The striking studio photographs of Pamela, above and right, were reportedly taken only a few days before her murder. They show, surely, a fashion conscious young woman with a certain confidence in her own image. The black dress in these shots is of the period - the 1930s. It was an age when young people still aped their elders; there was no "teenage" fashion. Peking may have been a long way from Europe, but its foreign residents kept right up to date with the day's styles (as did also many wealthy Chinese). |
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Above. Weihsien Internment in northern China where in 1943 some 1500 Allied nationals were imprisoned by the Japanese for the remainder of the war. Among the internees were E.T.C. Werner and his murder suspects US dentist, Wentworth Prentice, and former US Marine, Fred Knauf.
The wall crime scene where Pamela's body was found in January 1937. The above grainy photograph appeared in several China-based English language newspapers within days of the murder. Pamela's body was found lying face-up in the ditch shown, her feet toward the camera. The Legation Quarter is indiscernible in the far distance. The dirt-track wall road is to the right. Pamela's home stands some 250 yards behind the camera. What look like telegraph poles were probably disused lamp or banner holders. The image shows just how isolated the spot was. Above is a better quality image showing a different yet similar location on one of Peking's walls. Again a ditch features, the origins of which are unclear - possibly some crude form of drainage. Very sadly nearly all of Peking's medieval walls were demolished in the 1960s, a great loss to modern Beijing. Above: the crime scene as seen in 2018. The ditch has long gone. The precise spot is now impossible to identify, but by a combination of old and new maps, satellite images, and sketches by Werner, coupled with features on the wall's far side, it's possible to locate the scene to within about 50 meters.
By chance the above length of the city wall was one of the very few stretches that escaped demolition. Landscaped with a path and trees for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, it appears now to be being developed further into a park-come-wall-walk. It may soon be fully open to the public.
Two photographs showing different views of the (eastern) entrance to Peking's Legation Quarter (there were others to the north and west). Pamela's cycle route would have taken her from the French Club ice rink inside, out through the gate and across Hatamen Street to the Wall road. The entrance, which post-dates the Boxer siege of 1900, was designed for defence in mind should the need arise. It was guarded round the clock, with ordinary Chinese folk excluded. The above image shows the gates closed and at maximum security in 1912 during the period of turmoil that followed the overthrow of the Manchu dynasty. The image below shows Legation Street stretching beyond with its very European aspect. The Legation Quarter was a safe and secure island for its residents. Outside was another matter. On the night Pamela died in January 1937, with many people passing in and out, the Chinese watchman on duty could not recall Pamela exiting, alone or otherwise.
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Graeme SheppardAuthor of the new book, A Death in Peking, published by Earnshaw Books. Archives
December 2018
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