Father Meyer gets a mention in Beth Nance's account My Life, telling of her time in Stanley Camp during the War (p93). He would have been in his 50s at that time, and he was one of two priests of the Roman Catholic Maryknoll order in camp, the other being Father Hessler.
When the first consignment of Red Cross parcels came through, there were cans of corned beef and flour, but no yeast to make bread. Father Meyer knew there was yeast back at the Maryknoll Mission a short distance north of Stanley, and he got permission from the Japanese to go back to the mission and get it. He returned with two liquor bottles bubbling over with the working yeast, and he was enjoying cleaning the bubbling over bottles with his finger and licking it off.
He and Ancil Nance had both had experience of making bread before the war, so the whole camp was soon benefitting from the bread made from the yeast and Red Cross flour. It didn't last long but it was a real treat.
Father Meyer and Ancil Nance, both of a practical disposition, became friends and worked together on other projects, using Ancil's tools that he had cleverly managed to get into camp. One of these projects was to put windows into a cement-walled building which was going to house tuberculosis patients, and who would need lots of fresh air.
Bernard Meyer was born in Brooklyn, Iowa, in 1891. Graduating from the local high school in 1907, he worked on the family farm and entered St. Ambrose College, Davenport, Iowa, in 1910 to study for the diocesan priesthood.
In 1918 he became one of the pioneer Departure group to open Maryknoll’s first mission in Kongmoon, South China. It was said of him, 'He is doing splendid work and he is presently one of the most successful missionaries in China, an example to be given to all, for his zeal, devotion and work.'
Health problems found him in Hong Kong at the beginning of the war. He was interned in Stanley Camp by the Japanese but when repatriation was offered in 1942 heand Father Hessler chose instead to remain to care for the medical and spiritual needs of his fellow prisoners.
At the end of the war he helped to establish the Catholic Centre in Hong Kong, before returning to the Canton area. He was finally forced to leave China by the Communists in 1950.
He continued his work in the USA and produced a number of publications related to the Christian Family Life Movement. To the end of his life he devoted his energies to the cause of missions in the broadest sense, and died in 1975.
Comments
There's a biography of Father
There's a biography of Father Meyer at http://maryknollmissionarchives.org/?deceased-fathers-bro=father-bernar… and additional notes at http://archives.catholic.org.hk/In%20Memoriam/Clergy-Brother/B-Meyer.htm and http://www.maryknollbrothers.org/Brothers_History.pdf
Father Meyer gets a mention...
Father Meyer gets a mention in Beth Nance's account My Life, telling of her time in Stanley Camp during the War (p93). He would have been in his 50s at that time, and he was one of two priests of the Roman Catholic Maryknoll order in camp, the other being Father Hessler.
When the first consignment of Red Cross parcels came through, there were cans of corned beef and flour, but no yeast to make bread. Father Meyer knew there was yeast back at the Maryknoll Mission a short distance north of Stanley, and he got permission from the Japanese to go back to the mission and get it. He returned with two liquor bottles bubbling over with the working yeast, and he was enjoying cleaning the bubbling over bottles with his finger and licking it off.
He and Ancil Nance had both had experience of making bread before the war, so the whole camp was soon benefitting from the bread made from the yeast and Red Cross flour. It didn't last long but it was a real treat.
Father Meyer and Ancil Nance, both of a practical disposition, became friends and worked together on other projects, using Ancil's tools that he had cleverly managed to get into camp. One of these projects was to put windows into a cement-walled building which was going to house tuberculosis patients, and who would need lots of fresh air.
Life summary
Bernard Meyer was born in Brooklyn, Iowa, in 1891. Graduating from the local high school in 1907, he worked on the family farm and entered St. Ambrose College, Davenport, Iowa, in 1910 to study for the diocesan priesthood.
In 1918 he became one of the pioneer Departure group to open Maryknoll’s first mission in Kongmoon, South China. It was said of him, 'He is doing splendid work and he is presently one of the most successful missionaries in China, an example to be given to all, for his zeal, devotion and work.'
Health problems found him in Hong Kong at the beginning of the war. He was interned in Stanley Camp by the Japanese but when repatriation was offered in 1942 he and Father Hessler chose instead to remain to care for the medical and spiritual needs of his fellow prisoners.
At the end of the war he helped to establish the Catholic Centre in Hong Kong, before returning to the Canton area. He was finally forced to leave China by the Communists in 1950.
He continued his work in the USA and produced a number of publications related to the Christian Family Life Movement. To the end of his life he devoted his energies to the cause of missions in the broadest sense, and died in 1975.
Source: Maryknoll Mission Archives