tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8379962256741902605.post3272653196482035014..comments2024-03-29T00:43:01.355-07:00Comments on Military History: The strange case of Mr Kennedy-SkiptonPhilip Cracknellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03742419743648086989noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8379962256741902605.post-54341491419754012112023-06-02T06:49:43.120-07:002023-06-02T06:49:43.120-07:00I was a Chinese student study at DBS when I found ...I was a Chinese student study at DBS when I found a part time job in 1966 as the minute secretary of the then Hong Kong Labour Party (prominent member included J Hopkin Jenkins, Tang Hon Chai and Ma Man Fai) KS was the chairman of the Hong Kong Walkaton Society. Though I have not ask for his past history but I found him quite a gentleman but with an anti government attitude.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8379962256741902605.post-4294053928504328742021-07-16T15:56:11.638-07:002021-07-16T15:56:11.638-07:00Yug: Thanks for your post which was very interesti...Yug: Thanks for your post which was very interesting to read. Yes, quite a spartan life in Lantau Camp. The stone built cabins are still there and I believe are occasionally let out. PhilipPhilip Cracknellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03742419743648086989noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8379962256741902605.post-10434463174988214052021-07-16T15:30:20.511-07:002021-07-16T15:30:20.511-07:00I knew K.S. vaguely when I was 14-16, (1969 on). T...I knew K.S. vaguely when I was 14-16, (1969 on). Tall, gaunt and very fit. Laan Tau Camp, referred to as is holiday home in some places. This was Laan Tau Camp, a string of isolated stone built cabins in a ridge between 2 peaks about 2000 feet above sea level. Only access was a rocky path winding around the mountainsides. No Electricity/Gas, Water came from a stream that started at the top of Sunset Peak. Not sure if all the cabins had water. Sewerage was very primitive. <br /><br />K.S. lived opposite us, about 500m. over a shallow valley. The Camp was mostly occupied by fundamental Christians. The mess hall at the centre of the saddle was where will all ate. K.S. never came near it. It was my job in the summer to carry food and gas up to the camp. K.S. must have carried as his food up himself. He roamed the mountains alone. Rumour in the camp was that he spent most of his time in his tiny cabin, alone. Yughttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17138321773882801574noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8379962256741902605.post-80513013435529988322019-06-17T16:15:35.318-07:002019-06-17T16:15:35.318-07:00Henry: Thanks for your posting. It's greart to...Henry: Thanks for your posting. It's greart to hear from a member of K-S family. Please do let me know if there is anything that you think I should add or amend. I wrote the original article in 2014 but have updated it from time to time as new informatyion arises. Best wishes, PhilipPhilip Cracknellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03742419743648086989noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8379962256741902605.post-22179189955755776012019-06-17T16:05:22.056-07:002019-06-17T16:05:22.056-07:00Dear Philip,
I just came across this, very intere...Dear Philip,<br /><br />I just came across this, very interesting. Henry was my father and George my grandfather. I was given both their names, Henry George. My father did keep in touch with some people and there was someone he regularly emailed from his schooldays. His mind started to wander a little in his latter years and he lost contact with some people. As you say, he passed away this year, my mother in June 2018. If there is anything you wish to know, please let me know. Henry Kennedy-Skipton<br />Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13505545710211757312noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8379962256741902605.post-75663510915396644152019-04-11T12:19:44.141-07:002019-04-11T12:19:44.141-07:00Dear Philip. I'm pleased to see that you have...Dear Philip. I'm pleased to see that you have posted the announcement of Henry's death .. I should have sent you the link rather than leaving you to find it for yourself ! The references to Geodesy and qualification as MD must be the result of a "Chinese whisper" ! Henry studied Chemistry at T.C.D. from 1958 and graduated B.A. with Honours in 1962. He then went on to study for a Ph.D. and after graduating in 1965 took up employment with I.C.I. Explosives Division at Ardeer in Scotland. I have a photograph of him at the back of a group outside the chemistry building in 1963 and can send this to you if you contact me at michael(dot)richardson(at)btinternet(dot)com.<br /><br />We had a meeting of the local branch of the TCD Graduates Association last Saturday and it seems that the committee were aware of Henry's death and I think that a representative attended his funeral. After the day's proceedings were finished I was asked to say a few words about Henry's family background and his time at Trinity.<br />Best wishes, MichaelAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07895958952803400227noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8379962256741902605.post-43715798224464669082019-04-05T16:12:33.070-07:002019-04-05T16:12:33.070-07:00"KENNEDY-SKIPTON Henry Peacefully at home in ..."KENNEDY-SKIPTON Henry Peacefully at home in Southport on Friday 25th January 2019, Henry, beloved husband of the late May (née Kelly), devoted father of Andrew, Henry and Tara and loving grandfather of Emma and Steven. Henry will be received into St. Bride's R.C. Church, West Kilbride at 6pm on Wednesday 13th February, Funeral Mass will be held at 10.30am on Thursday 14th February, thereafter to West Kilbride Cemetery." (Ardrossan & Saltcoates Herald)Philip Cracknellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03742419743648086989noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8379962256741902605.post-56609410872182385242019-04-05T16:09:37.349-07:002019-04-05T16:09:37.349-07:00Dear Michael: Thank you for your interesting post....Dear Michael: Thank you for your interesting post. I think a few peope had tried to contact Kimmy over the years but perhaps he wanted to leave his past in the past. I was sorry to hear of his passing so recently. I had read an account that he studied Geodesy - did he drop this in favour of chemistry. I also read somewhere that he had been an MD (but not suure of that is correct). Thanks for your information. Philip CracknellPhilip Cracknellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03742419743648086989noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8379962256741902605.post-57032246380675663012019-04-05T07:07:09.195-07:002019-04-05T07:07:09.195-07:00I was a fellow-student of chemistry in Dublin in t...I was a fellow-student of chemistry in Dublin in the early '60s with Henry (Kimmy)K-S and although we knew a little of his background in Hong Kong it is fascinating to read the full story. I was at a small lunch last week for a group of chemistry graduates and womeone was asking what had become of Henry. I used to see him and his wife May at reunion dinners in Manchester until a few years ago but have just just discovered that he died in Southport on 25 Jan this year and was buried in West Kilbride - close to where he had worked for many years at ICI Ardrossan.<br /><br />Michael Richardson<br />ChesterAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07895958952803400227noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8379962256741902605.post-48799715971723807452017-10-24T23:57:42.998-07:002017-10-24T23:57:42.998-07:00Dear Tom: Thank you for your posting. It's so ...Dear Tom: Thank you for your posting. It's so nice to hear from one of George and Helen's grandchildren. It must have been very difficult for Helen surviving in occupied Hong Kong. There was a note from Micky Hahn, the 'New Yorker' columnist saying that she had seen Helen and that she appeared to have access to funds and that she regularly took Enid and Laetitia to Kowloon for piano lessons. As far as I know Helen continued to live in Middle Gap Road. Thanks again for the post and for sharing your memories.Philip Cracknellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03742419743648086989noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8379962256741902605.post-6544732067001378802017-10-22T10:44:43.225-07:002017-10-22T10:44:43.225-07:00A very interesting story. George Kennedy-Skipton...A very interesting story. George Kennedy-Skipton was my maternal grandfather, although I only met him once, in the mid 1970's when he turned up in London unexpectedly, much to the consternation of Helen (my grandmother, who lived with us until her death in 1982) and Enid, my mother. Neither really talked about him at any point, although my grandmother did talk a lot about her time in Hong-Kong during the occupation. The impression I got as a child was that he had collaborated in some way, but no details.<br /><br />Helen went out to Hong-Kong sometime in the 1970s, presumably to help him settle his affairs (business, that is), and came back with some imposing pieces of Chinese furniture, which passed to my mother and then to my sister when Enid died in 2009. I can't remember if this was before or after he turned up in London.<br /><br />His other daughter, Laetitia, is still alive and lives in a retirement home in Maryland, USA. <br /><br />Thank you again for a fascinating story shedding some light on a hidden side of my family.<br /><br />Tom Jones<br />Peterhead, ScotlandAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8379962256741902605.post-91071135051924356662017-09-16T03:59:48.536-07:002017-09-16T03:59:48.536-07:00Very interesting story, Philip. Only just came acr...Very interesting story, Philip. Only just came across it. Ian Gill.Indiana Ianhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01030630872876463898noreply@blogger.com