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The scandal of Liverpool's missing Chinese sailors

The scandal of Liverpool's missing Chinese sailors

How the British city forced out Chinese seamen who'd served during World War Two.

Witness History · BBC World Service

July 16, 20209m 2s

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Show Notes

During World War Two, thousands of Chinese sailors and engineers served in the British Merchant Navy, keeping supplies flowing into the port of Liverpool and risking their lives in crossings of the Atlantic. Many settled in the port city and started families with local women but, after fighting ended in 1945, the British authorities began forcing them to leave. Simon Watts talks to Yvonne Foley, whose Chinese father was pressured to return to Shanghai, never to be seen again.

PHOTO: Chinese sailors in Liverpool in 1942 (Getty Images).