George Hogg arrived in China within the late Thirties after graduating from Oxford University. Witnessing the horrors dedicated by the Japanese military in cities corresponding to Shanghai, Nanjing and Wuhan, he wrote prolifically for shops just like the United Press Association and The Manchester Guardian, detailing the devastation inflicted upon China.
LONDON, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) — As nightfall settled over the quiet city of Harpenden, north of London, on July 22, dozens of residents gathered in a church to commemorate a journalist born of their group over a century in the past and his legendary rescue journey in China throughout World War II (WWII).
Eighty years in the past to the day, lower than a month earlier than the Chinese individuals secured victory of their conflict in opposition to Japanese aggression, British journalist George Hogg, who courageously uncovered Japanese wartime atrocities and rescued and educated the Chinese youth, died in northwest China on the age of 30.
Decades later, Hogg’s enduring solidarity with the Chinese individuals continues to resonate. His selfless actions function a shifting reminder of wartime hardship and heroism, and of the timeless significance of safeguarding peace and justice.
“NOBLE AND WISE FRIEND OF CHINA”
“George Hogg became a true friend, a noble and wise friend of China,” mentioned Mark Aylwin Thomas, nephew of the late Hogg and writer of the biography “Blades of Grass: The Story of George Aylwin Hogg,” throughout his speech on the church.
Hogg was born in 1915 right into a middle-class household in Harpenden. He arrived in China within the late Thirties after graduating from Oxford University. Witnessing the horrors dedicated by the Japanese military in cities corresponding to Shanghai, Nanjing and Wuhan, he wrote prolifically for shops just like the United Press Association and The Manchester Guardian, detailing the devastation inflicted upon China.
Hogg quickly befriended worldwide allies corresponding to New Zealander Rewi Alley and American journalists Edgar and Helen Snow, changing into deeply concerned within the Gong He (Gung Ho) motion of business cooperatives on unoccupied Chinese territories. Together, they helped unemployed Chinese employees and refugees type small-scale industrial cooperatives to supply navy and civilian items for the conflict.
Passionately dedicated to the motion, Hogg traveled broadly to assist set up these cooperatives and wrote articles to garner worldwide support for China.
To tackle the scarcity of expert expertise, Hogg and Alley based colleges throughout China, enrolling poor and rural youth and equipping them with sensible abilities to allow them to affix cooperatives later.
In 1944, to flee the specter of battle, Hogg, then headmaster of the Bailie School in Shuangshipu, Shaanxi Province, led over 60 college students and tons of educating gear on a dangerous trek westward from Shuangshipu to Shandan, a distant city in neighboring Gansu Province, the place they continued their work within the desert.
Tragically, on July 22, 1945, simply weeks earlier than the top of World War II, Hogg died from tetanus in Shandan.
Hogg’s relative Thomas shared with reporters that “Aylwin,” Hogg’s center identify, is derived from an historic Celtic phrase that means “wise friend” or “noble friend.”
He recalled being informed a Chinese saying throughout a go to to China in April: “If you give a person a name, he or she will become that name.”
“It certainly was true in this case,” Thomas mentioned, “George Hogg became a true friend, a noble and wise friend of China.”
“I SEE A NEW CHINA”
A George Hogg memorial exhibition opened on July 22 on the Harpenden Museum, showcasing his journalism and his e-book “I See A New China” written throughout his time in China.
The e-book was printed within the United States in 1944, vividly depicting the lives of bizarre Chinese individuals enduring conflict but striving to guard their homeland.
Eager to raised perceive the China that Hogg noticed and sacrificed for, his family members have traveled to China a number of instances. Earlier this 12 months, a delegation that included his household and members of the Society for Anglo-Chinese Understanding (SACU) retraced his journey from east to west in China, touring by Shanghai, Nanjing earlier than lastly arriving in Shandan.
Peter Jarvis, Hogg’s grandnephew and trustee of the SACU, recalled earlier visits to China in 1990 and 2016. He mentioned the tempo of improvement in China is astonishing by way of infrastructure and concrete building and cell funds applied sciences, reflecting the sort of future Hogg as soon as envisioned for China.
Jarvis mentioned he was additionally glad to see the spirit of “the Bailie School” has lived on. Today, the varsity has advanced into a contemporary vocational school, an establishment carrying ahead the spirit of internationalism and sensible schooling.
Back in Britain, Hogg’s alma mater, Wadham College, on the University of Oxford, has established a fund named after Hogg, sponsoring undergraduate college students who’re studying Chinese Studies to journey and examine in China.
INDISPENSABLE CHAPTER OF WWII
At the Harpenden Museum exhibit, Thomas paused in entrance of a big picture of his uncle — younger, smiling, wearing a easy outfit and straw hat.
Hogg is very revered in China, however sadly, few individuals within the UK know of him, Thomas mentioned, expressing hope that this 12 months’s commemoration would assist extra Britons uncover Hogg’s story and acknowledge the big sacrifice made by the Chinese individuals throughout WWII, a chapter he referred to as “indispensable” to the Allied victory.
“He (Hogg) was an incredible young man who achieved a great deal in a tragically short life. But the way in which the Chinese revealed his memory brought it home to us what an important figure he is,” mentioned David Kendall, trustee of the Harpenden History Society.
Zoe Reed, honorary president of the SACU, has adopted Hogg’s footsteps in China many instances. Her Chinese father, a wartime orphan who grew to become Hogg’s pupil, studied in Britain with the assistance of famend scholar Joseph Needham, the founding father of the SACU, within the Nineteen Forties.
For Reed, Hogg’s story is greater than household historical past — it’s an emotional bridge between China and Britain and a reminder of China’s contributions to the WWII victory.
“I do think there’s a real issue about we, in the West, sort of think World War II was just a European thing with a bit of American involvement and we don’t really think through how the rest of the world suffered,” she mentioned.
“We have very limited education about what happens in China and what happened in China,” she mentioned, calling for broadening the understanding of Britons, particularly kids, in direction of this a part of historical past during which China was concerned.
Tim Fleming, chief working officer of St. George’s School, the place Hogg studied throughout his childhood, additionally participated within the opening ceremony of the exhibition. He mentioned the exhibition would assist extra college students study this a part of China’s expertise in the course of the World Anti-Fascist War.
The faculty’s motto, “aim higher,” may properly have impressed Hogg in his college research and heroic experiences in China later, mentioned Fleming.