danwashburn

I just came across tour website and the foto of the foreigners cemetary in Shangai.A cousin of my father was killed whle testing airplanes,probably near Shangai,in cc 1930. As a child,I remember seeing a postcard around the house(NY)from the Chinese Government notifying the family.His first name was probably Alfred and las name Nahmmacher same as me. Are you aware of any way I can get details from the cemetery or Chinese authorities? I'm also an expatriate, having lived most of my life in Mexico. Art

Hi Arthur,
We are looooong lost cousins !!!
The man you refer to is my grandfather; Carl Alfred Nahmmacher - he died whilst test flying a Vought-Corsair at a show there in Shanghai. A wing support broke, he apparently urged the co-pilot to parachute out, but was then trapped by the wing.I still have parts of the plane, and his scarf ! ! Also photos of the man and my grandmother, with various Chinese Ministers - he had the contract to sell these planes to the government, and when he first went out there, from NYC, got a job, from the garage he first set up, to chauffeur around the Nationalist leader Chiang Kai Chek !
Quite a guy, as the photos, and signed notes on his scarf suggest. My father was born out there, and was 4 when he died. he and his mother returned not too long after - just before Japanese invasion - back to NYC. My father, of the same name died sadly about 9 years ago in east Africa. A travelling family !
All the best,
Hans
Ps believe their house was on the Hung Jao road - near the, then, airport. VERY interested in this info YOU have about all this - stay in touch!

Further to the above posting, I really did want to add my thanks to Dan Washburn for giving us the excellent film; very informative and another side to the city shown.

Hans