1932 - Brig. Gen. M.A. "Two-Gun" Cohen, a brigade commander in the Chinese 19th Route Army, in New York on a mission for the Chinese government.jpg

Extracts from a U.S. Immigration Document titled:

“List or Manifest of Alien Passengers for the United States”

S.S. President Coolidge. Passengers sailing from Hong Kong, 27 Sept. 1932.

Name in Full – Cohen, Morris Abraham

Head Tax Status – Government Official

Calling or Occupation – Army Officer, Government Official

Nationality – England

Place of Birth – London, England

Passport Visa – Government Official. NQIV #27, 3(1)

Issued – Canton, 21 Sept, 1932

Last Permanent Residence – Canton, China

London, late 1932 – “General Maurice A. Cohen of the Chinese Army is a clean-shaven, strongly built man, of early middle age, in immaculately tailored clothes, very pleasant indeed to talk to, he seems a typical North American businessman – an impression that is heightened by his North American accent gained from his domicile since boyhood in Canada. Open-air life in China has given his complexion a healthy tan. His manner is pleasant and he very kindly gave me some details of his life and work when I saw him at the home of his parents in Manchester. Although born in London, he lived for the greater part of his life in Canada before going to China at the invitation of Dr Sun Yat Sen. He came into contact first with the Chinese in Canada, and became the Foreign Secretary there of the Chinese Nationalist League (Dr Sun’s representative organisation in Canada). Always an active man, the outbreak of the War in 1914 gave him an opportunity to develop his military knowledge and he raised a battalion of Chinese, 850 strong, in Edmonton, Alberta. Mr. Cohen himself then enlisted in the Canadian Army and served in France during the War. ‘After my demobilization,’ he said ‘I proceeded to China at the request of Dr Sun Yat Sen, first President and Father of the Chinese Republic, and became his aide-de-camp. I remained in that capacity until he died, and have since held various appointments. For some time I was liaison officer between the Canton Government and all foreign Consuls-General, and was connected with the Central Bank of China which was the Government depository. At the present time I am the Military Counsellor to the Cantonese forces. I am a fully commissioned General of the Chinese Army, appointed by previous and the present governments. At the same time I have acted in a business capacity on behalf of the Chinese Government and have placed several million dollars’ worth of business for them with Great Britain during the past few years. Now I am in England I am in contact with several British firms with whom I have done business for China previously, and I shall probably make one or two calls to explain the prospects of business in the Orient. I am staying in Europe for a couple of months’. Speaking of his nationality the General said he still retained his British nationality, and travelled on a British passport.”

Extracts from the Manchester press selected by Michael Alderton (essarem):

Manchester, November 1932 – Manchester Trade With China. Opportunities Most Favourable. Gen. M. Cohen’s Speech to Businessmen. General Maurice Abraham Cohen is at present on a European visit in the interest of trade and good relations between Europe and China. General Maurice Cohen has for some years exerted considerable military and political influence in China, where he has fought with the National forces. He enjoys the confidence and friendship of Sun Fo, the present Nationalist leader. “I will make contact with a few British firms with a view to developing trade between this country and China. China is just entering upon another stage of her evolution as a modern State – the age of machinery,” said General Cohen. “I believe that there will be huge demands for machinery and other goods, which British manufacturers can supply.” Mr. Nathan Laski gave a luncheon to enable a number of leading Manchester businessmen to meet General Maurice Abraham Cohen while on his European mission. Much of interest and information, and not a little of romance and adventure, emerged in the course of an hour’s rapid talk, in which he replied to penetrating questions addressed to him by merchants keenly concerned in economic and political conditions in the Far East. The possibilities of a stabilised currency and of stabilised civil government were discussed. General Cohen will continue his trade mission in London and Paris, and will go on to Geneva to meet up with the Chinese Government’s representatives attending the international assemblies there.

See also: 1932 - Gen. M.A. Cohen interviewed in Manchester after leaving Hong Kong’s Peninsula Hotel for a 3 month-long trip to the U.S.A., the U.K., and Europe..jpg | Gwulo: Old Hong Kong

A brief overview of those primary source materials, both official and popular, which had enabled senior British intelligence operative and respected multiple biographer, Commander Charles Drage, together with his reputable publisher, Jonathan Cape Ltd of London, to publish, with confidence and with certainty, the fact that the subject of their publication, Two-Gun Cohen (1954), had been born in England during the year 1889.

"A Short Discussion on Maj.Gen. M.A. “Two-Gun” Cohen’s Date and Place of Birth", by Michael Alderton (essarem) - In this “Age of Information” that we have only relatively recently entered into in ample measure, professional and amateur researchers alike are able to gain easy access to numerous machine-readable databases that are readily searchable on-line. Some of these databases store popular sources such as the historical newspapers of the world, while others store international official material such as travel and immigration documents. The picturesque General “Two-Gun” Cohen did, during his notable lifetime, quite understandably attract reams of attention from the world’s press. Spanning many years, the numerous resulting newspaper articles, which principally reported on his involvement in important current events, do in some cases provide a measure of backstory describing his remarkable life to date. In this process there is little written of his precise date of birth, but it is very often mentioned how he had been born in London. On the other hand, the international travel and immigration documents from Britain, Canada, and the United States do provide a date of birth, which rather frustratingly ranges between 1887, 1888, and 1889; but in all cases his place of birth is given as England. On the basis of the plentiful documentary evidence that is available from the popular and official sources mentioned above, it is quite clear that General Cohen had been born in England; and it was only the year of his birth that reasonably remained in doubt. When senior British intelligence operative and respected biographer, Commander Charles Drage, was faced with this uncertainty while conducting research for his book, Two-Gun Cohen (1954), he consulted the Thames Police Court Register for mentions of the young General Cohen. Here he discovered that the subject of his biography had appeared before two different magistrates on four separate occasions during April and May 1900. In each case the court officials, with time, resources, and professional experience at their disposal, had determined an 1889 date of birth for the young truant. With this reliable documentary evidence now at hand, Commander Drage was able to publish with confidence, and without risk to his credibility, the certain fact that the subject of his biography had been born in London in the year 1889.

Further to this:

1923 - "Morris Abraham Cohen is a British-born Canadian. Birthplace London" Extracts from a July 1923 official communication sent from the Special Branch of London's New Scotland Yard to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Ottawa.

1925 – “Mr Cohen was born in London. It was in America he first met Dr Sun Yat Sen some 15 years ago. Since then he has been closely connected with the activities of the Kuomintang.” Extracts from a British Consul-General at Shanghai’s 31 August 1925 appraisal titled Memorandum Containing So Much of Cohen’s History as is Known Locally.

1930 – “Name: Cohen, Morris A. Status: Government Official – Advisor to Chinese Minister of Railways, Nanking. Nationality: Great Britain. Race: English. Place of birth: London, England.” Extracts from a U.S. Immigration Document dated October 9, 1930.

1931 – “Morris Abraham Cohen was born in London of Jewish parents. He now considers himself to be a Canadian.” These are the opening sentences to a comprehensive 26 June 1931 Royal Hong Kong Police intelligence report on Morris Abraham Cohen, “A.D.C. to the Nationalist Government of China at Canton”, who is presently “negotiating with Hong Kong Government officials.”

1935 – “Name – Cohen, Morris A.; Status – Diplomat; Occupation – Advisor to Canton Govt.; Nationality – Britain; Place of Birth – London, England.” Extracts taken from a U.S. immigration document. New York 27 Oct 1935.

1943 – “Name – Cohen, Morris Abraham; Place of Birth – London, England. Nationality – Canadian; Profession – Banker; Employment Status – Employed; Property left in Territory Under Enemy Control – Shares in China Light & Power Co. to Value of Can$40,000; Interned Stanley Civilian Internment Camp from Jan 1942 to Sept 1943 as an Official.” Extracts taken from Canadian immigration documents. Ottawa, October 1943.

1954 - "Throughout his life Morris Cohen had never wavered in his loyalty to England, the country of his birth." Senior British intelligence officer, Commander Charles Drage (1954)

1956 – Commencement of a Jan 1, 1956 Report to the Director, Commonwealth Investigation Service, Canberra, Australia authored by A.G. Tilton, Investigator (formerly Special Branch Officer, Shanghai Municipal Police): “Re: Cohen, Morris Abraham – born London, England. His activities were of interest to the Shanghai Municipal Police during my service in Shanghai, 1927 – 1941.”

1970 - "Morris Abraham Cohen. Retired army general (Chinese army). Place of birth - London. Date and place of death - 7 Sept, 1970. Salford, Manchester." Extracts taken from Register of Deaths in the District of Salford, Manchester.

2024 – Numerous further mentions of General Cohen’s London birth can be found in various texts accompanying: Photos of Morris Abraham COHEN (aka Two-Gun) [1887-1970] | Gwulo

See also: Alderton, Michael, “Notes on General Morris Cohen’s Date of Birth”, 2002.

A conservative contribution to the recently ignited (1997), revisionist-driven debate, which surprisingly postulates, on the basis of selective and unspecified latter-day "family" speculation, that General M.A. Cohen had been born in Poland, rather than in Britain as had been historically recorded in numerous international official documents and countless contemporary popular sources

At: https://universityofsydney.academia.edu/MichaelAlderton