Hong Kong, American evacuees during World War II

I had a feeling I had seen this photo before as there is an interesting tale to it. It was taken on 30 October 1940 at the National City Bank of New York in Central.

Source:http://cnac.org/kent01.htm

The ladies from left to right are: Mrs F. K. Pagett, Mrs L. Cramer, Mrs W. C. Kent, Mrs J. Parrish and Mrs Maxcy Smith Jr.

The lady in the middle is Mrs Walter Campbell Kent. Her husband was a CNAC pilot who perished the same day this photo was taken. His plane enroute to Hong Kong from Chongqing (Chungking) was shot down by Japanese aircraft. A newspaper clipping is attached.

As for the other ladies, the Pagett and Parrish families and 70 other Americans left on the American President Liner President Coolidge on 5 November 1940.

These dates are significant as it pins down Forman's time in Hong Kong and the views of the city that he was witnessing.

As I was posting up these photos, I was wondering if we'd ever find out who the people were, and what their stories were. Not a very cheerful story to start us off with, but amazing that you've found a connection so quickly.

I guess that Forman knew the pilots well, as several of the photos are CNAC-related.