☛ ... the most recent messages are on top !
From: tapol@skynet.be Sent: Tuesday, October 13, 2026 9:17 AM
To: 'stiff1997@outlook.com'
Subject: RE: William Campbell Henry – Norman Cliff's unpublished sources
Dear Alexander,
… thanks for writing 😊
Now, 26 years ago — more or less — Norman Cliff trusted me with all his scrapbooks about Weihsien. What I have been told — but I have no confirmation — all his documents have been transferred to the Imperial War Museum in London. They also have a backup copy of our Weihsien-pantings’ website. Try contacting :
Stephen Walton
Senior Curator
Imperial War Museums
Second World War & Mid-20 Century Team IWM Duxford
C22 4QR
swalton@iwm.org.uk
I am also sending this message to our « Weihsien-group » in undisclosed recipient. Maybe somebody will be able to help you.
… hope you manage.
Best regards,
Leopold
From: stiff1997@outlook.com
Sent: Monday, October 12, 2026 4:07 PM
To: tapol@skynet.be
Subject: William Campbell Henry – Norman Cliff's unpublished sources
Dear Mr Pander,
I am writing from Norway in the hope that you might be able to assist me with a family history project concerning my great-granduncle, William Campbell Henry, born in Gourock, Scotland, in 1899.
Henry lived in Shanghai for many years and escaped from Lunghwa Civilian Assembly Centre on 19 August 1944, alongside Kenneth Pate and Thomas Crossthwaite.
In Chapter 9 of his book Prisoners of the Samurai (1998), Norman Cliff refers explicitly to an unpublished account written by W. C. Henry, and later mentions Henry’s own notes.
Through your remarkable Weihsien website, I understand that you worked closely with Norman Cliff and had access to some of his original documents and scrapbooks.
I am therefore wondering whether you might know what became of Cliff’s research papers, or whether you ever encountered Henry’s unpublished account among them.
Our family has preserved Campbell’s original medals, photographs and correspondence, including a letter he wrote to his wife shortly after escaping.
Following the recent passing of my father, I have taken on the responsibility of researching and preserving this family history, with the hope of eventually writing a biography.
Any information or suggestions you might be able to offer would be deeply appreciated.
Yours sincerely,
Alexander Duncan Langness Stiff
Oslo, Norway
From: tapol@skynet.be
Sent: Thursday, October 8, 2026 9:59 AM
To: 'Richard Payne'
Subject: RE: Inmate diary
Dear Richard,
Many thanks for your message.
Yes 😊 with pleasure. I’d be delighted to add your mother’s diary on the weihsien-paintings’ website.
Best regards,
Leopold
From: Richard Payne
Sent: Tuesday, October 6, 2026 11:31 AM
To: weihsien@proximus.be
Hi ,
Sent: Tuesday, October 6, 2026 11:31 AM
To: weihsien@proximus.be
Subject: Inmate diary
Hi ,
My late mother Elena Parry (Vinogradova) was interned in Weihsien with Dick and Zoya Parry.
Mum kept a diary in camp, which came to me once she died in 2019.
Would you like me to photograph it and send you a copy?
Kind regards,
Richard Payne
From: tapol@skynet.be
Sent: Wednesday, September 30, 2026 11:40 AM
To: 'Grace Wang'
Subject: RE: FW: Copyright inquiry regarding images and map from Weihsien-Paintings
Enclosed, the oldest picture of the church on the website !!
https://weihsien-paintings.org/EricGustafson/Photos/p_01.htm#06
scroll up and down …
Best regards,
Leopold
From: Grace Wang
Sent: Wednesday, September 30, 2026 2:45 AM
To: Leslie Soltay
Subject: Re: FW: Copyright inquiry regarding images and map from Weihsien-Paintings
Dear Mr. Leopold Pander,
Thank you so much for your prompt reply!
I am grateful for the permission to use the pictures freely, and I will surely provide attribution to your website for each image I use.
I am also very grateful to be connected to your group members. I have a dear memory of listening to sermons in Chinese by Rev. James Hudson Taylor III at Hong Kong Mandarin Bible Church around 2005-2007. The presence of he and his wife among us was such a blessing!
My dissertation aims to conduct an interdisciplinary study of educational mission and architecture. I find that the Weihsien Church was designed in 1902 by Henry Gordon, a Canadian architect, who was then assisting the American Presbyterian Mission in Korea and was sent to rebuild the stations in North China after the Boxer Uprising. I identify it as the earliest case of a Chinese-style campus chapel because the church building served both the Weihsein station and the Shantung Union College, both located in the same missionary compound. Though the original buildings no longer exist today, your website provides an invaluable collection of paintings that help me study the church building. The drawing of the church interior is the only image I have found so far. Any comments from you or your group members about the church building will be very much appreciated!
My dissertation contains about 120 images, aiming to provide a visualized mission history that may help the younger generation of Chinese recover their Christian tradition embodied in China's universities today. Since I am still requesting copyright permission for each image, I cannot share the entire dissertation at this moment. But I would like to share with you in a proper format later, particularly about the Weihsien Church.
Thank you for your understanding! Please stay in touch!
With all best wishes,
Yours truly
Grace Wang
2026-9-29
________________________________________
Dear Grace,
Thanks for your message and interest in our Weihsien-paintings’ website.
By definition, this website is free access as well as non-profit. Feel free to use any picture of interest. Just refer the pictures you use to our website.
In the past, other students have made dissertations on the subject and their works are reproduced on the Weihsien paintings’ website.
GoTo : (click on : Home-Page→Menu→People→Students→etc.) See my copy-screen picture.
With your permission, I would be willing to add your dissertation to the list. Keep us informed 😊.
Best regards,
Leopold.
P.S.: this message is also forwarded to the surviving members of our group.
From: Grace Wang
Sent: Monday, September 28, 2026 11:57 PM
To: weihsien@proximus.be
Cc: pander.nl@skynet.be
Dear Mr. Pander,
Sent: Monday, September 28, 2026 11:57 PM
To: weihsien@proximus.be
Cc: pander.nl@skynet.be
Subject: Copyright inquiry regarding images and map from Weihsien-Paintings
Dear Mr. Pander,
Greetings!
I am a PhD student in intercultural studies at Columbia International University, SC, USA. The topic of my PhD research is "Campus Chapels in Modern China: American Missionaries, Christian Higher Education, and the Changing Role of Christianity, 1880s-1960s." I am also preparing my dissertation for possible publication as a book.
My dissertation used two images from the Weihsien-Paintings website. I would be very grateful for your advice regarding their copyright status and appropriate attribution. Please see the attachments and the following lists for details.
19.1 Reconstruction of Portion Plan of Weihsien Campus
(Based on a Plan of the Weihsien Camp Drawn by Christian de Saint Hubert as an Internee, 1943. https://weihsien-paintings.org/maps/images/p_maps.htm)
19.6 Drawing of Church Interior
(https://weihsien-paintings.org/maps/pages/p_global_map_1000pix.htm)(Please click the green square inside the chapel plan to view the image.)
Could you please let me know whether any particular acknowledgment or permission is required for my own diagram based on the map from your website (19.1)?
and whether permission is required to reproduce the image (19.6)?
If you are not the copyright holder for any of these materials, I would be very grateful if you could let me know the appropriate person or organization to contact.
Any comments from you will be very much appreciated!
With all best wishes,
Yours truly
Grace Wang
2026-9-28
From: tapol@skynet.be
Sent: Tuesday, September 1, 2026 5:14 PM
To: 'Mayeul FAURE'
Cc: Janette Pander
Subject: RE: Fw: demande d'informations - SAM
Mon Père,
Bien merci pour votre message et votre intérêt pour mon site sur Weihsien.
Le Père Hanquet — qui était dans ses 90 ans à l’époque — m’a fortement inspiré pour la construction de mon travail. Il était à la SAM et missionnaire en Chine pendant la guerre.
https://weihsien-paintings.org/hanquet/index.php
… il nous a fait visiter la S.A.M. à Bruxelles
Chaussée de Waterloo, 244 à 1060 Bruxelles.
Je vous suggère d’y envoyer votre demande. Leurs coordonnées (encore dans mes tablettes) :
Société des Auxiliaires des Missions S.A.M. ASBL,
Missions S.A.M. ASBL
Address: Chaussée de Waterloo 244, 1060 Saint-Gilles
Phone: 02 537 71 20 (32-2-537-71-20)
… je n’ai pas d’adresse courriel, mais la secrétaire à l’époque était : Mademoiselle Lagasse.
À partir de mon site web, vous pourriez contacter la famille Hanquet :
http://www.hanquet.be/emmanuelhanquet.php
(on ne sait jamais) !
Aussi sur le site de Weihsien il y a le père deJaegher un personnage haut en couleur dans notre communauté concentrationnaire.
http://weihsien-paintings.org/rdjaegher/index.php
… et le père Verhoeven qui nous a laissé de magnifiques dessins du camp :
https://weihsien-paintings.org/verhoeven/images/grid/index.php
… ainsi que le père Jean-Marie Struyven que nous appelions « Father Steelhammer » (…) pour avoir casé une enclume en fonte tellement il était costaud — une force de la nature.
http://weihsien-paintings.org/JMStruyven/p_MoineAujoudhui.html
Bonne chance dans vos recherches,
Bien à vous,
Léopold Pander
(Belgique)
From: Mayeul FAURE
Sent: Tuesday, September 1, 2026 3:29 AM
To: weihsien@proximus.be
Cher monsieur,
-------- Forwarded Message --------
Subject: Fw: demande d'informations - SAM
Date: Mon, 31 Aug 2026 18:37:15 +0000
From: Anthony E Clark
To: SAMasbl
CC: mayeul.faure@gmx.fr
Cher Claude,
Sent: Tuesday, September 1, 2026 3:29 AM
To: weihsien@proximus.be
Subject: Fwd: Fw: demande d'informations - SAM
Cher monsieur,
Je continue mes recherches et je viens de tomber sur votre site internet qui parle des samistes... Pourriez-vous éclairer ma lanterne? Ma demande est formulée ci-dessous,
Cordialement,
--
Père Mayeul FAURE
Société des Missions Étrangères
https://peremayeulf.wordpress.com/
+66923466842
-------- Forwarded Message -------- Subject: Fw: demande d'informations - SAM
Date: Mon, 31 Aug 2026 18:37:15 +0000
From: Anthony E Clark
To: SAMasbl
CC: mayeul.faure@gmx.fr
Cher Claude,
Je vous transmets cet e-mail important que j'ai reçu récemment.
Pouvez-vous répondre à ses questions ?
Cordialement,
Anthony
M. Anthony E. Clark, O.P., Ph.D., FRHistS, FRAS | 柯學斌博士教授
Professor of Chinese History | 中國歷史教授
Edward B. Lindaman Endowed Chair
WHITWORTH UNIVERSITY
Department of History
210-H Weyerhaeuser Hall
300 W. Hawthorne Rd.
Spokane, Washington 99251,USA
Phone: 509.777.4368
Webpage: https://anthonyeclark.squarespace.com
[I have not, and do not, engage with, consult, or employ AI in any way - all of my work and writing is executed by me without the assistance of Artificial Intelligence.]
________________________________________
From: Mayeul FAURE
Sent: Monday, August 31, 2026 5:33 AM
To: Anthony E Clark
Cher monsieur,
Professor of Chinese History | 中國歷史教授
Edward B. Lindaman Endowed Chair
WHITWORTH UNIVERSITY
Department of History
210-H Weyerhaeuser Hall
300 W. Hawthorne Rd.
Spokane, Washington 99251,USA
Phone: 509.777.4368
Webpage: https://anthonyeclark.squarespace.com
[I have not, and do not, engage with, consult, or employ AI in any way - all of my work and writing is executed by me without the assistance of Artificial Intelligence.]
________________________________________
From: Mayeul FAURE
Sent: Monday, August 31, 2026 5:33 AM
To: Anthony E Clark
Subject: demande d'informations
Cher monsieur,
Je suis en poste dans un petit village thailandais (https://maps.app.goo.gl/NyvsPxDJpxSR8SQS7). Ce village a la particularité d'être 100 % catholique.
Les paroissiens sont très attachés à un de leur ancien curé, le père Jean-Baptiste Jannsen. A l'occasion du cinquantenaire de son décès (le 12 novembre 1976), les villageois préparent un livre souvenir.
Je souhaite apporter ma pierre à l'édifice en trouvant des informations supplémentaires sur ce prêtre.
Je vous contacte car il me semble que les archives de la Société des Auxiliaires des Missions (SAM) sont chez vous...
Voici tout ce que je sais:
Prêtre de la Société des Auxiliaires des Missions, né le 13 juillet 1923, de nationalité belge. S'installe dans le village de Songkhon en 1953.
Il était également médecin.
On sait beaucoup de choses sur sa vie entre 1953 et 1976, et pour cause, les villageois l'ont tous connu et regorgent d'anecdotes à son sujet.
Ce qui nous intéresse serait tout ce qui précède son arrivée en Thaïlande...
Si, par hasard, vous auriez une nécrologie à me transmettre, j'en serais ravi! Et si par le plus grand des hasards vous auriez celle du père Pierre Colas (français, SAM également)...
Cordialement,
--
Père Mayeul FAURE
Société des Missions Étrangères
https://peremayeulf.wordpress.com/
+66923466842
From: tapol@skynet.be
Sent: Friday, August 28, 2026 9:48 AM
To: raks732@gmail.com; Neal Wu (ldybgs@163.com)
Subject: FW: from: Audrey Nordmo Horton
Hello Audrey,
… our condolences for the loss of your husband. It is always sad to lose a beloved one …
As for your book, I mentioned it on the Weihsien-paintings’ website but it is not readable on the website as you did not give me permission to do so !
And to know if your book is physically in possession of the Weihsien Museum (…)
I am sending a copy of this message to Neal Wu (the English-speaking member of the Weihsien Museum’s team).
He could send you the exact address of the museum to enable you to send your book directly to China.
Have you seen the latest entry on the website from Jacqueline de Saint-Hubert ?
https://weihsien-paintings.org/Christian_deSaintHubert/paintings/paintings.htm#24
Best regards,
Leopold
From: Audrey Horton
Sent: Thursday, August 27, 2026 10:41 PM
To: Pander Leopold; Léopold Pander ; Pander Leopold
How are you doing?
Sent: Thursday, August 27, 2026 10:41 PM
To: Pander Leopold
Subject: from: Audrey Nordmo Horton
How are you doing?
Did you send my book, "Barefoot P.O.W." to Weihsien?
Thank you
Is there something I can do about sending it or what?
My husband Mahlon D. Horton passed away on July 30th at age 95.
https://www.fuquabankston.com/obituaries/dr-mahlon-horton
Sincerely,
Audrey Nordmo Horton
From: tapol@skynet.be
Sent: Sunday, August 23, 2026 3:04 PM
To: 'Carinne Cunningham'
Subject: RE: Drawing from Father Van Hemelryck
Dear Carine,
I finally updated your mother’s paintings and sketches chapter on the Weihsien website.
I recently had a few computer problems with a breakdown of my computer and being obliged to buy a new one and switch on to Windows 11.
Had to learn the stuff and update all my software.
I think it is OK now.
Expensive hobby indeed !
!
You should easily find the new sketch in the painting’s chapter.
Bien amicalement,
Léopold
From: tapol@skynet.be
Sent: Tuesday, August 18, 2026 7:55 AM
To: weihsien@proximus.be
Subject: FW: Drawing from Father Van Hemelryck
Dear Carinne 😊,
… yes ! and a « Happy Liberation Day » to all of us. Indeed, a day to remember and, as for our family, we finally went « home » on October 19, 1945 → back to Tientsin on board a C-47.
Many thanks for this drawing from "at the bottom of the drawer" (…) even Father Scanlan is represented — fantastic — I shall be adding this picture to the website very shortly.
… bien amicalement,
Léopold
From: Carinne Cunningham
Sent: Monday, August 17, 2026 10:03 PM
To: Leoplod PANDER
Subject: Drawing from Father Van Hemelryck
Hello Leopold and Janet,
Today is the 81st anniversary of the camp’s liberation and I found this at the bottom on a drawer filled with old papers from my mother, Jacqueline de Saint Hubert.
As best as I can tell, it appears to have Father Marcel Van Hemelryck’s signature, so I assume he drew it. It’s on old paper, done in pen and is approximately 10 inches by 15 inches.
I remember my mom sharing stories about him and the other Belgium Catholic Priests.
What a small treasure to find on this August 17th.
My best wishes to you both,
Bien affectueusement,
Carinne Cunningham
From: tapol@skynet.be
Subject: FW: Information regarding Walter Cerrino and Eric Liddell photo
Dear Faye, … many thanks for your message with the correct names. I updated the page with the photo sent to me by Christine Sancton quite a while ago. Follow this URL : https://www.weihsien-paintings.org/ChSancton/pages/p_EricLiddell_Cerrino.htm Let me know if it is OK ? Bien amicalement, Leopold (Belgium)
From: Faye Cerrino
Sent: Thursday, August 13, 2026 4:14 PM
To: weihsien@proximus.be
Subject: Information regarding Walter Cerrino and Eric Liddell photo
Dear Mr Pander and the Weihsien Archivists,
I am writing to you as a direct descendant of Walter Cerrino. I recently came across your wonderful archive online, specifically the page tracking the photograph of my ancestor alongside Eric Liddell in Tianjin.
Our family still proudly holds a copy of this photograph, which features Walter running with a Union Jack on his chest, standing next to Eric Liddell.
I wanted to share a few details from our family records to help fill in the blanks on your page:
• The Runner's Name: His name was Walter Cerrino.
• The Little Girl: The young girl wearing the traditional Scottish kilt is his daughter, Betsy Cerrino (noted on your site as Betty).
Thank you so much for your incredible work in preserving this history. If you are interested, I would be happy to share more about our family history or provide any further details I have.
Warm regards,
Faye cerrino
North east Lincolnshire, Grimsby
United Kingdom
