Profile photo
Sex
Female
Status
Deceased
Born September 14th 1922 at the Government Civil Hospital, Hong Kong (St. Matilda's, Top of the Peak). Baptized October 21 1922 at St. Andrew's Church Kowloon. Phyllis was fluent in both English and Cantonese. She was a first year student in the Arts Faculty of Hong Kong University. She was interested in Biology, but also wanted to teach. She was pupil at, and taught at, Diocesan Girls School. She sailed to England on the P&O Strathmore in early 1946, listed as Lang on the ship's register. Married name was Rollins. Her mother was Susie Nancy Kotwall (1902-1988). Father was John Charles Lang (1899-1942).
Photos that show this Person
c.1941
Comments
Aunt Phyllis
Hi Jonathan, so pleased to see this post. Is there any more about how she met your dad? My father did national service on Mount Davis RAF base, so I'm interested in that era.
Paul Fowler (married to Penny nee Rollins)
Phyllis Lang
Hi Paul,
My Mum's boyfriend at the time of the Japanese invasion of HK was Cedric Salter. Cedric was a Brit. from London. His father worked as an HVAC engineer for Dodwell Motors in HK, and Cedric was sent back to boarding School in London, the school being Henry Thornton's, that my dad attended. At weekends and holidays Cedric would hang out at my dad's parents place in Earlsfield. Cedric was shipped to Japan as slave labour. At some point in correspondence, Cedric told my dad to look up my Mum (my Dad arrived in HK with RAF transport command in Feb. 1946) which my dad duly did. I didn't find the Henry Thornton's connection until I managed to track down Cedric's younger brother Mike, in NZ. Apparently Cedric was a bit of a hero fighting for the HKVDC, getting the heels shot off his boots when diving into a bunker. Mike recalls an incident after the war when he was in a small plane piloted by Ced, and they crashed in HK harbor.
My mum did get to meet Cedric one more time after the war when he was de-mobbed in the UK and my mum had just arrived as a RAPWI girl - but my mum's diary gives no indication of her emotions. My mum arrived in Earlsfield a few weeks before my dad returned from his war, and as instructed by my dad - she knocked on Nan and Poppas' front door, where the greeting was as follows "Ere Frank, there's a chink here says she knows our John".
Aunt Phyllis
Thanks Jonathan, we'll try and get up to see Antonia.