Sex
Male
Status
Deceased
He is listed at http://www.hongkongwardiary.com/searchgarrison/hkvdc.html as Company Sergeant Major under Corps Signals for the Volunteers:
| Rathmell, Richard CSM 2231 K 26.10.42 |
It gives his cause of death in the POW camp as 'Avitaminosis', or vitamin deficiency.
Photos that show this Person
1935
1935
1939
Comments
Pre-war
I think he's the man on the left in this photo:
It's cropped from this photo which is dated to the 1930s:
I think he also appears in several photos of the Volunteers in the 1930s that have recently been uploaded, e.g.:
The earliest mention I've found of him in Hong Kong so far is his first and only appearance in a Jurors List, the list for 1937:
RCA's Photophone was their technology for recording sound onto motion pictures, so they could be played back in cinemas (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RCA_Photophone). Rathmell's work experience would have made him well qualified for his role in the Signals section of the Volunteers.
The only other mention I've found is on page 5 of The Hongkong Telegraph, 1938-09-19. It's an article about the wedding of Mr. Royal Leonard from California ("The pilot of Mme. Chiang Kai-shek's private plane") to Miss Maxine Carolyn Thayer, also from California. Mr Richard Rathmell gave the bride away, and his wife was the matron-of-honour.
If you can add any more details of his life, and when he first came to Hong Kong, please let us know in the comments below.
Richard (aka Dick) Rathmell
Timeline
a) January 1930 - In Hong Kong residing at the Empress Lodge.
b) 1932 - Private in the HKVDC. Worked for the Hong Kong Amusements Co. Ltd. Played lawn bowls for the Yorkshire Society. Later a member of the Kowloon Cricket Club.
c) 1933 - Engaged to Miss Marjorie Mason of the Diocesan Girls' School. She was a well-known hockey player. Later married at the Registry. Source: HK Telegraph 24 March & 29 July 1933.
d) 1934 - Resided at 85 Waterloo Road.
e) 1936 - Acting Quarter-Master in the HKVDC. Later appointed Lance-Corporal.
f) 1937 - Worked at R. C. A. Victor Company of China as Territorial Representative. Resided at 23 Kent Road. Corporal in the HKVDC.
g) 1939 - Sergeant in the HKVDC.
h) 1941 - CSM in the HKVDC.
(The Rathmells may have had a daughter called Maureen)
Thanks Moddsey, now we know…
Thanks Moddsey, now we know he was in Hong Kong for the whole decade I'll say those earlier photos show him too.
Your search was much more productive than mine. Any tips on how you found the information?