Harry GOLDMAN [c.1875-1945]

Submitted by ssuni86 on Thu, 12/21/2023 - 01:21
Names
Given
Harry
Family
Goldman
Sex
Male
Status
Deceased
Born
Date
(Day, Month, & Year are approximate.)
Birthplace (town, state)
San Francisco, California
Birthplace (country)
United States
Died
Date
Died in (town, state)
Sham Shui Po POW Camp, Kowloon, Hong Kong
Died in (country)
China
Cause of death
Arterioscleriosis

Chief Engineer aboard the Admiral Y.S. Williams, an American freighter in dry dock at Hong Kong in December 1941.  Captured after the fall of Hong Kong on December 25, 1941.   Prisoner at Sham Shui Po POW Camp.  Died on February 17 or 18, 1945, and buried in Bowen Cemetery, Hong Kong.  Jewish, from San Francisco, three siblings.

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This is very interesting. We (in the Jewish community here) didn't know about him. I've now done a bit of research on him and have learned a few things:

He was born in San Francisco in 1877, the eldest of five children including Max (b. 1880, d. 1956); Belle (b. 1880, d. 1961); George (b. 1884, d. 19xx); and Fred (b. 1891; 1929). His father (Jacob, b. 1846; d. 1919) was from Poland and his mother (Henriette, b. 1854; d. 1943) was from Germany. Ship records show that he was 5'10" tall. He doesn't appear to have been married.

He had decades of experience on the sea, having started his career in 1897 at the age of 20. In 1927, he was the chief engineer on the S.S. West Elcajon, a merchant ship that operated between the US west coast and ports in the Far East.

Still unknown, at least to me, are where is Bowen Cemetery and does he have a gravestone on his grave?

I've updated the biographical information for Harry Goldman based on your research.  Thank you.

The Bowen Cemetery reference was unfamiliar to me as well.  That was the location of his burial as reported in the San Francisco Examiner as well as the National Jewish Welfare Board, Bureau of War Records, Master Card System card for Harry Goldman.

It seems likely his remains were returned to the United States postwar for reburial, but I have not been able to confirm this.

--Steve Bailey

I wonder if that was the cemetery for POWs who died while in the Bowen Road Military Hospital?

In Donald C Bowie's 'Captive Surgeon' he writes (see p. 245 of the linked journal):

In and around the hospital in Bowen Road, by the date we moved, the bomb and shell craters were the resting places of 24 men including 2 Indians and 2 Chinese. Numbers 1 and 2 cemeteries provided graves for 70 men including one Indian. There were single graves in No. 1, No. 2 had one triple and five double graves and No. 3 cemetery held 33 graves, only one being a double grave. The craters were of course common graves and we had no access to them. The others were beautifully marked and kept. The total of dead was therefore 127, two having occurred in 1945.

The hospital relocated to Sham Shui Po POW camp over the period 19-23 March 1945, so after Harry Goldman's death. (Update: the hospital was actually relocating to the Central British School, but the hospital's staff and patients moved to Sham Shui Po first. From there, Bowie and his colleagues made daily visits to the Central British School to get it ready. In April the new hospital was ready, and the staff and patients left Sham Shui Po and moved into the Central British School.)

I found his Social Security application record. It states his DOB as August 12, 1875. Of course, the year doesn't match all the other documents I found on him but it lists his birth place and his parents' names so it's him.

His obit in the SF newspaper says he died on the 17th.

Thanks for this additional information.  I'll update Goldman's birth date to August 12, 1875, but tag it as approximate since the various records disagree on the year of birth. 

I agree that Goldman was likely buried at the POW cemetery at the Bowen Road Military Hospital.  My understanding is that this cemetery no longer exists--do we know when it was removed, and where the remains and gravestones were moved to?

Funeral Home record on Ancestry.com shows he was buried in Olivet Memorial Park,  Colma, California 4 Nov 1949.  He should have been entitled to a military gravestone.

Thanks, A. I found the record you cite (thanks). Interesting that there's no public record of his burial at the cemetery, only that his brother paid for one to take place. As for him being entitled to a military gravestone, he fell into a grey area. Although he was a POW, he wasn't in the US military.

I'm just glad I don't have to scour the hillside below Carmel School looking for an unmarked grave!

My understanding is that this cemetery no longer exists--do we know when it was removed, and where the remains and gravestones were moved to?

Photos of the Sai Wan  Cemetery from 1947 show large numbers of graves already in place, so I think the people buried in the smaller temporary cemeteries would have been moved during 1945-47. I guess that as part of that process, the remains of any American citizens would have been handled separately to be carried back to America for burial there?

I asked Tony Banham if he knew of any records of the burials at the British Military Hospital on Bowen Road. He remembered seeing a list, and kindly tracked it down:

"I do have that burial list somewhere. I think it may be in In Oriente Fidelis. I’ll see if I can find my copy tomorrow and check."

Tony confirmed that "In Oriente Fidelis. Peter H. Starling. RAMC Historical Museum: Ash Vale, Hampshire, 1985" has the list of burials, including the entry:

Rank & Name Unit Date
Chief Eng Goldman Merchant Navy (USA) 18.2.45

Thanks to Tony for helping clear up this mystery.