 2009: Trying – without success
A week ago I tried uploading a photo of a sunrise on a snowy morning of -20C, but as you can see without success. Apparently the photo is too big. My personal webmaster has had flu and is now busy catching up on his school work. I had so wanted to be able to tell him that I had managed to solve the problem by myself, but alas, I can’t. Maybe next time . . .
4 Jan 2009: Investigations Continue
Photo sent to me by a former student who lives about 60 km from my adopted hometown. Obviously not taken recently, as Central Finland is covered in snow at the moment.
Already, one of my second cousins has been trying to discover who people from my father’s old notebook in the photoblog are. He searched for, and has now supplied me with an address and a telephone number in the US for a possible unknown relative who lives in North Carolina and is now 86.
It is also my “Name Day” here in Finland, although the Finnish spelling is Ruut.
15 Dec 2008: Website launched
So far there have only been favourable remarks about the layout and navigation of this website, but I realise that you may not be seeing on your computer screen what I’m seeing on mine! Please let the webmaster know if you are having any problems on your machine.