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DRAGONS OF THE POOL
The little-known history of Chinese seaman who were
secretly deported from the UK after the second world
war is to be revealed.
The Williamson Art Gallery in Birkenhead is to stage
an exhibition in February which chronicles little-known
history of Chinese seamen who were secretly deported
from the UK after WW2.
Over two successive nights, hundreds of men were seized without
warning, taken down to the River Mersey and forced on board
cargo ships bound for China. Over a thousand Chinese seamen
disappeared from their family homes in Liverpool, never to be
heard of again.
These men were not criminals, nor had they committed any
offence. Rather, they were war heroes – merchant sailors who
had risked their lives on the Arctic convoys which kept Britain
alive during the darkest days of the war.
Many families had lived in the belief that their husbands and
fathers had simply disappeared. It wasn’t until the release of
de-classified records, 50 years later that it was revealed that over
1,300 Chinese sailors had been put on specially assigned ships
and sent to the Far East without notice.
Some of the children of the deported seamen were told that
their fathers drowned at sea and the mothers, who were often
left destitute, had to give some of their children up for adoption.
Families were split up, rumours were hushed and confusion
prevailed. The emotional impact on the now grown children of
the seamen is evident from their stories.
Many are still trying to understand the betrayal of the British
establishment towards their family and their fathers, who served
on the dangerous Atlantic convoys during the war.
12 wirrallife.com
Thanks to a Heritage Lottery grant, this year-long project will
record video interviews with the seamen’s descendants, who
are now in their seventies, and capture this important part of
British Chinese history for future generations. The project will
culminate in an exhibition at the Williamson Art Gallery in
Birkenhead, inviting the local community to share their stories of
the Liverpool Eurasian community.
Actor David Yip (Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom,
Entrapment and The Chinese Detective), whose father was
a Chinese seaman, introduces the video component of the
exhibition. There will also be a rare chance to see Bert Hardy’s
iconic photographs of Chinese seamen in Liverpool taken in
1942. The photographs - taken on a Leica 35mm - provide a
context, showing the squalid living conditions that the Chinese
sailors lived.
The project’s research will then be archived in Birkenhead Central
Library.
It is hoped the project will help participants share their stories
behind their fathers’ disappearance and educate the wider
community about the shocking events of 1945.
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Exhibition: Dragons in the Pool 9 February - 18 March 2018
Venue details: Williamson Art Gallery and Museum, Slatey
Road, Birkenhead, CH43 4UE, 0151 666 3537
Fully accessible, free parking, free wifi and cafe available.
Website: www.williamsonartgallery.org