Dr. Kenneth McAll fondly remembers many quiet mornings of prayer shared with Eric Liddell. Those regular devotions were “the key to everything,” he was quoted as saying. In time he returned to England and began a practice with his wife. They lived quietly and peacefully, yet Kenneth could not seem to shake his fascination with the events he had observed in China regarding the intersection of medicine and spirituality. This fascination led him to further study psychology, and ultimately he authored the book Healing the Family Tree. His objective remained to help people get in touch with God and to learn to live completely under his direction.
Nurse Annie Buchan returned to Scotland in poor health around Christmas 1945, after her release from Weihsien. Annie was set on going back to China, and although she wasn’t able to settle in northern China, she became matron of the Union Hospital in Hankow. She returned to Scotland for good in 1950. She was matron at the Colony for Epileptics near Glasgow until 1955. She helped to form a local committee in Peterhead for World Refugee Year (1959–1960).
Stephen Metcalf was strongly influenced by Eric and committed himself to serve as a missionary to the Japanese. Metcalf arrived in Japan in November 1952 and entered the OMF International Language School and ultimately ended up planting new churches. He happily married and had five children. He and his family were responsible for the successful establishment and consolidation of new churches in several towns. All his years Stephen treasured the running spikes Eric gave him.
On Valentine’s Day 2002, Eric Liddell’s roommate Joe Cotterill married his second wife, fellow Weihsien detainee Joyce Stranks, who had been with Eric at the time of his final seizure. Joe married his first wife, the late Jeanne Hills, while the couple was still interned by the Japanese. In March 2017, Cotterill and Stranks celebrated Joe’s one hundredth birthday with a cake, a toast, origami peace cranes, a card from Britain’s Queen Elizabeth (whom Cotterill had met years earlier), and a special trumpet solo of “Finlandia” by Peter Bazire, who had played outside Eric’s hospital.
Rev. Dr. Norman Howard Cliff earned an MPhil at Open University in Buckinghamshire and a PhD at Buckingham University. At his latter graduation, he was capped by Margaret Thatcher. Rev. Dr. Cliff went on to write seven books and a thesis titled “A History of the Protestant Movement in Shandong Province—1859–1951.”
The Weihsien prison camp internees were released from their Japanese captivity in August 1945. United States B-29 Liberators flew overhead, and paratroopers floated down in dramatic fashion. It took months for many of the Chefoo students to be reunited with their parents, some of whom had left China and returned to England, not knowing the fate of their children. Others took trains and carts pulled by mules and walked across mud-slick China to reunite with parents that many of them had not seen in five years or more. The vast majority of those interned at Weihsien would never forget the way Eric Liddell inspired them in his own unique yet powerful way.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I WOULD BE GRAVELY REMISS if I did not thank Patricia, Heather, and Maureen (Liddell). It has been one of the absolute biggest privileges of my life getting to know each of you through this endeavor. Your willingness with time and resources has been as comforting as it has been thrilling. Thank you from the depths of my heart for your enthusiasm and patience.
More thanks to Eva Marie Everson—for adjusting to my alliteration, tossing out all of my grammatical garbage, and neatly folding all of my linguistic laundry, and for your—ahem—dedication.
Thanks to:
Rebeca Seitz (SON Studios)—for the appreciation of chasing after big vision, the ability to see potential, and the courage to take a chance.
Jonathan Clements (Wheelhouse Literary Group)—the consummate advocate.
Jon Farrar and the team at Tyndale House Publishers—for your devotion to your craft, professionalism, and attention to detail.
Howie Klausner—for asking me, “Why do you want to write?”
Jeannie Hughes—for eleventh-hour photo scans, “urgent” e-mail correspondence, and daily laughs.
The saints at Zion Lutheran Church, Kalamazoo, Michigan, for providing me with a firm foundation.
The saints at Bethel Lutheran Church, Clearwater, Florida, who have created an oasis of a working environment for me.
David McCasland, a historian of historians, and all those like him who have planted a literary garden from which to pluck.
Major thanks to all of my family and friends who have endured me and encouraged me through this process.
And to Jesus—who makes all this possible.
Rev. Eric Eichinger
Early Days
A family visit during a furlough from China (Top, L to R: Eric, sister Jenny, brother Robert; Middle: parents Mary and James; Bottom: brother Ernest)
1922
Eric winning a race
1923
I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
PHILIPPIANS 3:14
English Amateur Athletic Association Championships at Stamford Bridge
1923
Eric being paraded through the streets of Edinburgh after his gold medal victory
JULY 17, 1924
Crossing the finish line at the British Empire versus United States of America relay in London
JULY 19, 1924
I run the first 200m as hard as I can. Then, for the second 200m, with God’s help, I run harder.
ERIC LIDDELL
A Family Man
Eric and Florence with their wedding party
MARCH 27, 1934
Eric’s sense of humor on full display at a friend’s wedding
1934
Eric holding Patricia outside their home in China
WINTER 1935
Eric, dressed for work in Tientsin
1938
Siaochang mission outpost where Eric lived and worked with his brother Robert while his family stayed in the safer town of Tientsin
LATE 1930s
In the dust of defeat as well as the laurels of victory there is a glory to be found if one
