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Hugh Francis Redmond

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Hugh Francis Redmond
Redmond in 1943
Born(1919-10-30)October 30, 1919
Yonkers, New York, USA
DiedApril 13, 1970(1970-04-13) (aged 50)
Allegiance United States
Branch
United States Army
Office of Strategic Services
Strategic Services Unit
Central Intelligence Agency
Service years
1942–1970
Rank
Lieutenant (United_States)
Unit101st Airborne Division
Conflicts
World War II
AwardsPurple Heart
Bronze Star
Silver Star

Hugh Francis Redmond (October 30, 1919 – April 13, 1970) was an American World War II paratrooper (506th Infantry Regiment) and early CIA officer who conducted early operations in mainland China.

Early life

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Hugh Francis Redmond jr. was born October 30, 1919 in Yonkers, New York.[1]

Redmond enlisted in the US Army on September 12, 1942.[2] As a paratrooper, he made drops during the Normandy Landings, Operation Market Garden and Battle of the Bulge. He was injured twice, first during Operation Market garden, which was only minor. His second injury was during the Battle of the Bulge and it was severe. He had to recuperate for two years. After recuperation, he applied to the OSS.[3]

Life in China

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Redmond was posted under official cover to China in 1946 as a member of US Navy External Survey Detachment 44 (ESD 44). He was briefly in Shanghai and Beijing (Peiping/Beiping) before moving to Shenyang (Mukden) in early 1947.[4] On June 23, 1947, Redmond married a Harbin Russian named Lydia Eugenyevna Ananiewa in Beijing.[5] They were apparently married in secret, since the Redmond family knew nothing of it until she arrived at their home in Yonkers, New York sometime between May 25, 1950 and August 19, 1950.[6]

Redmond moved to Shanghai in the spring of 1949 and continued operating under non-official cover (NOC) as an ice cream machine salesman with Henningsen Produce Company.[7]

There is ambiguity as to the circumstances of his arrest. Western sources say that he was arrested on April 26, 1951, while boarding a ship to San Francisco to return to the United States.[8] Chinese sources however, say that he was not granted an exit visa and was arrested late at night at his apartment in Shanghai on April 27, 1951.[9]

Redmond was held for three years and then tried on September 12, 1954 by a Shanghai military court. He was convicted along with six others for espionage.[10]

He was imprisoned at Ward Road Prision, now called, Tilanqiao Prison in Shanghai for most of the nineteen years he was incarcerated. He was briefly moved to a prison in Beijing during the Cultural Revolution in 1967 and returned to Shanghai in 1970.[11]

Death

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The Chinese claim he slit his wrists on April 13, 1970.[12] The Chinese cremated his remains and they were returned to the United States.[13] Neither his family nor the CIA was ever convinced that he had committed suicide, however.[14] Redmond was buried in Yonker's Oakland Cemetery on August 3, 1970.[15]

Bibliography

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  • Allen, Maury (1998). China Spy: The Story of Hugh Francis Redmond. Yonkers, New York: Gazette Press. ISBN 0-9663322-0-2.
  • Chambers, Ian David (2024). "Victors' History: Chinese Retrospectives on the Hugh Redmond Case". Journal of Intelligence History 23 (2): 155–177.
  • Gup, Ted (2000). The Book of Honor: Covert Lives and Classified Deaths at the CIA. Doubleday. ISBN 0-385-49293-6.
  • Singlaub, John (1991). Hazardous Duty: An American Soldier in the Twentieth Century. New York: Summit Books.
  • Totrov, Yuri (2002). "American Intelligence in China (1945-1956)". Far Eastern Affairs 2: 100–116.

References

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  1. ^ Allen, Maury (1998). China Spy: The Story of Hugh Francis Redmond. Allen Enterprises. p. 11. ISBN 0-9663322-0-2.
  2. ^ Allen. China Spy. p. 48.
  3. ^ Allen. China Spy. pp. 86–89.
  4. ^ Chambers, Ian David (2024). "Victors' History: Chinese Retrospectives on the Hugh Redmond Case". Journal of Intelligence History 23 (2): 157.
  5. ^ United States of America (June 15, 1956). "Petition for Naturalization of Lydia Redmond".
  6. ^ United States of America (June 15, 1956). "Petition for Naturalization of Lydia Redmond".; "Lydia Redmond Mistakes Firebox for Mailbox". The Reporter Dispatch. August 29, 1950.
  7. ^ Chambers. "Victors' History". Journal of Intelligence History 23 (2): 157–158.
  8. ^ Allen. China Spy. pp. 109–111. ISBN 0-9663322-0-2.
  9. ^ Chambers. "Victors' History". Journal of Intelligence History 23 (2): 157–158.
  10. ^ Chambers. "Victors' History". Journal of Intelligence History 23 (2): 172–173.
  11. ^ Chambers. "Victors' History". Journal of Intelligence History 23 (2): 172–173.
  12. ^ Allen, Maury. China Spy. pp. 179–180.
  13. ^ "Interview of Robert W. Drexler" (PDF). Foreign Affairs Oral History Collection (Interview). Interviewed by Kennedy, Charles Stuart. Arlington, VA: Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training. March 1, 1996. Retrieved April 20, 2026.
  14. ^ Gup, Ted (2000). The Book of Honor: Covert Lives and Classified Deaths at the CIA. Doubleday. p. ch. 8. ISBN 0-385-49293-6.
  15. ^ Gup. The Book of Honor.
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