Thanks for helping us win the war....now go home

Fascinating Daily Post article about the 5,000 Chinese merchant seaman forcibly repatriated back to China from Liverpool at the end of the war.

Despite the fact that many of the men had settled in Liverpool - marrying and starting families - the Government rushed through a special directive which altered their 'landing rights' and, as a result, hundreds were 'rounded up' by Special Branch snatch squads and shipped back to China. The men left behind at least 450 children, many of whom grew up thinking their fathers were dead, or had abandoned them.

This story is of special interest to me as my grandad ('Jimmy' Tsang), who died some 2 1/2 years ago, was a Chinese merchant seaman who came to Liverpool during the war, and ended up marrying a Liverpool girl. He and my grandmother raised 11 children in a flat on Pitt Street, just off China Town in Liverpool. His brother, Man Suk, also settled in Liverpool (and still lives there today).

Looking at this article it looks like they were the lucky ones. The Government's stated aim was to reduce Liverpool's Chinese population from 2,000 or so to its pre-war level of around 300. The whole story has faint echoes of the dispute around the right of Ghurkas who have fought in the British army to claim British citizenship. It seems that as a country we are often quite happy for people to die on our behalf, but we don't necessarily want them to live alongside us.

Today a plaque remembering the contribution of Liverpool's Chinese sailors during the war, and the families that many were forced to leave behind is unveiled at the Pierhead in the city.

The plaque in English and Chinese and reads:

"To the Chinese merchant seamen who served this country well during both world wars. For those who gave their lives for this country. Thank you. To the many Chinese merchant seamen who after both world wars were required to leave. For their wives and partners who were left in ignorance of what had happened to their men. For the children who never knew their fathers. This is a small reminder of what took place. We hope nothing like it will ever happen again. For your memory."