White Russians in China
- By Peter Harmsen
- 17 February, 2019
- 1 Comment
When Japan occupied northeast China in 1931 and 1932 and turned the area into the puppet state of Manchukuo, it also took over a minority of several thousand ethnic … Continue Reading →
China at War: A New Zealand View (Part 3)
- By Peter Harmsen
- 10 February, 2019
- No Comments
As the war in the Asia-Pacific progressed, life as a New Zealand missionary in partly Japanese-occupied China became more difficult. After the Allies declared war on Japan in 1941, … Continue Reading →
China at War: A New Zealand View (Part 2)
- By Peter Harmsen
- 3 February, 2019
- No Comments
Southern China was an area in desperate crisis in the late 1930s. Up north, the densely populated areas near Shanghai and Beijing had fallen to the victorious Japanese Army, … Continue Reading →
China at War: A New Zealand View (Part 1)
- By Peter Harmsen
- 27 January, 2019
- No Comments
When war broke out between China and Japan in the 1930s, tens of thousands of foreigners became unwilling spectators of the bloody events. Among the witnesses were Presbyterian missionaries … Continue Reading →
The Fate of America’s Missing Airmen in Thailand in WW2
- By Guest blogger
- 16 January, 2019
- No Comments
Daniel Jackson, a US Air Force pilot and the author of several books on military history, has done extensive research on the role of American aviators in China during World … Continue Reading →
Disaster in Shanghai, Part 2
- By Peter Harmsen
- 16 September, 2018
- No Comments
On August 23, 1937, Shanghai was only getting used to war when a bomb, probably dropped by accident, hit a busy part of Nanjing Road, gutting Sincere Department Store … Continue Reading →
Disaster in Shanghai, Part 1
- By Peter Harmsen
- 9 September, 2018
- 3 Comments
On August 23, 1937, ten days after Shanghai had become the scene of a merciless battle between Chinese and Japanese forces, tragedy struck right in the middle of the city. … Continue Reading →
Victory over Japan 1945: Dutch Chinese Celebrate
- By Peter Harmsen
- 12 May, 2018
- No Comments
Unique footage of ethnic Chinese in the Netherlands celebrating victory over Japan in September 1945. The Chinese community that existed during World War Two was made up of mostly laborers … Continue Reading →
A British Death in Shanghai: Documentary on 1937 Battle
- By Peter Harmsen
- 5 May, 2018
- 2 Comments
For a brief moment, the titanic struggle between China and Japan at Shanghai in 1937 suddenly became very personal to the western public. This was when 25-year-old British soldier Patrick … Continue Reading →
A Photographer in Shanghai: The French, Part 3
- By Peter Harmsen
- 15 April, 2018
- No Comments
The war between China and Japan that broke out in 1937 was a modern media war involving the international press as an actor in the game for public opinion. This … Continue Reading →