Leonard A. Adams in China and Hong Kong 1940's

Submitted by Ken Adams on Mon, 10/19/2020 - 14:50

I am looking for any memories or information about my father Leonard A. Adams who was the UK Consular Agent for HK Refugees at Kukong during WW 2 where I was born in 1944.  After the war he served as a refugee relief officer for the HK Colonial government from 1945-47 when my mother died and we returned to England and then later moved to the USA. During 1970-72 he served as commander of the Hong Kong Salvation Army until his illness and subsequent death of cancer in January, 1973. 

My father would never talk to me about his WW2 service at Kukong citing the official secrets act and the possibility of Communist China reprisals against people he had worked with. He was a London born Life Long Salvation Army officer (except when detached and on loan to the British government) who had originally gone to China in 1937 to work at the boys home in Canton. Declared persona non-grata by the Japanese in 1940, he was re-assigned to Burma where he started organizing relief supply convoys over the old Burma road into unoccupied China.  When the Japanese invaded Burma in 1942 he took his fiance, Freda Saltmarsh north into China where he had started to work on loan to the UK Foreign Office, they were married and moved to Kukong. 

I am tieing up as much of my family history to pass on to my son. My daughter in-laws family comes from Macau and NT. 

Ken Adams

Walnut Creek, California

Passenger List Liverpool to Burma  4 September 1936

Captain Freda F Saltmarsh 25 c/o Salvation Army London

Birth

Alfreda Fay Saltmarsh born London 1910 (Public Ancestry Tree) died 1947 in Hong Kong

Sacred to the memory of/ Freda/ dearly beloved wife of/ Adjutant Leonard Adams/ (Salvation Army)/ and/ Kenneth John's Mamma/ promoted to glory on 31st January 1947/ aged 36 years

Passenger List 1945 Bombay to Liverpool arriving 6 January 1945

Leonard A Adams 34 Salvation Army Officer

Freda Fay Adams 34 Housewife

Kenneth J Adams [no age shown]

Uk Address 9 Moselea Road Penge

Passenger List Hong Kong to Southampton arriving 12 May 1947

Leonard A Adams age 36 and Kenneth J Adams age 3 UK Address The Salvation Army Queen Victoria Street London

Naturalization Application Portland Oregon

Leonard Arthur Adams born 12 July 1910 Salvation Army Officer

Spouse Ruby Ione Adams nee Palm

Children Kenneth John Adams born 17 February 1944 Kukong China

Gregory Thomas Adams 2 February 1952 Billings Montana