Chinese Labour Corps: Library of Birmingham Exhibition

The Chinese Community Centre-Birmingham is commemorating the contribution of the Chinese Labour Corps in World War I.

In November 2018, Britain commemorated the end of World War I with events across the country. One group that has been consistently overlooked is the Chinese Labour Corps (CLC) – volunteers from mainland China who were sent by the Chinese government to support the British and French armies on the Western Front. While hostilities ceased in November 1918 and troops returned home, the CLC remained behind to clear battlefield debris into 1919 with the final units not leaving until September 1920, almost two years after armistice.

Their contribution was never acknowledged in Britain until a campaign to recognise the CLC began in 2013.  Since then, a number of projects have taken place and the Chinese Community Centre-Birmingham (CCC-B) is bringing together elements from Ming Ai Institute’s ‘British Chinese Armed Forces Heritage’ exhibition which commemorates the CLC in WWI and the Hong Kong British Army Aid Group in WWII together with artefacts from the Chinese in Britain Forum’s ‘Ensuring We Remember’ campaign under the title ‘Chinese Labour Corps: The Forgotten Men of World War I’.

The full exhibition will be on display at CCC-B from 1^st – 8^th February 2019 (not Sunday 3rd February) and after this, selected items will go on display in the Spotlight zone of the Library of Birmingham from 11th Feb-1^st March.

On Wednesday 27th February there will be a Panel talk in the Library Voices of War & Peace Engagement Centre.

Guest speakers:

Steve Lau, Chinese in Britain Forum/Ensuring We Remember Campaign

Chungwen Li, Ming Ai Institute

Peng Wenlan, The Meridian Society

The exhibition and talk are free to attend. Contact Kate Gordon on 0121 685 8510 or email kategordon@ccc-b.org.uk to register your interest.