The Danish company F.L. Smidth was at that time, building a concrete factory in the Chinese capital, Nanjing, and wanted to protect their investment against the Japanese rampage, so they hired Bernhard as a guard.
Det danske firma FLSmidth & Co. A/S var på daværende tidspunkt ved at opføre en cementfabrik i den daværende kinesiske hovedstad Nanjing og ville gerne beskytte deres investering mod japanernes hærgen, så de hyrede Bernhard som vagtmand.