By Joe Spier
CALGARY, Alberta, Canada — What is a nice Jewish boy from Western Canada doing as a General in the Chinese Army? Well, not exactly a boy, maybe not so nice, but definitely Jewish.
Morris Abraham Cohen was born on August 3, 1887 in a Polish shtetl. While an infant, his family fled Poland to escape the pogroms rampaging through Eastern Europe and settled in the East End of London, England into a life of piety and poverty.
For Morris the pall of poverty was far greater than the path of piety, so at the age of 12 he headed for the streets of London to improve his lot. First, he became a prizefighter, boxing under the names, “Fat Moishe” and “Cockney Cohen,” then a shill for a petty thief, “Harry the Gonif” and finally a pickpocket, sort of a Yiddish Artful Dodger.
In 1900, Morris Cohen was arrested for lifting a man’s wallet and sentenced to 5 years rehabilitation in a Jewish reform school. Upon Morris’s release at the age of 18, his parents who were not keen to have Morris return, arranged for him to work on a farm near Wapella, a town in what would become the Province of Saskatchewan. And so Morris crossed the ocean, took a CPR train to Western Canada where he labored as a farmhand but also learned in the Wild West, the skills of dice control, playing card manipulation and pistol marksmanship.
After a year, Morris ran away with the circus, becoming a sideshow barker, enticing rubes to part with their money to watch a show not worth seeing. Ending up in Winnipeg, he began to sell knock-offs before that word was even invented – fake gold rings and jeweled watches. While in Winnipeg, Morris spent 6 months in “cheder” (a Yiddish word colloquially meaning, “jail”) on a prostitution related charge.
At the age of 22, Morris moved to Saskatoon where he often frequented illegal Chinese gambling dens particularly one run by Mah Sam in the back of his café. In 1910, a fateful encounter would later change Morris Cohen’s life forever. Upon entering Mah Sam’s café for food and gambling, Morris stumbled into an armed robbery. He cold-cocked the robber and threw him out. At that time, a white man coming to the aid of a Chinese was almost unheard of. Morris and Mah Sam soon became close friends. Mah Sam had a secret. Not only was he a café owner and a gambler but also a revolutionary, a supporter and fundraiser for Sun Yat-sen, the Chinese republican leader who was attempting to seize power in China and would later become the much-revered father of modern China. Mah Sam introduced Morris Cohen to this world.
While in Saskatoon, Cohen went back to “cheder,” one year in the Prince Albert Penitentiary for pickpocketing. Upon his release in 1911, he moved to Edmonton where he became a successful real estate salesman in the rapidly expanding city. Alas, success came to an end in 1916 with the collapse of Edmonton’s economy and the closure of his real estate office. By that time, the Great War had broken out and Cohen with a sense of patriotism and limited other prospects enlisted in the Canadian Army. Cohen’s army service was distinguished by contracting gonorrhea in England and 9 months of front line service in France. Cohen returned to Canada in February 1919 and was honorably discharged in Edmonton. He was awarded the British War and Victory Medals.
Cohen returned to selling real estate and to gambling. However, Chinese nationalism, introduced to him by Mah Sam, obsessed him. He soon immersed himself in the Chinese community, traveling throughout Western Canada, attending their lodge meetings, advocating on their behalf and fund raising for their cause. He and his work came to the attention of Sun Yat-sen, who by 1922, had established a self-proclaimed military government in Southern China and was its president, though the North was still in the hands of local warlords and civil war was flaring. Approached by Sun Yat-sen to assist in closing a railroad construction contract for China with a Canadian firm, Cohen sailed for China on November 23, 1922 with eight guns secreted in his luggage. With Cohen’s help, the contract was successfully concluded.
Cohen who had never personally met Sun Yat-sen arranged to meet the President. Cohen was mesmerized by Sun’s force of personality and enthralled by his wife, Soong. He must have also impressed Sun Yat-sen for Sun offered Cohen a job as his bodyguard and aide-de-camp. Cohen promptly accepted. As the head of security for the President, the self-aggrandizing Cohen took for himself the title of General.
The work was at times dangerous as there were several assassination attempts on the life of Sun Yat-sen and often Sun and Cohen would come under fire from opposing forces while touring Sun’s troops fighting the Northern warlords.
On one such occasion, Cohen took a bullet in his left arm. Concerned that if the bullet had struck his right arm he would be unable to fire his pistol, Cohen taught himself to fire with either hand and began carrying two guns, one on each side. People started calling him “Two-Gun,” a nickname that stuck and the legend of “Two-Gun” Cohen was born.
In 1925, Sun Yat-sen died of cancer. Cohen was devastated. His hero was dead and he was out of work.
Following the death of Sun Yat-sen, Cohen remained in China. For the next 12 years, he acted as an advisor, courier, liaison and procurer for various Chinese officials. He proved to be an effective go-between with foreign governments. Cohen was a man of influence, the extent of which is a matter of some debate. He was a particularly skilled arms dealer, purchasing weapons and munitions throughout Europe to arm the forces of Chen Jitang the Governor (read that as “Warlord’) of Canton Province. Arming Chen’s military was viewed as so vital that Cohen was made a General, a real rank this time. Cohen received a fee for each purchase and became wealthy but spent all that he earned.
In 1937, Japan invaded China. Chen Jitang with Cohen in tow retreated to the safety of the British Colony of Hong Kong. Also residing there was Sun Yat-sen’s widow, Soong. Cohen, who retained great affection for her, became her protector. Cohen, now 50, was active in the war effort, running guns into China and raising relief funds. Japan attacked Hong Kong on December 8, 1941. Cohen managed to place Soong, who was in danger of capture by the Japanese, onto one of the last planes out of the embattled Colony. He remained. Hong Kong surrendered to Japan on Christmas day 1941.
Cohen was captured by the Japanese and placed in an internment camp where, suffering from malnutrition and disease, he languished for 14 months. In February 1943, all of the Canadian internees including Cohen became part of a prisoner exchange. The Canadians were put on a ship and ended up in Montreal.
While in Montreal sitting out the war, Cohen met and married Judith Clark in a ceremony at Temple Emanu-el. He spent his time looking for work, talking of his life in China and living off Judith’s salary.
As the war ended, the United Nations, newly formed, was to become seized with the Palestine problem. Zionist representatives were actively lobbying U.N. members but had no entree to the Chinese delegation. Morris Cohen was approached for help. Cohen who himself was an ardent Zionist, often speaking even when living in China of the need for a Jewish homeland, readily agreed. The U.N. was meeting in San Francisco and Cohen went there to introduce the Chinese delegation, all of whom he knew personally, to the Jewish representatives. These lobbying efforts, all orchestrated by Cohen, were successful in laying the Jewish cause before the Chinese who likely had never before heard of Zionism. Later when the “partition” vote was to be presented to the U.N. and it was believed that China was prepared to vote against the establishment of the Jewish State, Cohen met with the Chinese Ambassador to Canada who was part of the Chinese delegation to the U.N. Rather than voting against partition, China, conceivably because of that meeting, abstained.
In the early 1950s, his marriage about to end in divorce, Cohen moved back to England. He only returned to Canada once, to appear as a mystery guest on the television panel show “Front Page Challenge”.
Cohen continued to make frequent trips to China, living off the largesse of the Government. He found some consulting work but his influence was waning. Much of his time was spent regaling people with stories, some exaggerated, of his adventures in China.
On September 7, 1970, at the age of 83, Morris “Two-Gun” Cohen, juvenile delinquent, petty criminal, soldier, bodyguard, gun runner, General, prisoner of war, Zionist, died. He was buried in his tallis at the Blakely Jewish Cemetery in Manchester. Representatives from both the Governments of Communist Mainland China and Nationalist Taiwan attended the funeral. Morris Cohen’s black granite headstone is engraved with a blessing in Chinese, a parting tribute from his venerated Soong.
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Spier is a retired lawyer with a keen interest in Jewish history. You may contact him via joe.spier@sdjewishworld.com. Comments below MUST be accompanied by the letter writer’s first and last name and his or her city and state of residence (city and country for those outside the U.S.)
The Canadian Embassy has given names to several of its meeting rooms and venues to recognize important historical figures in the bilateral relationship, including the Chester Ronning Room (named for the Chargé d’affaires in Beijing at the founding of the People’s Republic) and the Alvin Hamilton Room (named for the Minister of Agriculture in the Diefenbaker government who facilitated Canadian exports of wheat to the PRC when the country was facing serious food shortages, despite the absence of diplomatic relations). The Beijing Embassy was designed with a small canteen/club where staff can have lunch or have informal meetings, this space is officially named “The Two-Gun Cohen Saloon”, and a brief historical note on Morris Cohen is hung near the bar.
–Dave Murphy, Beijing, China
Joe, you have now quite clearly shown me, with the use of primary sources, that Cohen 279259 had indeed contracted venereal disease in London during April 1917. Thank you for making that so clear for me. I guess that I had been thrown somewhat by that secondary source you first directed me to read back on 3 June (above); that rather too sensational piece about Cohen “slipping off to make whoopee with a prostitute”. I feel sorry that for a short time it had made me doubt your own research on this topic, which I now know is in fact impeccable.
–Michael Alderton. Katoomba, Australia
Joe, you are quite clearly quoting medical details for the wrong Cohen. All service records relating to Morris Abraham Cohen are held by the National Personnel Records Unit at the National Archives of Canada. These include numerous detailed entries made in the soldier’s “Casualty Form – Active Service”. There is not a single mention made here to sickness or hospitalization for the whole of 1917. If these events ever occurred, then this is where they would have been recorded. What we do see from the records though is that Sergeant M.A. Cohen, who is regarded as a training sergeant rather than a front-line one, reverts to the rank of sapper (private) at his own request on 10 April 1917 for the purpose of remaining with his unit for their move to the front on 17 April. But the military authorities had different plans for him, and he was ordered to stay behind at the U.K. depot to continue training the remaining men of his unit. For this purpose he was re-instated to the rank of sergeant on 30 April 1917. When this task of training had been completed, Sergeant Cohen was permitted, once more, to revert to the rank of sapper on 20 August 1917, and proceed to the front for service in the field on 8 September 1917. I hope that this information serves to give readers of the SDJW a fair, clear, and accurate picture of Morris Abraham Cohen’s early WW1 military service. Michael Alderton. Katoomba, Australia.
Michael, according to Government of Canada, Library and Archives, from which I received Cohen’s service records , only one Morris Abraham Cohen served in the Canadian Armed Forces during World War I. Please advise the Regimental number of the soldier you are referring to so that we might determine who is referring to the wrong Cohen.
–Joe Spier, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Joe, I would like to remind you how you are addressing a Jewish audience about a legendary Jewish soldier who had had a remarkable and fascinating military career of which his WW1 experiences formed a most interesting and important episode; and all you do is keep banging on about prostitution and gonorrhoea – enough already! Michael Alderton. Katoomba, Australia
Michael let me remind you that you were the one who questioned the accuracy of my work and denied that there was any mention of gonorrhea in Cohen’s World War I service record. I will not leave the question hanging in the air as I take the accuracy of my work seriously.
National Archives of Canada lists only one Morris Abraham Cohen as a Canadian World War I soldier. His regimental number is 279259. It is the correct person as his birthdate is the same as “Two-Gun’s”. You may be aware that National Archives is in the process of digitizing the personnel records of Canada’s World War I soldiers. The records of Morris Abraham Cohen have been digitized. I am linking those records, all 84 pages, in pdf format. Pages 16, 19, 28, 57, 62 and 73 all contain reference to Cohen being infected with gonorrhea, which in my article I only mentioned in passing. Here is the link: http://central.bac-lac.gc.ca/.item/?op=pdf&app=CEF&id=B1841-S029
If you believe I have the wrong soldier, please give me the regimental number of the one you believe is correct.
The fact that Morris “Two-Gun” Cohen was a petty criminal,gambler and spent time in jail during his youthful years does not detract from the fact that he later became a hero of the Chinese people, the savior of Sun Yat-sen’s widow and played a role in the creation of the State of Israel.
–Joe Spier, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
With regard to the passing mention made in this article to Major-General M. A. Cohen’s selfless contribution to the 1914-1918 war effort, and as an historical researcher who studies such things, I would like the opportunity to state the fact that there is no entry in Morris Abraham Cohen’s WW1 Canadian Service Record recording a case of gonorrhoea, or anything similar. That sort of event would certainly have been recorded if it had ever occurred.
–Michael Alderton. Katoomba, Australia.
Quoting from pages 72 and 73 of the book “Saskatchewan Heroes & Rogues” (2004) by Ruth Wright Millar, “In January 1917 Cohen’s battalion became a railway construction unit. They shipped out of Calgary in February and sailed to England. Soon the 218th melded with the 211th to become 8th Battalion, Canadian Railway Troops. In London, Cohen slipped off to make whoopee with a prostitute. Later a bout of gonorrhea prevented Cohen from leaving with his battalion on April 17. Cohen was punished for his sins by a demotion to sapper ….”
–Joe Spier, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
As I have previously stated, there is no mention of venereal disease amongst the numerous entries made in Morris Abraham Cohen’s extensive, primary source WW1 Canadian Service Record. The notion that “Cohen slipped off to make whoopee with a prostitute” is pure fiction, and particularly unpleasant fiction at that. – —-Michael Alderton. Katoomba, Australia.
I have re-checked Cohen’s WW1 Service Record. His Medical Report indicates
Cohen was hospitalized several times in 1917 with the notation “VDG”
which stands for “Venereal Disease Gonorrhea”. A Laboratory Report dated
May 4,2017 reads, “Gonococci present in large numbers”.
THE Laboratory Report I referred to should have read “dated May 4, 1917”.
–Joe Spier, Calgary, Alberta
Thank you, Joe. I am a retired BBC reporter, and perhaps, the first and only Chinese scholar on Two-Gun Cohen. I spent 21 years doing research, collecting historical materials and interviewing people before I published a biographical novel General Two-Gun Ma Kun – Dr. Sun Yat-sen’s Bodyguard in Beijing in 2012(Ma Kun is Cohen’s Chinese name). The book in Chinese has won one of the second International “Da Ya Feng” Literature prize, and received considerable acclaim from scholars and readers in general. A film company in Beiing has recently been granted approval by the Chinese government to make a movie based on my book. They have started to work on financing for this project by negotiating with potential investors. A famous Canadian company in film and TV development is very interested in my book. Many people in Canada asked me to translate the book into English. But we have got only one chapter translated for lack of funds.
We would like to have Jewish communities in the world to support our film/TV projects of Two-Gun Cohen. I can be reached at guelph85@gmail.com
–George Shouliang Dong, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
What a fabulous story, Joe…enjoy reading all your articles!
–Judy Segal Sanderson Namak, Indio, California