Sex
Male
Status
Deceased
He was a Professor at Hong Kong University.
Notes from Brian Edgar:
Norman Hoole France was noted for his great love of China and before the war was active in the China Defence League which organised relief and aid for those fighting the Japanese. There is a tribute to him in James Bertram’s The Shadow of a Warand, and he’s one of the dedicatees of Israel Epstein’s The Unfinished Revolution in China.
Photos that show this Person
c.1938
1930s
2010s
Comments
Norman Hoole France c 1904 - 20 December 1941
1911 Census 76 Westridge Road Southampton
John Hoole France 49 Clerk in Holy Orders Missions to Seamen born Leeds Yorkshire
Elizabeth France 44 married 12 years [nee Elliott] born Stanley Yorkshire
John Hoole France 11 born Hong Kong (Resident)
Philip Elliott France 10 born Hong Kong (Resident)
Norman Hoole France 7 born Hong Kong (Resident)
Kathleen Mabel France 3 born Hong Kong (Resident)
William Hoole France under 6 months born Southampton Hampshire
Ethel Mabel Wardrop 31 Servant born Woolston Hampshire
Commonwealth War Graves
Gunner Norman Hoole France 4172 2 Battery HKVDC Professor of History Hong Kong University. Son of Reverend Hoole France M.A. and Elizabeth
Probate Calendar 1947
Norman Hoole France of the University Hong Kong died 20 December 1941. Administration 6 May 1947 to John Hoole France farmer and Elizabeth Mary Thomas wife of Gordon Randle France
Bluff Head Battery in Stanley 20 December 1941
When the war started in Europe, France joined the Hong Kong Volunteer Defence Corps as a gunner of the 2nd Battery that manned the Bluff Head Battery in Stanley. In the foggy evening of 20 December 1941, he was killed near his battery for unknown circumstances.
Eileen Chang 張愛玲 suggested that he was shot by the sentries, but little evidence was found about the cause of his death. France was buried in the Stanley Military Cemetery.