1962 - Maj.Gen. M.A. "Two Gun" Cohen (r.) with his friend, China trader and decorated veteran of the 1944 Normandy landings, Paul D. Alderton D.S.C., at the latter's home, Stanley, H.K., Feb. 1962.jpg
The photograph above was taken in the garden at Beach Mansions, 11 Stanley Beach Road. The garden wall, a substantial grey-granite, faux parapet, can be seen in the background. I should imagine that it still stands to this day.
My father, Paul D. Alderton, was a cotton broker in Hong Kong during the mid-1950’s and early 1960’s when he worked in the Colony as manager of the Far East branch of the international commodities broker, Bunge and Company Ltd. On 16th December 1955 he boarded a train at the Kowloon railway terminus on his way to attend the annual trade fair at Canton. On reaching the end of the line at Lo Wu station, he and his fellow Hong Kong businessmen alighted from the New Territories train and walked over the bridge border into the People’s Republic of China where a second train was waiting to take them on the remainder of their journey to Canton. Along the way, my father got talking with Major General Morris Abraham "Two-Gun" Cohen who invited the decorated former Royal Naval officer to join him in his private compartment. During the course of their conversations, General Cohen insisted that his affable travelling companion should bypass Canton and instead accompany him onto Beijing where he was feted as the friend of the famous General Mah Kun (馬坤), and subsequently introduced to the ‘fountainheads’ in the Chinese government department that was responsible for the purchase of raw cotton. When my father belatedly returned to Hong Kong he had a record breaking cotton deal with Communist China in the bag, which made him something of an instant celebrity in local business and journalistic circles. During the course of the next few years my father would meet up with General Cohen on a number of occasions when the latter was passing through Hong Kong on his way in and out of Mainland China, and he regarded his friend, the Chinese general, as an impressive military figure, an inspiring China trader and as a fellow Londoner. The two friends would do each other favours and, as shown in the above February 1962 image, Paul Alderton provided his family home in Stanley as a venue where the General could entertain a Jardine Matheson executive associated with a Rolls Royce plane deal that was being negotiated at the time. (Michael Alderton)
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Maj.Gen. M.A.”Two-Gun” Cohen & Paul D. Alderton D.S.C.
The photograph above was taken in the garden at Beach Mansions, 11 Stanley Beach Road. The garden wall, a substantial grey-granite, faux parapet, can be seen in the background. I should imagine that it still stands to this day.
Maj.Gen. M.A.”Two-Gun” Cohen & Paul D. Alderton D.S.C.
Link to view the mid-1950’s Hong Kong business card for Paul D. Alderton, at the time when he first made the acquaintance of the fabulous General Morris ‘Two-Gun’ Cohen: https://www.genealogytoday.com/guide/ephemera.mv?ID=24403
Maj.Gen. M.A."Two-Gun" Cohen & Paul D. Alderton D.S.C.
My father, Paul D. Alderton, was a cotton broker in Hong Kong during the mid-1950’s and early 1960’s when he worked in the Colony as manager of the Far East branch of the international commodities broker, Bunge and Company Ltd. On 16th December 1955 he boarded a train at the Kowloon railway terminus on his way to attend the annual trade fair at Canton. On reaching the end of the line at Lo Wu station, he and his fellow Hong Kong businessmen alighted from the New Territories train and walked over the bridge border into the People’s Republic of China where a second train was waiting to take them on the remainder of their journey to Canton. Along the way, my father got talking with Major General Morris Abraham "Two-Gun" Cohen who invited the decorated former Royal Naval officer to join him in his private compartment. During the course of their conversations, General Cohen insisted that his affable travelling companion should bypass Canton and instead accompany him onto Beijing where he was feted as the friend of the famous General Mah Kun (馬坤), and subsequently introduced to the ‘fountainheads’ in the Chinese government department that was responsible for the purchase of raw cotton. When my father belatedly returned to Hong Kong he had a record breaking cotton deal with Communist China in the bag, which made him something of an instant celebrity in local business and journalistic circles. During the course of the next few years my father would meet up with General Cohen on a number of occasions when the latter was passing through Hong Kong on his way in and out of Mainland China, and he regarded his friend, the Chinese general, as an impressive military figure, an inspiring China trader and as a fellow Londoner. The two friends would do each other favours and, as shown in the above February 1962 image, Paul Alderton provided his family home in Stanley as a venue where the General could entertain a Jardine Matheson executive associated with a Rolls Royce plane deal that was being negotiated at the time. (Michael Alderton)